I have been told the same about the physical work. Most people who do any of this have told me that the composite barrels are softer and much easier to bore or hone. I was told this by Skeets when I had the latest barrel bored.

Also, there is a question of boring vs honing. It takes a good inventory of reamers to cover the honing requirements, but the cost of significant removal can be half the job cost when paying for hones. From the smith standpoint I suspect that their preference would be to bore and then polish.

Wrought iron is softer than steel but due to its inclusions it doesnt machine as well. It can very quickly dull cutting tools and perhaps this is why someone would avoid damascus. I would agree that liability is a more likely concern and certainly so for dent raising, but the cost of the tooling isnt a small matter especially when the operator is doing high quality work at bottom line prices.

I am not sure what Mike Orlen uses, but I think it is the same as Mitch Shultz's machine; a Sunnen hone.

For what it's worth, when I had the barrel done by Skeets last winter, he told me that he pretty much bored everything due to the cost of the hones which wear out very quickly as opposed to the reamers which can be sharpened. Chokes and boring makes up the bulk of his work I would guess due to the trapshooter following of the shop.

Orlen honed a set of Remington 1889 composite barrels for me several years ago to remove some pitting. He didn't like the idea but he did it anyway. I wouldn't send him another set, though. He did a good job on that set for me, but I have found out in other situations that you usually don't come out good when you convince a gunsmith, or other tradesmen for that matter, to do a job for you that they really don't want to do. :nono:

Good advice!

Anyone who doubts it should watch Jon Kruger demonstrate what can be done with a shotgun - shooting from the hip!

Dry mounting
 

[QUOTE=Jay Oliver;414792]I think you will be able to adjust to it. As we all know, many or most vintage guns have a lot of drop. I am surprised how fast you can get used to it. One of my tricks is to shoulder it a few times before I go to bed and then when I wake up I am usually good to go.

I totally agree with Jay. With over 80 side x sides one has to learn how to dry mount the gun 5-10 times before shooting it to find where on your body is the best place to put it. Once you do that you can move to the range and start shooting. I HAVE to adjust to the gun, not the other way around. I have friends that want to be statuesque and shoot head up like they're shooting a modern target gun and they cannot adapt to anything else. They don't shoot side x sides. You can do it - if you want to.

I inherited my grandfathers 16 ga VH yrs ago. He ordered it and bought it somewhere in Boston
Anyhow, he ordered it with significant drop. My dad shot it for yrs before handing it to my at age 16. I just adjusted to the drop and shot it very well. Finally I had to have it restocked. The stock just had too much oil in it and the wood could not be saved so I had Larry DelGrego restock it to my dimensions. Great 16 vh. Shoots very well even after all these yrs. Every time I shoot it, it reminds me to remember my grandfather and dad from whom I inherited it. Nothing like a Parker 16 with so many family memories.