Granted I was not there when the guns were built, none of us were.
But I can state a few things based on my actual experience and observations.
I have finished and blued quite a few new in the white Parker reproductions. Every one of them had weep holes drilled in the ribs in their new state. Before bluing.
If a weep hole is drilled in a finished set of barrels, the hole will show bright bare metal. And I have never observed any evidence of this on a set of original barrels from a maker who did put weep holes in their barrels (like Ithaca or LC Smith). Right now I own a true 98% benchmark condition Ithaca flues from 1916 that has two week holes in the barrels and There is no sign that those holes were drilled after bluing.
I do own a few sets of new old stock ilion built Parker barrels and they do not have weep holes in them, but they are not finished to the point of being ready for bluing. They still need final polish and cleanup. So I cannot say they are any sort of indication.
I did fit a set of new old stock LC smith barrels to a gun for my brother and blue them some years back. I would be curious to check on that gun to see if they had a weep hole in them or not.
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B. Dudley
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