doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ever mill a SxS raised rib to sunken rib insitu?

OK, I know I am crazy, but has anyone tried to mill down a raised rib on a SxS without taking the barrels apart? The barrels and ribs are brazed. I want to lighten a SxS and am thinking about milling down the raised rib to get it as low as possible, and then putting in a ball end mill and making it a sunken game rib.

I can see how I could set the barrels up and securely hold them in place. I would also have the bottom of the barrels supported in places to reduce/eliminate barrel deflection. It seems possible, but yet at the same time I still think it is crazy.

Any experience or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Do you shoot it to point of aim now? If so, wouldn't that modification also require the stock be bent?

Marc, I hope you know how thick your rib is. I just looked at a detached Parker rib that is part of a project and it doesn't have a lot of milling room. I have about enough room to remove the matting but any more milling and I would be nervous.

I would be doing it to save weight, not to do anything with point of impact. I think I can get 2ozs out of it. Then you would get to remove 2oz from the stock, and all of a sudden you have shaved a quarter of a pound.

8bore-

Your post triggered something I had not thought of-I wonder if that rib is hollow? I am assuming it is solid. Does anyone know how Italian brazed ribs are profiled? Looking at th eend of the rib, it appears to be solid. If there is a plug brazed in there, then they did an awesome job of fitting it to where no line would show.

As far as the actual set up, i really do think I know how I could set it up and take the rib down. It is limited by the diameter of the mill and the profile of the barrels as they approach the rib. I would start with a brand new carbide end mill and never move the barrels from the original set up.

My Parker rib is .080 at the muzzle and .100 at the breech. I don't know if yours is hollow or not, but I won't be milling on mine. If you're going to mill on it anyhow, drill a hole in it to see if it's hollow. In fact, you can remove the front sight and look down in the hole. "Why didn't I think of that?"

When I had my SxS flinter built, we used 16ga. Ithaca Flues barrels. I didn't do it, but the guy building it for me, used a ball end mill to concave the rib, to make it look more period correct. It came out very well.

I have never seen a true solid raised rib. The LC Smith raised SSP rib is really a channel. I pulled one off personally.

I believe a Winchester 'solid rib' is the same way, but have no direct eyes on the underside of one. Same for the Browning Super 'solid rib'. But a quick way to check would be to pull the bead and look.

Again, a quick way to check would be to pull the bead and look, before cutting anything!

If the rib is hollow, and you think the barrels are still heavier than they should be, check the wallthickness.

My BSS guns all have raise ribs that are channels (hollow) as well. The barrels are heavy on a BSS (20g at least) because the walls are near .050 thick. Backbore is the solution for that.

I believe that some "solid" ribs which are hollow, as has been stated, have the "Hollow" stopping short of the muzzle. It would thus actually be "Solid" at the muzzle. The front sight may not be set back quite far enough to be a 100% indicator. It could show solid there & than as you cut back a ¼" or so behind it you might cut through.

Oh, what the heck. Strap it into the vise and crank up the Bridgeport. We're giving you way too much to think about. Miller is right about the muzzle area, but I suggested drilling a hole farther back. That's what I would do. Good luck with the project. The swamped rib sounds like a good idea. Boss and Purdey build pigeon guns and some bird guns with no rib. A friend has one of the Purdeys and it is a wonderful gun. You could do it that way. Murphy

Don't forget the pics.......i gotta see this!