Bachelder's work continues to be stellar

[Opening Day]

Originally Posted by John Campbell

Personally, I'd rather have a professionally installed weep hole than a festival of rust between my barrels. Bachelder knows what he's doing.

The problem is these guns are 80 to 120 years old and you can have small holes between the rib and the barrel that can't be seen and during the process water will get trapped between the rib and the barrel. You might not care but you will get unseen rust in there. A weep hole can be covered up after that it will be hardly noticeable.

[chris dawe]

Originally Posted by Eric Eis

The problem is these guns are 80 to 120 years old and you can have small holes between the rib and the barrel that can't be seen and during the process water will get trapped between the rib and the barrel. You might not care but you will get unseen rust in there. A weep hole can be covered up after that it will be hardly noticeable.

Right on !

[10ga Hammer]

For what its worth, this is what you find under the ribs of an 1879 Parker. Barrels were all original, no weep hole, just 140 years of decay.
Almost every set of barrels I have refinished, no matter the maker, show small solder voids along the ribs when submerged in the hot water tank.
I worry that such ribs might come loose later after I have completed my work. So far to my knowledge that has yet to happen.`
If you want to truly RESTORE a set of barrels this old, just pull the ribs ,clean out the crud, relay the ribs and refinish. Just my opinion, worth what you paid for it. Before and after pics.