O/U Barrel work

[Dacos]

I was wondering if anyone knows of a good gunsmith (in the Maryland/DC area preferably, but anywhere in the States is OK) that can shorten my Browning O/U barrels from 26 to 22"? Thx - Dacos

 

[Jim K]

I don't know any gunsmiths I would trust to do that. It is not just a "hacksaw" job and it would be easy to really ruin the gun. I suggest calling the Browning USA Service Department:

Browning Service Department
One Browning Place
Arnold, Missouri 63010-9406
1-800-322-4626

Jim

 

[sross]

Coles In Harpswell Maine.
tel. 207-833-5027
www.colegun.com.

COLES GUNSMITHING & MACHINE
HARPSWELL ROAD
HARPSWELL, MAINE
04079

They do shotgun work for people all over the world. They tend to come across as a little snotty but do good work. AT least they did for me.

 

[HSMITH]

Simmons, in Kansas.

 

[simmonsguns]

if your set up to do this it's not a tuff job,it's all in the set-up.i did 8 this week.
keep in mind,once the barrels are cut they will be cylinder bore,some people don't understand this.

 

[Jim K]

Hi, Paul,

Can you jug choke the barrels, or use a screw-in choke tube? Or are the barrels too thin at that point?

Jim

 

[simmonsguns]

Hi jim,we used to jug choke barrels,it was a common thing.with the advent of screw-in choke tubes,the jug choke faded into the past,i for one would like to see a return of the practice.
The barrels might be thick enough to allow the screw-in choke tube,they would have to be checked for bore dia. and wall thickness and outside barrel dia.,if they do not meet the requirements for win-chokes,rem-chokes or tru-chokes,they could take briley tubes.
The charge for the first three is mostly a standard charge,higher or lower in some areas,we charge $100.00 for them with 1 tube,briley tubes are higher but in the cases where the standard tube will not work,they are the last chance,we charge $250.00 for them but you can send them to briley yourself for the same or less cost,we offer them as an extra servace.
For the barrel sets that i build,i get my barrels from shaw with fixed chokes or no choke,with the no choke barrels i can allow for extra thickness for tubes so it does not matter with new barrels on wall thickness or the other spec.,also with these i can backbore 10 to 15 thou. from the bore,sometimes more depending on wanted finished barrel weight and dia.,with the backbore and choke tubes it creates a different finished choke and pattern.
I like playing with backboreing and forceing cone work to get the best pattern,like Mr.Vang has shown us,there is allot of simple correct ways to make the barrel do what you want it to do with out dumping allot of money into a shotgun,i think very highly of Hans Vang and what he does.
We do the same thing to shotgun barrels that he does,we do ours mostly for law enforcement,it's tough working with a 14 inch barrel,trying to get it to pattern good.jug chokes and choke tubes are a usefull item.i have had to much coffee today.

 

[Jim K]

Yes, I have had those days. Lotsa luck.

Jim