doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sleeved Barrels

You got me on that one Stevie. Although I have never used a double gun without ribs, I have carried muzzleloaders through all kinds of weeds and brush for many miles over many years. I very seldom get any weed's brush or debris stuck between the barrel and ramrod. It sounds like the difference in handling reported by Shotgunlover just might be worth the very occasional trouble of pulling out a stray weed. Ugly is a personal matter. I see a lot shotguns that I find unattractive. I don't buy them. I do kinda regret not buying a one year old 12 ga. Browning Citori with choke tubes, as new in box, for $900.00 last year. Not my cup of tea, but it would have been good trading stock.

SKB, I would rather catch weeds in ribless barrels that I can clean with my bare hands than corrosion in between the ribs that eats my barrels away, unseen and silent If the gap bothers aesthetically it can be hidden by two detachable carbon fiber strips weighing 20 grams.

The following is from a statement of one of the Brown gunmaking family regarding the Martin ribless:

"Other advantages claimed were: 1) A quarter pound of useless metal is removed. 2) Removing this weight from the barrels makes the gun lighter forward, giving the left arm less work, more control, and an easier swing. 3) The usual hollow space between the barrels in which corrosion can take place undetected is eliminated."

And since the primary subject is sleeving as a repair method, it might be worth thinking of going ribless when sleeving for the reasons mentioned above.

Not me. I'll keep my ribs thanks, same goes for my oil finish and rust blued barrels.

It is a paradox of sorts to see ultra modern CNC machines employed to cut steel within microns and then top it all with tin soldered rib work harking back to Roman times if not earlier.

But tastes are tastes, each his own.

I can recall reading about an over under where the barrels were machined from a single block. It seemed like a clunker. I think soldered ribs can lighten the barrels and help move the cg back between the hands. It might also come in handy to regulate a gun. If a cnced gun doesn�t shoot correctly, what�s the option, back bore the barrels and machine in eccentric choking?

No under rib:



Rib on top:



Not much room for corrosion. Light, too.




Best,
Ted

I'd have to reserve my comments about ribless guns until I actually shot one several outings to compare it to ribbed guns. Looks, and catching weeds or not, have nothing to do with how well you shoot it. If you can shoot one just as well as a ribless gun, great. I surmise that I likely could not. BICBW. And, lighter weight barrels are not necessarily a plus.

SRH

I owned a ribless Martin, Stan. I never synced with it. Mine was in fairly worn condition, but, it had good bores, was in proof, and, not sleeved.

I just didn�t shoot it well, and I don�t believe it was because it was light, or because it didn�t have a rib.

Best,
Ted

I hear you. Sometimes I cannot identify why I don't shoot a particular gun well, I just can't. For example, at one time I owned two MX8s. Both had 31 1/2" barrels of the same weight. I could not shoot the one with choke tubes as well as the fixed choke gun. I tried for years, even to the point of swapping the buttstock from the fixed choke gun to the other. Sight picture the same, no discernible difference, but no dice. Finally saw the handwriting on the wall and sold it.

I just don't keep guns hanging around, taking up space, that I cannot shoot well.

SRH

I have one that I have never shot well at any clay games. But, I can�t seem to miss a grouse with it.
Years ago, I would take it to the club to �get a little practice in� before the season. I just don�t do it anymore. Take it bird hunting, I�ll get my share.
I have no explanation.

Best,
Ted