A visit to Bachelder's

[Garth Gustafson]

I dropped in at Brad's yesterday to have him inspect my 16ga 0 frame Damascus barrels for soundness, take out some faint hammer marks left over from an old bulge repair, and refinish the barrels. I haven't been concerned about shooting the gun myself as it had passed inspection by another reputable smith and I only shoot 2-1/2" shells. But not knowing the quality of the bulge repair, and these being Damascus barrels was a concern and I didn't want to pass it down to one of my boys if there was any chance the barrels weren't safe, especially if someone might drop in a heavy load without thinking. How many times have we been in similar situations of not really knowing if the barrels are safe to shoot?

Well I learned a lot yesterday. The gun is safe to shoot but with a qualifier. Turns out the chambers had been lengthened (that was a surprise) and whoever reamed them out did a poor alignment job. They weren't bored straight. I've looked down those barrels hundreds of times and I never picked up on it but the forward edge of the chamber lip particularly in one barrel was canted. The risk is the wad might not be fully ejected after the shot and could remain in the barrel causing a problem with the next shot. I've always been careful to make sure the barrels are clear after every shot and have never had this happen to me but I couldn't let my boys shoot the gun knowing that. It took experience and the equipment to see this and Brad has both. He'll re-bore and straighten the chambers. He's comfortable with the wall thickness in front of the forcing cone as long as I shoot 2-1/2" low pressure shells. His other recommendation is to engrave "Shoot Only 2-1/2" Shells" on the water table. Good advice and I will follow. And he will make those Damascus barrels look new again.