doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Barrel pinhole repairable?

I am considering buying a Damascus barreled shotgun I have not
seen. It is described by owner to have a "pinhole" in the middle of one barrel. Can this be safely repaired? If so, how?
Fortunately this is a factory two barrel set.
Would be very thankful for your thoughts.
Bill McPhail

Phail:
Depending upon how large the "pinhole" is, there are only three potential repairs. The first is a Teague liner. If Teague would even consider such a job. The other is to have the barrels sleeved or replaced.

To my knowledge, no other options are available. And in their present condition, the pinhole barrels are not shootable. Thus, the gun is only slightly better than a "one-barrel set."

Best, Kensal

Kensal
That was what I was afrad of. Will post a better desciption
when I see the gun.
thanks
Bill

The problem with damascus barrel shotguns are the developing "pinholes" you can't see. Just under the surface a damascus barrel can look like a piece of swiss cheese. Unlike many on this forum I have strong reservations about shooting any damascus barrel shotgun as they all have this problem potentially due to the manufacturing process.
Jim

I had one like that in my younger days. Everytime I shot it I had a little plume of smoke. My friends called it "Old Faithful"

Bill,

Dr. Gaddy did tig weld some damascus barrels. I know it can be done. I am not sure who could or would do it today. As stated, it very much depends on the location that needs repair.

The old traditional method of repair is lost to us. It involved cutting a section from a donor barrel. The offending barrel would have a matching section removed. Then the "patch" was welded into place.

Pete

as an option, you could have briley fit the barrels with a pair of their full length smaller gauge tubes. had this done to a 16 gauge parker hammergun. it is now a sweet 28 gauge shooter.

Ed - How much did Briley charge for that service, if I may ask?

Bill, call Keith Kearcher and talk with him about the welding. I know he has welded a few fluid steel sets in the past, but with no guarantees.

Stan

Where is the hole? If near the muzzle it is no more than a early proprorted gun. If near the hand then I would not shoot it without a set of Companion tubes in it. Fingers are real important to good follow through.

Repairs can be made. I have seen them done with brazing, welding and the patch method mentioned in other post. A good micro welder should be able to do the job. Repairing a pin hole near the choke area may not be that hard to do. But I would worry about how many other other weak areas are present but not seen.

I had a set of twist barrels that had a leak that went into the area between the barrels about three inches from the chokes. Gas escaped out a weep hole under the fore arm. When I took the fore arm off you would see powder residue. It took me an hour to find the crack area. The barrels rang like a church bell but had a crack that was almost an inch long. Looked like the idiot who reamed the chokes out either gouged the barrel, the weld or put too much pressure and found a weak area. Then he honed the barrels and the crack was almost impossible to see. Do a bubble test to find leaks.