I realize everyone on this board already knows this to some extent.

The real question for me is where rebarrelling can be done at a price I can pay without going too far upside down.

My desire vs reality may already be ridiculous.

If the market gets so expensive that new guns don’t get made, high end double guns begin to die.

If the trade makes rebarreling impossible by price (we are almost there now) And worse no one is even doing it then all the worn out guns with thin walls become permanent wall hangers.

We are a fringe hobby that is shrinking more and more and the shrinking trade supporting it is concerning if you want to get an old gun rebuilt.

We will soon be left, if we are not already, with playing with those old guns still serviceable, that is until they wear out, then oblivion.

While it can be argued that there are plenty more side by sides still serviceable to supply our actual need, as opposed to our wants, it is that we want to be able to have.

I understand another post I read recently on the math and economics buying an already sleeved gun as smarter than buying one needing to be sleeved, true, however it ignores an underlying principle which is I want what I want. I have three guns for which I need barrels. All are shootable in their current form, I simply want new barrels on them. One I may of located a set of barrels in the white, but whether that works remains to be seen.

The other two a Purdey 16 with cut 26inch barrels that have Briley tubes that I want to replace with sound longer barrels, and a Boss with excellent wall thickness 12ga tubes on it, but I have discovered the frame is really lean and the same width or narrower than several of my light 16’s, so I want to have a set of 27inch 16ga barrels in addition to the nice thick 12ga 28inch barrels it already has.

Why because I like so many others on this board want that, and what they want, they want

New barrels are like the holy grail. A good set of new barrels will last through to my life, what is left of it, through into my Grand Son’s life (I pray he will like my guns and that I will last long enough to teach him)

The price point has been and will be the problem, I am not sure what that point is

My hope is that someone(s) on this side of the pond will start providing new barrels for classic British guns, whether someone already here or someone emigrates from the collapsing British trade and then provides the service.

In the end reality we face market forces that overwhelm desire and reason, there are not enough of us doublegun lovers with money to create the marketplace we want.