doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com IthacaFlues

The solder on my 1912 Flues 12 guage is apparently loose because they do not "ring"when held with one finger on the hook. I know it does not make sense economically, but I want to disassemble and resolder them.
But before I begin this job I just noticed that there is no joint in the top rib just forward of the breech. Is this a single piece of steel all the way into the notch in the action?Will I be able to detach the top rib from the barrels OK?
Any sage advice about this will be appreciated.

Jim

Well, no sage advice.

But did you try to ring them with the extractors removed? If you are uncomfortable removing the extractors then take your pocket knife and whittle a small piece of soft wood to wedge the extractors in the open position and try to ring them.

Also, there are some perfectly fine barrels out there that don't ring. I have a set on a W&C Scott sixteen that are fine but they don't ring.

The ringing test gives false results both ways. Barrels with gaps in the solder ring and perfectly good barrels fail to ring.

The extractors were removed.I also submerged the barrels and inserted a plastic tube into the vent hole in the bottom short rib.The tube was connected to "canned" air .
I shot a blast into the rib and had a large eruption of bubbles from the center 6" of the top rib.

Thanks for the comments.
Jim

6inches may be repairable or consider the value of the gun. You may want to just keep shooting it.
bill

The gun's value is not very important.I want the experience of repairing the loose barrels.My question concerns how the top rib is attached.I have disassembelled a Winchester 101 and resoldered it successfully.

Is the top rib one piece from the front bead to the rib extension in the action?

Bill I've shot it for about 20 years

Jim

It is soft soldered, I had some British bismuth based solder that had a low melt point that allowed you to make small repairs but if you can do a 101 a Flues should be about 33% easier to do.

bill

Thank you Bill,I will proceed with the Flues barrels in a few days . I'll post the results.

Jim

The rib extension is a separate piece on a Flues. I would not worry about the barrels not ringing. A six inch section could be resoldered without a total strip and relay of the ribs if it really bothers you. Be forewarned, you are opening a giant can of worms. The quality of your job could change the barrels convergence and point of impact. Good luck.

I just checked two Flues from my cabinet, both 16ga's. Both have one piece ribs. Out of curiosity, I check a Nitro Special; one piece also.

Be careful, I tried to do a quick repair on a flues years ago and the forend iron fell off on the floor as I got it heated up and without even thinking, I reached down to pick the metal piece up. It was pretty dam hot still. Live and learn.