I would like to ask if anyone knows of other double makers, especially American, who drilled vent holes in lower ribs. I occasionally see this and generally assume they may have been redone at some time, but often there is no evidence of refinishing.
Most American doubles were manufactured with what are called in the trade "weep holes".....one hole in each of the two bottom rib sections...one in front of the barrel flats the other in front of the forearm attach iron....both centered close to the end of each independent rib section....
Hunter Arms, Fox, Ithaca and the rest, even the lowly Crescent all have these factory rib weep holes.....which were drilled by the factory to allow air to penetrate this void and help keep it dry between the tubes and stabilize the atmosphere between the tubes as the temperature changes.........also used for light occasional oiling etc.......
When I refinish barrels, I always clean very well the internal rib area through these holes with Acetone....then plug these holes with silicon during the rust process......then remove the silicon after completion........a paper clip is the most handy application device for the silicon.......or for cleaning out plugged holes.....which are commonly plugged with crud on customer guns.....
Without weep holes, the void between the barrels is generally a humid vacuum box which accelerates rust as the climate and temperature changes........kind of like a built in sweat box.....
Guns built without weep holes are assembled with the theory that the void is completely filled with solder.......we know with near certainty that this is not the case......
Best,
