doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com the sleeving problem

specifically, we do not have anyone left over here that sleeves barrels...

however, there are plenty of sources for sleeving in the uk...

course, the problem is getting guns back and forth, due to adverse laws here and there...

so, how bout this approach...

a. drill lots of holes in the barrels to be sleeved. pack and ship direct to sleever...

b. ship frame, with internal parts removed. then in separate box ship action parts and forend assembly. no need to ship butt stock and mounting hardware...

c. three separate shipments coming and going...

wonder if this would work?

Sorry Ed, not legal. The frame/action is considered a firearm. You cannot do that as that would be an illegal export. Export a frame ( firearm) falls under the Dept of Commerce.

John Boyd
Quality Arms

State Department actually and special rules for barrels are involved. Been down that road.

how about shipping frame to agent in republic of ireland...

then hand carry frame to agent in occupied belfast...

then ship to sleever in uk...

or is it us rules prohibiting export of frames...

And who is going to pay all the middle men and shipping cost a younger guy needs to set up to sleeve guns if there is a market .I have sleeved a lot of guns it's a big project with pitfalls and finding tubes is difficult you have to have an importer or if you had cnc lathe you could make them lots of money to set up.

Your main concern would be that guy at your local post office running over it with a tow motor- the way another guy's gun on here got treated several years ago. It becomes difficult to sleeve after that happens.

I have sleeved many. The issue is sourcing tubes and being profitable. Not many want to pay what it requires due to the stigma surrounding sleeved guns market value.

gunmaker: understand sleeving in uk is reasonable enough to pay for back and forth transit?
and still be able to make profit?...

a target market would be high value small bore guns that have developed barrel issues that make them unsafe, even with bp loads...

nice to know there is at least one sleever left here...

not all gun repair work is based on cost vs retail value...

there are the family heirlooms to consider...

but, i would think you know much more about that than me...

Gunmaker sleeved one barrel on an Elsie Specialty for me. I didn't even know that was possible. He did a great job on the project at a reasonable price. Too bad he has found out he can devote his time to other projects and make more money. Our loss...Geo

I don't think this would work Ed. In fact, I'd probably bet on it without knowing for sure. Even the extra steps you suggest would make it too expensive and complicated, even if they were legal. I don't know what restrictions the UK has on shipping barrels and parts, but in the U.S., the post-1898 frame or the receiver is what is strictly controlled in the U.S. They are what the ATF considers as the firearm, which is also why all receivers and frames had to be serial numbered after the GCA of 1968. So I think most of us could legally ship a shotgun frame to you because you have an 01 FFL license, but you could not ship a frame directly to me. And it gets even more complicated when you wish to import or export a frame or receiver.

There are some gunsmiths in the U.S. who have the ability to sleeve barrels. I spoke to one at a gunshow a couple years ago, but have no idea concerning the quality of his work, the cost, or even whether he is still doing it. If I'm not mistaken Aaron Little does it, and certainly many of those gunsmiths who are converting double shotguns to double rifles. I still kick myself for not buying that unfinished Simson shotgun conversion to .45-70 double rifle that was done by the late Bob Hyndon, which you were selling here a few years ago. Your asking price was quite reasonable, considering the amount of work that had been done. It has never been easy or cheap to have a quality sleeving job done, so you're right about the type of gun that would be worthy of paying to have sleeved.

The real problem with shipping firearms to and from Europe and the U.K. is that anti-gunners here and abroad have been successful in making the process much more complicated and much more expensive that it once was. The anti-gunners know they can't eliminate guns and gun ownership all at once, so they are using the "Death by a Thousand Cuts" method to slowly make acquisition and ownership of guns and ammunition increasingly complicated and expensive.

The evidence is as plain to see as Joe Biden's dementia and incompetence, but many gun owners refuse to see the threat, and simply begin opposing them. Instead, they continue to vote for it. You really can't fix stupid.

Another possible solution to your dilemma, since you are already an FFL holder, would be to consider taking another step, and become an importer yourself. You already have experience shipping firearms domestically, and doing the record keeping. And you would be able to expand your inventory by also buying guns from UK and European sources that are selling very cheap due to restrictive gun laws there. . You could advertise your importing service in the proper For Sale forum here, instead of attempting to avoid paying Dave the $12.00 fee for advertising a sale here by doing continual free advertising in your Tagline. I know I'd prefer to pay the import fee to a guy who was willing to have the integrity to pay Dave, as you do.