32" Titanic Steel Barrel for a #3 Frame

[Larry Stauch]

Brother n;

I found a 12ga DH #3 frame with 32" Titanic steel barrels the other day and was lucky enough to pick it up. Problem is there is a bulge 4-1/2" up from the receiver in the right barrel and it's somewhat noticeable from the outside and of course from the inside. Gun was made in 1902. I've been warned by a gunsmith not to shoot it, but the guy I bought it from had shot it in the past.

I would really like to find a barrel to replace this one and if someone out there has one please contact me. But my guess is finding a #3 32" steel barrel is wishing for something that won't ever happen.

Course of action #1, hang it on the wall.

Course of action #2, sleeve the right barrel; by who?

Course of action #3, now here's where you guys come in...

[Dave Suponski]

Larry, Kirk Merrington in Texas would be my first choice to have a look at it. A 3 frame 32" D grade gun would be worth a least a good honest opinion to get her back in shooting condition I would think.

[Bill Murphy]

I would find someone to pound it back into place. The best possibility for someone who would attempt that would be Keith Kearcher. I know he hates me for recommending him for jobs like this, but he has done it for me. Second possibility is to sell the gun to me.

[Pat Dugan]

Keith took out a bulge in a 1926 DHE 20 gauge for me and you cannot tell it was fixed, great work.

PDD

[Mike Shepherd]

I assume the top and bottom rib would have to be removed. How do they get to the area between the barrels to ping or compress the bulge there?

Thanks,

Mike

[Bill Murphy]

Mr. K. knows how to get in there. He takes the whole mess apart. Fear not.

[Mike Shepherd]

Thank you Bill.

Best,

Mike

[Brent Francis]

I had a trojan with a bulge in a similar spot. I ended up finding some barrels that fit but my plan b was getting some 20 or 28 gauge inserts which would allow it to be a shooter. If you go the pound out the bulge route Im wondering if you would have confidence in the barrel repair since that is pretty close to fingers and face. Im not a gunsmith but I have a physics background since the barrel diameter is greater at the buldge the pressue against the buldged barrel wall is lower since pressure = Force/unit area. You restore the barrel to its original diameter the shot pressure agains the barrel wall at the repair would increase (less barrel area same force) but the stressed metal would seem to be the same at the repair. In other words it seems to me that if it was unsafe to shoot in the bulged condition it would be less safe to shoot after it was repaired unless there is some change in the metal that occurs post repair .

[Bill Murphy]

Look, Brent, we're men here. We don't read maps, we don't read instructions. Load intelligent shells, put them in chambers, pull trigger. I'll let you guess who the gunsmith was who asked me if I was really going to shoot the gun he had unbent the barrels on. I told him I certainly was going to shoot it. That was the end of that conversation. Of course, he knew the answer before I gave it to him.

[Brent Francis]

Bill, I hear you and have done the same stuff. Im just saying if you dont want to shoot it with the bulge Im not sure why you would want to shoot it with the repair because I cant see why it would be stronger after you fatigued the barrel one more time by pounding it back to normal It just looks better after the bulge is gone.

[Dean Romig]

If I were faced with shooting a bulged barrel my concern would be in the stress created against the constriction of the far end of the bulge. the ejecta is naturally going to want to fill the area of the bulge but then it needs to reconform to the parallel barrel walls beyond the bulge. I would have no qualms at all with shooting barrels with a properly repaired bulge providing the wall thickness isn't compromised.

[John Truitt]

The other option is to send it to have a chamber liner put in. Its about 6 to 8 inches. (permanently fixed in) They correct the bulge issue cosmetically and the liner addresses the stress.
Contact Briley in Texas. Ask to talk to Steve Power.

Sounds like a great gun worth the trouble to get her fixed.

Good luck let us know how it turns out.

John

[Brent Francis]

In my own quest for a repair on the old Trojan bulge. I talked to several gunsmiths and was on a couple of online forums including this one. I found that several gunsmiths just wont do bulges and some folks say aw just shoot it the way it is and others think any bulge is inherently unsafe. I am certain that where the bulge is and the level of severity is very important but ultimately I decided there isnt much science or consensus on the problem or the solution. maybe someone needs to do some tests on bulged guns like the guy did for damascus barrels.

[Christopher Lien]

Murphy has given a good direction, send the old 32" girl to Keith Kearcher and have him look it over, he will give you straight-up answers on the possibilities of repair...

Best, CSL

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Bill,

If you'd seen the horror story work done on a gun of mine by Kearcher you'd stop recommending him.


Larry,

Go with Merrington in Texas, he'll charge a little more than Bill's boy Keith but you get what you pay for. I went bargain basement with Kearcher one time and had to have all the work corrected by another smith, it was truly something anybody calling themself a gunsmith should have been ashamed of.


Destry

[Bill Murphy]

Thanks for the other side of the story, Destry. All information is meant to be put into a pipe and smoked. By the way, tell us about your latest "hunting" adventure, which I understand is quite the adventure. We haven't heard from you for a while.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

There was no adventure.

We got within 45 minutes of Buenos Aires, they closed the airport due to volcanic ash, we got diverted to Santiago Chile, spent three days there waiting, never got anywhere, finally gave up and came home.

I should have been hunting today and coming home tomorrow, instead I'm at work. Such is life.....


Destry

[Dean Romig]

Ouch!!... Hope you're able to get your money back.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Outfitters don't give refunds, it's a universal truth. All the gnashing of teeth or suggestions of what they "should" do won't help so lets not get off on that tangent please. I'm a big boy and I can handle the loss, you play in that field and occasionally you're gonna get tackled.

Destry

[Angel Cruz]

Doubble ouch!! Too bad Destry. Like a lot of the other guys, I was waiting for the stories.

[Harry Collins]

Destry,

That is more than a "D..." shame. In England you can by Shoot Insurance for the weather. I had been a Lloyd's London Correspondent and sold a lot of bloodstock insurance through Lloyd's and surrounding markets. If I were still in the business I would check the availability of insurance for hunting trips etc.

Harry

[Bill Murphy]

Thanks for the update, Destry.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Harry,

You can buy trip insurance over here easy enough, but none of us bought it of course.


Destry