Shortening 30” bbl’s 2 inches

[Don Strelioff]

Picked up a 1927 vh grade 11/2 frame gun with a bulge about 1 3/4 “ back of the muzzle I was thinking about cutting the bbl’ s back
Bore’s are 735 “ I would end up with 10 thousand constriction give of take a 1000
Good idea bad idea pros cons
Let me know your thoughts
The mechanics of the gun is very good so is the over all exterior condition

[ahfoxman]

Back in the last Millennium, many very reputable high end gun dealers, would trim barrels and re-choke to suit. How do I know, many of them stayed with Mom and I during the early days of the Allentown Show, and I always made it a point to bring up the subject. And they had very competent gunsmiths doing the work, so the muzzle treatments were outstanding and hard to detect from originals. Hershel was one who freely told anyone interested he would shorten barrel lengths to suit. So go for it, and enjoy your Parker, you will be amazed just how well it will perform in the field with modern shells. Just saying!

[Keavin Nelson]

If the bulge isn't too bad, they can be taken out, especially in sections where the wall thickness is thinner.

[Brush Buster]

Since the bulge is that close to the end of the muzzles ,I don't believe the bulge is a big deal really ,I think If it were mine I would just let it original and not worry about it ! Of course just my opinion , it is yours so its up to you !

[edgarspencer]

Depending on the severity (height deviation from surrounding surface) Bulges can be tapped back down, against a mandrel. If chamber bulges can be tapped down, with thick walls, thinner walls further up the barrel shouldn't be difficult. Consultation with John Hosford or Breck Gorman would be a good starting point. That would be my route before I opted for something else, which will certainly impact the value as much as 50%.

[Double Lab]

What Edgar said.

[Cold Spring]

Almost all vintage SxS's have full tapered chokes and as Edgar has written it's fairly easy to carefully tap down the choke bulge against a mandrel made on the lathe to exactly match the choke taper. Then if desired the outside of the tube can be "struck" and spot reblued. I've done that a few times now on different maker guns and with excellent results. Note that I'm a hobbyist and only work on my own guns but IMO it's worth a search to find a good 'smith with in-house metal lathe and available time to do that before cutting the tubes.

Here's one made for bulge in the leade of a Fox choke, you can’t see its .013" taper in diameter over the length of the mandrel. Bolt and washer hold it against the muzzle while tapping. That's blue Dykem over the steel.
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[Bob Jurewicz]

"Gauge Pins" are solid steel cylindrically shaped plugs about 2" long available in sets with diameter variations of .001" each. They are used as Frank describes and work great. I use multiple pins and gradually work the bore up to proper size.
I have two (2) sets which cover diameters of 20, 16 and 12 GA bore diameters. I think I recall paying about $60 a set on ebay.
Bob Jurewicz

[Don Strelioff]

Thanks for all all the good info
My thoughts are this I have a vhe 30 “ bbl choked extra full I would like something with chokes closer to skeet two or light mod
As for devaluing the gun as it is it’s value is not high and vh grades in general are priced modestly
Plus I paid very little for this gun
I will give it some thought

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Don Strelioff

Thanks for all all the good info
My thoughts are this I have a vhe 30 “ bbl choked extra full I would like something with chokes closer to skeet two or light mod
As for devaluing the gun as it is it’s value is not high and vh grades in general are priced modestly
Plus I paid very little for this gun
I will give it some thought

I'm afraid my thought process, and yours, differ, but, it's your gun. There are plenty of guns out there that have been spoiled this way. When you're dead, the gun will go to the next guy, and he will pay very little for it. If it doesn't serve your purpose now, sell it, and get one that does, but don't do something that can't be undone.