doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Re-solder L.C. Smith top rib

If, perchance, only 6 inches of the rib comes loose, does the entire rib need to be removed, cleaned, and re-soldered?

Three main reasons. 1) If the first 6 inches has let loose the remaining 24 are probably not far behind. 2) It's almost as much trouble to fix 6 inches than to strip the whole ribs and do the job right. 3) It would not be becoming to a fine old gun to be repaired half-assed.

This may or may not represent the views of Management.

I see what you mean, TwiceBarrel. I was thinking about a Parker Hammer/Lifter I just bought. About 6 inches of the rib, from the muzzles back, came loose way back when. The rib was repaired and the barrels 'ring true'. Who knows how many rounds were fired after the repair! I have been learning alot about this gun, and was doing some research about re-laying the ribs. Cheers!

Sometimes, a loose rib is indicative of corrosion between/under the ribs. If that's the case, It's usually detected when the rib(s) is/are removed. Then, cleaning and re-tinning and re-soldering is the better way to go,IMO. Among the well respected gunsmiths, there seems to be enough of them that say they'll only do ribs if they pull them all and clean and relay all to ensure a good job, that there has to be something to it at least some of the time.

There have been numerous cases posted on this bbs that were not cases of prevalent corrosion under the ribs and a simple repair without pulling the entire rib seems to have solved the problem.

Me? I'd like to pull the ribs to make sure it won't come back anytime soon.