Barrel sleeving HELP!

[Keith Doty]

I need some advice from those wiser than me! I have acquired a CH model with Acme barrels but they have been abused. Sewer pipes?? They have been honed to death and now measure .015 and .018 minimum barrel wall. Some pretty serious pits still visible with a bore scope. I'm definitely scared of them. I THINK I want to have the barrels cut and sleeved, have no use for nice wall hangers, I want a "shooter". Thoughts and recommendations? Who does a first class job of this? I know if done right it can be nearly invisible as I've seen guns that were done and , on 2 of them, would not have known if not told. All help and opinions appreciated.

[Opening Day]

Only one man, Kirt Merrington and he is in TX

[B. Dudley]

At least two men... Aaron Little does excellent sleeving work. He has done it for me recently and I was very happy. The work was top notch.

[B. Dudley]

I would add for consideration of the OP that it may be more economical and also desirable to just replace the barrels.

A good used barrel set can always be found for less than the cost of sleeving. You may not be able to find a set of acme barrels, but hell, you never know. A set of acme barrels was sold on Ebay only a month ago. that is up to you as to how important barrel steel type is.

A lot of times depending on the barrels in question, Sleeving requires stepping down a gauge. Is that something you are willing to do? Also, in the end, though the work may be good, it is still a sleeved set of barrels which will never be worth the amount of getting the work done.

[Kevin McCormack]

You might consider just using a set of full-length subgauge tubes to preserve the originality of the gun. Briley makes custom as well as "drop-in" tubes according to the gauge of the gun (e.g., 12 to 20 gauge, 16 to 28 gauge, etc.). I went that route some years ago when faced with a situation similar to yours - beautiful Damascus barrels but tissue-paper thin in spots. It is a very rare gun (2 known in the records) and I definitely wanted to shoot it so I got Briley full-length Ultralites (which I would not pay extra for again since the difference was only 4 oz. and the cost was $85 more). A plus is that you can also get the tubes with screw-in chokes. That way, you retain the originality of the gun as well as have degrees of freedom in choke selection.

[Kensal Rise]

Mr. Doty:
Simply send the barrels/gun to Kirk Merrington. He is THE expert. He will tell you what can be done, what can't be done, and the safest route to follow. Period.

Kirk's phone:
830-367-1325