Sorry, Bill, but I can tell you he won't do it. He is not in business, and mostly just works on his own stuff. Nowadays, he's lost interest in double guns after restoring a couple hundred, and he's back into the Winchester rifles again. He is the kind of guy who can teach himself to do just about anything. I went through the learning curve of relaying ribs with him. Took him 5 tries on the first set he did, and still not perfect. By the time we got around to my gun, he had done about a half dozen and they were looking VERY good. I figured I had nothing to lose, and talked him into giving the weld repair a try. It couldn't have gone better. I helped with the rib relay, and did all the grunt work (prepping). He does lots of small, intricate welding for one of his other hobbies, and I knew he had the skill. I watched while he did the welding, as an extra pair of eyes was good to be on the lookout for signs of an impending burn-through. The rib relay came out factory-quality, and none of it cost me a cent (we "swapped work" for each other all the time).
I know a bunch of muzzle-loader guys whom I've heard talk about having barrels repaired this way. I hope to shoot skeet with them on Monday. If I can make it up there I'll ask around and see who they've used.
Last edited by vh20; 05/14/09 02:44 AM.
