Some time ago I noted that my Franz Sodia 12 bore o/u had been shown to have a spot a mere 6 thou thick in the top barrel. The barrels are Bohler super blitz steel and the gun was in regular, but not hard use for almost 30 years with no problems. Last week, the gun went with me when I picked up my Charlin that gunsmith Gunter Pfrommer has put back in superb shape. He looked at the Franz Sodia, measured, and confirmed a thin area on the left side of the top barrel about 12 inches from the breech. That thin area is 6 thou (.1524 mm).
Some months ago I tried to get the Slovenian gunsmith that Montenegrin recommended to quote on making a new set of barrels. He eventually replied that he could not source barrel tubes (!?). I've just emailed him again.
Of interest is that Gunter speculated that the thin area resulted from a mistake by a workman filing to clean up after laying the ventilated rib. His file slipped, marring the side wall, and he likely smoothed the scratched area out resulting in a too thin section. The gun passed proof.
The question for more knowledgeable Board members is whether that thin section of the barrel wall might be marked out and then tig welded to be ultimately filed down to an acceptable wall thickness and reblued. If that is possible and sensible, who might do it?
Best of the Season, Tim
