doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com My first Flues

I just bought a Flues made in late 1910, according to the chart I found. S.N. 216458. It has a broken firing pin, and the gunsmith doesn't have time to work on it for a month or two. In the meantime I want to refinish the wood. The finish is original-gummy, scratched, etc., but no cracks. My question is exactly how does the stock come off? It appears to have a stock bolt in about half the length of the stock from the back. Also two tang screws of course, and the screw under the lever. It still doesn't want to budge. What did I miss? I do not want to damage it. Also, the seller said it has 2 3/4" chambers. When I put a tape measure in to the front of the chambers to the back of the barrels it measures exactly 3" to the extractor cut, and 3 3/32 to the rear of the barrels. Would this be a 2 3/4" chamber? And if so, would it have been lengthened from new, or original? Obviously this is my first old double, but I own several newer ones that never presented these questions or challenges. I love the gun, how light it is and how it feels and swings, and want to shoot it a lot some day with reduced pressure shells. It seems to be in very good shape otherwise, and not overly abused. It is very tight, with no wiggle anywhere with the forearm off, and the lever is slightly right of center. Any information you guys would share with me would be greatly appreciated.

Neander-
Trigger guard and trigger plate have to be removed...be careful to not lose the lever spring as you remove the trigger plate...
How familar is your Smith with old Ithaca doubles?...

It's usually pretty tricky measuring chamber length with a tape measure... too flexible. It's even tough with a 6" steel scale because there usually isn't a well defined step between the chamber and bore, but rather a taper. You didn't say what gauge gun your Flues is, but I don't think any of the 12, 16, or 20 ga. Flues had 3" chambers. Many were shorter than 2 3/4". Remember that a 2 3/4" shell is that length after firing and the chamber should accomodate the shell after the crimp is opened on firing. Have your gunsmith accurately measure the chamber length before he repairs the broken firing pin. If someone reamed short chambers out to 3" in a Flues, I don't think I'd want to shoot it anyway. I do have a friend who used to routinely shoot 3" magnum shells in a 20 ga. flues and got away with it. I also have two sets of 20 ga. and one 16 ga. flues barrels that have one tube badly split about where your left hand would be. I don't know what caused these mishaps or if any injury resulted, but I can see that the barrels are pretty thin at that point.

The secret to measuring chamber depth with a 6" machinist's scale is to use sight, not feel. Point the bbl toward a light sourse, as a window not real bright, with your eye behind it till you see the cone as a shadow. slide the scale in while still watching & watch for the end to just touch the shadow line, mark the end of breech wuth your thumb, pull it out & read. Take several readings to insure you are being consistent. Very quickly you will be able to acheive a measurenment with in 1/32 inch, less with more practise, amply close for determining nominal chamber length. Measurement is taken "To" the cone, not including it.

Great advice Miller, and I hope Neanderthal checks and double checks, or has a gunsmith do it for him. If he was really getting a chamber length of 3" to 3-3/32", it could mean that some fool opened up his chamber and possibly left the barrel walls dangerously thin at the point of highest pressure. A lot of bad things can happen in a guns 100 year existance, like reaming, honing, and polishing of barrels. Sometimes the result is so bad as to be immediately obvious. Other times it may look perfect, but leave you with a gun that should not be shot with any loads. Most garden variety Flues sell for less than $350.00 in my neck of the woods... not enough to risk losing an eye or fingers.