doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fitting orphan barrels to a side by side

Is it possible to fit another set of barrels to a side by side. I have a 20 bore LC Smith and have wondered of finding a second set of barrels and having them fitted.

I have a friend who has done this a couple times with W 21's. Pretty sure it is possible but the cost might be more than it is worth. You have to consider the fitting of the forearm as well

As a 20g, it will have a Featherweight frame.
If it's after about 1940 it will likely have a Single Sighting Plane rib with a higher rib extension and action breech



20g barrels are tough to find, and expensive.
If about the same DOM the barrels might just drop in, but should of course be checked by a qualified smith.

have had success fitting fox barrels...

Some can be fitted and some cannot, without very expensive alterations. IMHO, there are very few double gun smiths that can really fit a set right.

Just because the barrels close tightly and there is no noticeable play with the forend off doesn't mean they are properly fitted. There should be a very high percentage of contact between the barrel's breech ends and the standing breech. I once paid a nationally touted double gun smith to fit an extra set. He bragged on how easy it was. When I received it I could see daylight all the way to the bottom on one barrel and the other barrel had less than 30% contact with the breech. Totally botched.

I have attempted to fit a set myself and failed in doing it properly. So, I somewhat understand the geometry and mechanics involved. There is one American smith that I would trust to do it. But, he is so self-centered and egotistical that I have "sworn" to never deal with him again. Put simply, it's not for the faint of heart, whether you're doing the work or having it done.

Personally, unless Gunter Pfrommer approved the barrel fitting, I would pass. I've paid and learned my lesson. I don't need to pay for another.

I have not tried Pfrommer, but I've been given very high recommendations on him. He would be the next one I would try for barrel fitting.

I would have trusted Jim Kelly to fit barrels, but he no longer walketh among us. Such a huge loss to the vintage gun community in the Southeast.

I've successfully fitted orphan barrels to several guns. The very first was an 00 Grade 12 gauge L.C. Smith that I bought years ago for $40.00 at a Gun Show. It had an obstruction burst of the left barrel after the owner fired it with snow packed in the barrel. I knew it was a good deal, just for parts alone, but soon decided to try replacing the barrels.

I searched quite a while for a suitable set of barrels. I was unable to find a good set of Armor Steel barrels, but found a set of London steel barrels from a 12 ga. L.C. Smith Hammer gun. Everything looked identical except for the name on the barrels. I read what I could on the subject and finally jumped in, but not without making one big mistake. My orphan barrels were a perfect fit at the breech balls, but they would not come close to closing. So I made an oil lamp to smoke the breech end of the barrels and extractor, and the standing breech, and carefully began removing material with fine files, and then stones. I kept smoking the ends and cutting, and gradually the barrels got closer to closing with very good contact at the breech. A bit more, and finally they snapped closed with that distinctive sound an L.C. Smith makes when it closes. The ends of the barrels were even with the breech balls. The top lever was nicely right of center with zero play, thanks to the rotary bolt. I had the correct clearance between the water table and the barrel flats, and my contact at the standing breech was better than my other L.C. Smith doubles. The original forend fit well too after very minor adjusting.

I was pretty proud of myself, and decided to take it outside for a test firing. I popped a couple shells in the chamber, and the gun wouldn't close. WTF??? I immediately realized that I had made a dumb mistake by removing several thousandths from the breech end of the barrels and the end of the extractor, which reduced the depth of the rim cut and altered the headspace. I should have been mostly stoning the hook. I put the gun away and pondered what to do. I called a few local gunsmiths, but none of them had a 12 ga. chamber reamer.

About a year later, I bought a couple suitable milling cutters from a local guy who sells surplus tools for $2.00 a pound. I carefully ground the end to make a short pilot to fit the end of the chamber, and then ground another section the correct diameter for making the rim cut. I stoned the cutting surfaces of the flutes with a very fine triangular stone, and used my makeshift reamer to slowly hand cut both rim cuts several thousandths deeper until my shells would allow the gun to close correctly. It worked perfectly, and I learned a valuable lesson that cost only some time and a little money.

Finding suitable barrels is the hardest part, especially for the more scarce small bores. I've been looking for a nice set of 16 gauge barrels for a G Grade Lefever, and also an early 16 gauge B Grade Baker for years, with no luck yet. When you find a set, they may be oversize, and will require fitting. They may be undersize, and will also require building up the hook with weld to permit fitting. Or if you get very lucky, you may find a set that is a drop-in fit and isn't too small or too large across the breech. Firing pin spacing must be correct too. I lucked out that way once with a very nice set of Lefever fluid steel barrels that I bought a a gun show for only $35.00. Another guy had them in his hand, and he was almost certain they were for a Stevens, but I recognized what they were and silently hoped he would set them down without buying them. He finally did, and I nailed them. They perfectly fit another Lefever I had that had cut 18.1" barrels.

Sometimes the hardest part of doing a job is getting past the negative thinking that it is too difficult or complex. I've worked with many skilled tradesmen who think nothing of jumping in to repair the multi-million dollar equipment owned by their employer. Yet they lack the confidence to attempt relatively simple jobs on their own pick-up trucks. You have to know your own skills and limitations, and decide if you have or are willing to invest in the correct tools, plus take the time to learn the process. Practicing on junk guns is never a bad idea.

That said, someone here recently posted about wanting to replace just one damaged tube on an L.C. Smith. He ended up contacting a noted L.C. Smith gunsmith, Jerry Andrews of Moundsville, W. Va., to find and fit a set of orphan barrels to his gun:

https://doublegunshop.com/forums/ub...jerry+Andrews&Search=true#Post658526

Buck Hamlin’s grandson, Trevor Rice, works on LCs. Give him a shout. He may be able to help. I had Buck fit both R frame and FW barrels to 12s and 20s. still shoot them. Good luck.