I have work done by Kirk Merrington in the past and have been happy, but I am wondering who else does quality work?

Also does anyone in The US do invisable sleeving?

Although I haven't seen any guns that were sleeved by Hugh Lomas, I see that he does offer sleeving services.
http://www.hglomasgunmakers.com/repairs.php

Are Merrington, Lomas, and Briley the only sleever choices in the US?

I have a Parker that was sleeved by Simmons, don't know if they still do it or not. It is a nice job.

bill

I am sure that Dewey Vicknair has the capability to sleeve barrels.

I have the capability of sleeving. Most of my "sleeving" is shotgun to double rifle conversions but I have done a few shotguns too.

Aaron sleeved a set of L C Smith barrels for me which are currently at the engraver. The barrels will still need to be rust blued after that but the work Aaron has done thus far is exceptional.

Gunmaker, what is the price range for sleeping a set of 30" barrels?

Thanks

Briley is NOT currently sleeving barrels. There was a big shakedown there about 6 months ago and the gunsmith who physically does the work got let go. I actually had a gun there in the due for sleeving that got returned to me untouched due to that whole mess.

Merrington is the only person that I have personally had do work for me that I know of doing the work. I would like to know some others.

The other issues with this whole sleeving thing is not only who CAN do the work well, but also if they can get tubes. That is a big problem for Kirk right now.

Is there a barrel shortage or something? Who makes the unfinished barrels anyway?

Sleeving tubes are imported into the States, usually from Italy but not always. No US barrel maker supplies tubes for sleeving nor offers chopper lump barrels. There is no active double gun trade State side with the possible exception of CSMC and they are a very low volume manufacturer.

i like to "keep things in the family," as in folks on this board. people like dennis potter, steve bertram, the aforementioned hugh lomas are the first three that come to mind. i would trust all 3 of those guys to do just about anything on a double.

Steve and others,

This is interesting to me. Is there special requirements required for a tube to be used for sleeving? Does it have to come from a firearms manufacturer?

Or could any quality machine shop with adequate machines make a tube from quality steel?

What qualities are required for a tube to be suitable for use in sleeving that we can't find suitable local suppliers?

Is there special heat treatment processes or machining processes?

I'm just curious.

Jason

Barrel steel is different that other steel and gets certified for high pressure use. Getting the steel is not the problem. The real issue is there is not enough demand for a supplier to make a go of it on a commercial basis. To make money at it you need to have dedicated tooling, personal, etc and therefore need to sell a bunch, not a few barrels. Such is the state of the modern SxS market.

Getting barrels is the hardest part of the equation like already mentioned. In the past I've gotten them from HG Lomas, an Italian supplier who has a set minimum, or have sacrificed inexpensive guns for their barrels.