VH 20ga ruptured barrel. Parts gun?

[Steiner]

Originally Posted by Christopher Cefalu

VH 20ga O frame, the left barrel is ruptured just past the forcing cone. The rest of the gun frame, buttstock, forearm are all in good order or at least appear to be. Question; is this a total loss and now just a parts gun or is worth or possible to source a set of 20ga barrels and have them fitted? I do not have any knowledge on how or when the rupture occurred. I’m hoping to rescue the gun before it ends up in a trash can. I know the it will never be as valuable as when it was original but maybe it could be a good shooter unless it is cost prohibitive. The serial number was not listed in the serialization book. The VH was in with a bunch of guns purchased in an estate so I’m looking at offering something for it but not much, I’ve never ventured down this type of road before, just would hate to see it end up in a trash heap if it is still useful.

Would you mind sharing a picture of the barrels? Having experienced something similar, I have a rather keen interest in the topic. Good luck in your search for barrels.

[Larry Zimmer]

Anything can be fixed with enough resources. I have an early Fox, (Philadelphia Gun Co) that developed a bulge in the same area. A local gunsmith manufactured a sleeve and machined the barrels and inserted it. His specialty was making screw in chokes and installing them in older guns. He then worked down the bulge and had the barrels refinished by Buck Hamlin. This process set me back $450 on a gun I had given $300 for. This was 25+ years ago.