Stop it. Name the source of your nonsense or just shut up.
glz's post got me thinkin about where this question came from.
here is what i remember...
once knew a very interesting man by the name of russ carpenter.
russ was a gunsmith of some renown. he had a shop in plattikill, ny back in the 60's and 70's. he was well respected for the muzzle loaders he built, plus his ability to keep the old original guns shooting. russ worked on and built many of the guns that won national events sponsored by the national muzzle loading rifle association.
in addition to his gunsmithing skills, russ was also a talented writer for one or more of the outdoor magazines of the time. i am talkin about sports afield, outdoor life and perhaps others of that ilk. he also wrote for "the rifleman", the nra publication and "muzzle blasts", the journal of the nmlra.
anyway, i remember being in russ's shop one day, while he was setting up his jig to relay the ribs on an original sxs muzzle loading shotgun. during our conversation, he mentioned that often ribs came loose during competitive shooting and that he was kept busy with a lot of rib and barrel rejoining work. he did comment that most of the guns he worked on were of english origin and that often, the barrel walls in the area hidden by the ribs were heavily rusted and unsafe for further shooting. he also mentioned that he did not find this problem so much with guns made in other countries...seems like mostly the english guns were prone to this problem...his guess was that the source of the problem was due to the use of acid flux instead of rosin flux in the barrel joining process. he also commented that english barrel walls were typically thinner and lighter than others he had worked on. he did say that he was thinking about writing an article on the subject when he had the time.
several months later, i did receive in the mail, a typed copy of an article he wrote on this subject and others having to do with gunsmithing muzzle loading shotguns. unfortunately, i no longer have the article, so i cannot determine where and when and even if it was published. the logical place for it to have appeared would have been in "muzzle blasts".
i lost track of russ in the 80's and reestablished our friendship in the late 90's when i moved from ny to nh. russ had made the move to vt some time earlier and was practicing his combined trades in the green mountain state, while i was trying to make a buck in nyc. after we met up again, i spent many a happy time chatting with russ and others at the old green mountain antiques arms collectors shows and meetings, sponsored by the brattleboro, vt lions club. unfortunately, the anti gun folks in brattleboro killed the show and the club died. plus russ passed away a few years ago...anyway, that is how i remember the source of my concern and part of the reason for asking this question...
