Interpret this
 

I'm doing a research letter on this 16ga gun. Here is an entry in the Order Book for the repair. I'm not sure exactly what it says and what it might mean. Opinions welcome!

The owner indicates that the barrels are now 25 1/2", they were originally 26". I'm thinking this indicates that there was damage to the muzzles and they were factory shortened to 25 1/2". Why wouldn't they just say muzzles damaged, shorten them?

Chuck,

Appears to me to read "Whole Gun" (entire gun sent in for repair rather than just a part), then "Bbls Stretched at Muzzles"

This is a challenge that I run into with some frequency when reading our archived ledgers. The handwriting can be beautiful but difficult to interpret.

Bob Beach
Griffin & Howe, Inc.

That's what it looks like to me also.

Bob, that's what I'm thinking too. They used the word "stretched", we commonly use "bulged." This is the first time I've seen this type of notation.

I see the same thing - whole gun bbl stretched at muzzles.

I believe there was some kind of bulge that had to be cut off. At least we know that the factory probably did the cutting.

Chuck, I agree with the guy's. Muzzles stretched.

I find it hard to believe that somehow somewhere in the last 1/2 inch the barrels developed a bulge. I find it more believable that the barrels, or at least one tube got dented or possibly something was forced into or against the muzzle causing the metal to be "stretched" or distorted.

How in tarnation does a muzzle get stretched?

Probably the gun had been ordered with 26" barrels, and they accidentally cut a little too much off, so they just planned to stretch out what was left to make up the difference. I suspect this was back in the old days, when they still knew how to do such things.