Shortening 30” bbl’s 2 inches

[Don Strelioff]

Picked up a 1927 vh grade 11/2 frame gun with a bulge about 1 3/4 “ back of the muzzle I was thinking about cutting the bbl’ s back
Bore’s are 735 “ I would end up with 10 thousand constriction give of take a 1000
Good idea bad idea pros cons
Let me know your thoughts
The mechanics of the gun is very good so is the over all exterior condition

[Tom Kidd]

Back in the last Millennium, many very reputable high end gun dealers, would trim barrels and re-choke to suit. How do I know, many of them stayed with Mom and I during the early days of the Allentown Show, and I always made it a point to bring up the subject. And they had very competent gunsmiths doing the work, so the muzzle treatments were outstanding and hard to detect from originals. Hershel was one who freely told anyone interested he would shorten barrel lengths to suit. So go for it, and enjoy your Parker, you will be amazed just how well it will perform in the field with modern shells. Just saying!

[keavin nelson]

If the bulge isn't too bad, they can be taken out, especially in sections where the wall thickness is thinner.

[Russ Jackson]

Since the bulge is that close to the end of the muzzles ,I don't believe the bulge is a big deal really ,I think If it were mine I would just let it original and not worry about it ! Of course just my opinion , it is yours so its up to you !

[edgarspencer]

Depending on the severity (height deviation from surrounding surface) Bulges can be tapped back down, against a mandrel. If chamber bulges can be tapped down, with thick walls, thinner walls further up the barrel shouldn't be difficult. Consultation with John Hosford or Breck Gorman would be a good starting point. That would be my route before I opted for something else, which will certainly impact the value as much as 50%.

[Daryl Corona]

What Edgar said.

[Frank Srebro]

Almost all vintage SxS's have full tapered chokes and as Edgar has written it's fairly easy to carefully tap down the choke bulge against a mandrel made on the lathe to exactly match the choke taper. Then if desired the outside of the tube can be "struck" and spot reblued. I've done that a few times now on different maker guns and with excellent results. Note that I'm a hobbyist and only work on my own guns but IMO it's worth a search to find a good 'smith with in-house metal lathe and available time to do that before cutting the tubes.

Here's one made for bulge in the leade of a Fox choke, you can’t see its .013" taper in diameter over the length of the mandrel. Bolt and washer hold it against the muzzle while tapping. That's blue Dykem over the steel.
.

[Bob Jurewicz]

"Gauge Pins" are solid steel cylindrically shaped plugs about 2" long available in sets with diameter variations of .001" each. They are used as Frank describes and work great. I use multiple pins and gradually work the bore up to proper size.
I have two (2) sets which cover diameters of 20, 16 and 12 GA bore diameters. I think I recall paying about $60 a set on ebay.
Bob Jurewicz

[Don Strelioff]

Thanks for all all the good info
My thoughts are this I have a vhe 30 “ bbl choked extra full I would like something with chokes closer to skeet two or light mod
As for devaluing the gun as it is it’s value is not high and vh grades in general are priced modestly
Plus I paid very little for this gun
I will give it some thought

[edgarspencer]

Thanks for all all the good info
My thoughts are this I have a vhe 30 “ bbl choked extra full I would like something with chokes closer to skeet two or light mod
As for devaluing the gun as it is it’s value is not high and vh grades in general are priced modestly
Plus I paid very little for this gun
I will give it some thought

I'm afraid my thought process, and yours, differ, but, it's your gun. There are plenty of guns out there that have been spoiled this way. When you're dead, the gun will go to the next guy, and he will pay very little for it. If it doesn't serve your purpose now, sell it, and get one that does, but don't do something that can't be undone.

[John Davis]

As long as that bulge is there, nobody (who knows anything) is going to pay much for it anyway.

[Frank Srebro]

The Gauge Pins referenced by Bob are straight cylinders made to tight tolerance and if proper diameter will work well in the forward part of the bore for bulges and in increments to raise a dent. But trying to use one or more in a tapered choke will likely result in barrel "ring" marks.

[Jerry Harlow]

DAN MORGAN 802 457-4828

[John Allen]

I would try to tap the bulge out. As Mr. Davis pointed out,the gun is already devalued. However, cutting the barrels is an immediate 50 to 60 percent or more drop in value. If the bulge can be raised correctly your gun will retain more value. Especially since the bulge is at the muzzle. Another problem with cutting barrels is that you will always change the point of impact no matter how competent your gunsmith is.

[Don Strelioff]

My thoughts exactly John
I would rather have something that I would use I like the idea of a open choked gun mostly for hunting ruffies and because of the style of choking on Parker’s I would end up with 10-14 thousand contrivtion
Trying to find a Parker with open factory chokes is a expensive proposition I have a skeet’s bore Mike so I did the bore measurement both bbl’s are 735” the chokes are tight 40” at the muzzle with the long taper

[David C Porter]

It seems like some are confusing bulged & dented barrels. Dents are much easier to push back out with a dent riser tool. Bulged barrels much more difficult since on a double barrel the Bulge in the barrel is usually fully Bulged around the barrel & you can't get to the inside unless you take the barrels apart. Since Parker used a very long choke cutter, you can usally cut 2" & it usally reduces the chokes one choke size more open with the barrels still touching. Then take a half round file & remove the 1/4" on the front rib matting & with an engraving tool cut a line between the matting & the smooth portion at the end of the barrel & install front sight bead. If done properly, no one will know the barrel has been cut except yourself. Or leave it alone & shoot it the way it is.

[Don Strelioff]

I agree with the bulge dent evaluation 100% correct in my eyes this is a noticeable bulge
Your fix is correct as well with the last 1/8 of a inch finishing
Thanks

[Don Strelioff]

Well my decision is made I will remove as bbl as needed so I end up with 10-14 thousand constriction it will done correctly not a bubba job
Hopefully i will be able to reinstall the factory bead
Thanks everyone for the input all valid comments

[Dan Steingraber]

Well my decision is made I will remove as bbl as needed so I end up with 10-14 thousand constriction it will done correctly not a bubba job
Hopefully i will be able to reinstall the factory bead
Thanks everyone for the input all valid comments

Those are pretty darn functional chokes. Shoot the heck out of it.

[Stan Hillis]

I tried to remove a bulge in a set of A H Fox barrels several years ago by using gauge pins, since it was behind any choke constriction where the bore was parallel. I knew that I couldn't remove that part of the bulge between the barrels, and between the ribs, but I tried to remove what I could. As I was finishing up the "tapping in" on the bulge ...... the top rib popped loose from the thousands of light taps to shrink the bulge with the tiny hammer and shop-made brass drift.

I will never try to remove a bulge again. I like long barrels much more than most but a 28" bulge free barrel is preferred to a 30" one with most of the bulge removed, but a bulge still visible in the bore between the ribs.

JMO, YMMV

[Don Strelioff]

The positive on this one is the bulge will 100% gone

[Don Strelioff]

Well I competed the task the bores measured .729 both bbl’s 8-10” from the muzzle removed 1 1/8” of bbl back from the muzzle muzzle is 711- 712 729-712 = 717 I’m very pleased with that bore taper to muzzle 3.5 “ give of take a 1/8 of a inch
Installed a bead 3/56 thread small bead
Now I look forward to shooting this gem I would like to try it on a skeet a bit tighter than skeet 11 but should smoke the targets when your on them

[ED J, MORGAN]

any one who looks up the info on the gun will know it was altered.

[Stan Hillis]

Anyone knowledgeable who looks down the bores of the gun will also know that a bulge has been "attempted to be removed" because you cannot remove the portion of the bulge that lies between the top and bottom ribs . . . . that is, unless you want to pay the price of having the ribs removed and relaid. You're getting into big bucks there. You make the call on that.

Anyone who attempts to remove a bulge that far down the barrel is mostly doing it for aesthetics sake, because of the reason stated above.

Personally, if I looked down the bores of a potential buy and saw part of a bulge remaining between the ribs on a barrel I would be just as reticent to buy it as I would had it been shortened by two inches, because i would then know what had been done. But that's just me.

[Don Strelioff]

Here we go the gallery comments the bulge was completely removed because the bbl’s were cut back behind the bulge no bulge remaining
Not training to hide the fact that the bbl’s were cut
Just made the useless gun shootable
Thanks for your unwarranted comments

[Bill Murphy]

Funny, I read three pages of comments and didn't read even one that was unwarranted.

[Stan Hillis]

Here we go the gallery comments the bulge was completely removed because the bbl’s were cut back behind the bulge no bulge remaining
Not training to hide the fact that the bbl’s were cut
Just made the useless gun shootable
Thanks for your unwarranted comments


Reply deleted

[John Dunkle]

Here we go the gallery comments ….
Thanks for your unwarranted comments

Don,

In your first post opening this tread, you stated, in part….
….
Good idea bad idea pros cons
Let me know your thoughts
….
You appear upset to have received various opinions and thoughts…? I’m not sure they are unwarranted, as they were certainly solicited.

Anyway, just from my end of the telescope.

John

[Bill Murphy]

Thank you so much for your reply and comment, John Dunkle. Yes, the comments on this thread were certainly solicited, and appreciated by everyone except the original poster.

[John Davis]

I agree completely with Mr. Dunkle’s comments and the OP got exactly what he asked for. But at the end of the day the OP is happy with his decision and what he ended up with. So, all’s well that ends well.

[Stan Hillis]

This is a classic example of "Be careful what you ask for, you might get it."