I say this cautiously, but be very, very careful before deciding to send a barrel set for fitting to a gunsmith you do not have several good references from. I once sent a set of absolutely brand new barrels to one of the most well known, and recommended, doublegunsmiths in the country to have fitted to a gun I had in order to have a two barrel set. Again, this 'smith, now retired, was one of the country's "go to" doublegun smiths.
He totally botched the job and thought he had done a good job, even bragging to me on how easy it was. I guess it must have been easy. He "ovaled" the bite in the hook and when I received it from him the right barrel had at least .008" daylight between barrel breech and standing breech, and the left barrel only had about 30% contact with the standing breech. He nearly ruined a brand new set of barrels and thought he did a good job. I was flabbergasted.
Having gone through the process of trying, and I mean trying, to fit a set of barrels myself I can attest to the extreme amount of skill and knowledge necessary to do it right. By right I mean both barrel breeches making 80%+ contact with the standing breech, along with everything else fitting exactly right.
I don't know of any job in doublegunsmithing that requires a higher level of skill, knowledge and patience.
|