Barrel fitting to a different gun
 

Can anyone who has done this share how well it worked for them? What does your experience incline you to recommend as to the feasibility of buying barrels sight unseen and trying to fit them? This is idle knowledge for me now, but I would like a spare set of more open choked barrels or even cylinder barrels after shortening for close grouse hunting for a GHE.

Well first, barrels don’t need to be shortened for gouse, or for any birds for that matter. But I will say that I have been lucky a few times. The first time it was close but I sent the job to Russ Bickel and he did an absolutely perfect job and then I sent the barrels to Brad for a beautiful Damascus refinish. Unfortunately both of these perfectionists are no longer with us today.
Then I have been able to do a pretty good job on a couple of others - just not as perfect. I’ve tried others but they weren’t even close. It’s definitely a crap shoot to have a set of orphan barrels fit another gun without considerable smoking/filing/stoning/polishing.





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I have been very lucky in fitting Parker barrels. It is always nice to have a set or two in the gun room, just in case.

It is a total gamble as to how compatible they may be and how much work you will have.
There are a LOT of variables.

Oh yeah, and proximity of serial numbers means nothing.

It can take a few minutes or a few days. Ejectors complicate things also. And keep in mind Parker had different locking bolt designs over the years.

You just need to own as many guns as Murphy and the barrels are bound to swing right on one of them!!

If I were ordering a grouse gun, I want 30" cyl/Ic. I would never shorten barrels, but I would open them up.

That's a fair point about longer barrels, like 30". I hunted for several years with a M11 Remington with 28" barrels and it wasn't too bad in the brush. The overall length of that gun was similar to a 32" side by side. That said, a 26" or 28" side by side has easier movement in the woods for me. In a similar way, I like guns under 7 pounds for carrying even though the actual shooting would be more pleasant with an eight pound gun. I suppose there's a spectrum of weight and length hunters choose based on expected conditions. I don't end up hunting grouse with my vintage 30" guns because they are all choked tighter and weigh close to 8 pounds. I might very well like a 30" gun if it was lighter and more open choked. They're hard to buy that way, of course, it seems the majority of vintage doubles offered with 30" barrels are M/F of F/F choked. I have a WTB ad for barrels so, I'll see if anything turns up, at any length. I'm looking for a #2 frame set.

By the way, has anyone looked at these 1 1/2 frame barrels on ebay? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Pa...s/202641258161. Out of my price range, plus they'd be expensive to finish and fit. Can they really be legit Remington-Parker unfinished barrels? These are over 4# unstruck. In the description, he's offering 32" barrels for the same price.

jeff, I also want my grouse guns light, under 6 1/2 lbs at the most. My 20 ga Parkers with 26" do weigh 6 lbs even. I have a 20 hammer gun( Scottish) that weighs 5 3/4 lbs with its 30 " barrels. Probably wouldnt be able to find a 30" Parker under 6 1/2 lbs--and if so, would have a hefty price tag.

A number of those new barrel sets are out there. I have a few sets here myself in various frame sizes. I even have a 1/2 frame set.
They are legit Meriden barrel sets that are rough and unfitted.

Yes, there are a LOT of things left to be done to them. They do not even have rib extensions on them. And there is no solution for proper rib matting these days on Parker barrels, so though anything can be done, they hardly make sense as a viable option for a spare set of barrels.

It is more realistic that these barrel sets could be put on check-hook lifter hammer guns (from the transition period) and be finished without matting.