doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sleeving a doublegun

The barrel weight question is something that people often quote as a problem with sleeving . But on a 100 plus year old gun that now has a bore size .015" above original proof size and wall thickness of less than .020" you should ask yourselves what did the barrels weigh when the gun left the factory in the days or roll turn over 2&1/2" black powder . Not modern 2&3/4" nitro loads that the gun will be expected to use now . Ask also has the stock worn or been renovated ,shortened ,is it thin/worn in the hand and has this affected the balance ?

I've watched John shoot at the Spring Southern, and he is very good, but I thought his 34" Parkers were original. and one of them may be. Had no idea he had sleeved guns as well. Interesting info, Stan.

Shotguns are a walk in the park compared to double rifles. No need to send it out if country, there are people here capable of sleeving.

Merrington and Briley are the places to have do sleeving work on shotguns in the states.

it would be interesting to know current comparative costs...and of course shooting results after sleeving, as well as weight and balance changes...

last time i had a gun sleeved was over ten years ago, so i have no current info on cost, etc...

anybody else?

Browning made threaded "choke tubes" which seemed more like barrel extensions, up to I think 4" long back in the '90's.
Threading two barrels is a far simpler approach than sleeving two. Of course if it's a vintage platform, a steady diet of heavy loads will show sooner or later.
I'm finding my scores are improving with 24g loads and 32" FxF barrels. And the fatigue lessened. But I'm not shooting M class either. I only give up performance on close stuff. The long stuff is refreshingly delightful to shoot.
The heavy gun makes you really think about set up.

John, he told me several years ago that "the only way I can afford to shoot 34" Parkers is to buy guns with bad barrels "cheap" and have them sleeved". He may have one that is not, don't know for certain. Pretty certain his hammer gun is sleeved, too.

Clapper, the threaded extensions really defeat the purpose of having longer barrels to begin with, IMO. If your rib is not as long as the tubes, I can't really see where you have accomplished anything. Some would say that going from 30" to 32" won't accomplish anything either. Well, I shoot a 31 1/2" MX-8 in registered competition, along with a 30" SuperX 2 Sporting, which has a sighting radius at least as long as the MX-8. I don't want to start another debate here about merits or faults of longer barrels, but I am of the opinion that the lead looks just a bit different over a set of 32" barrels than it does over a 30" set, all else equal. It's small, but it's there. This whole project is an effort to get the lead to look the same as my other comp guns. It may or may not give me an edge over my 30" set, but ................. if it gains me 1-2 birds out of 100, I will be thrilled. I've lost a lot of shoots by 2 birds, and got myself in several shootoffs by one bird.

Briley's posted price is $1950. But, I think that is if you stay with the same length barrels. Going with a longer set means extra work. Ribs must be lengthened, for one thing. I have emailed Briley about this and await their reply. I intend to contact a couple other people as well to talk about the job. A work in progress, as they say.

SRH

Westley Richards did a large number of sleeving jobs over the years. Or perhaps they sent a large number out and stamped their name on the job. No matter the case their joints were not well hidden and often stand out like a red flag to a bull. A well done sleeve job is almost invisible while a poorly hidden job looks hideous. Maybe they looked better when first done and just aged poorly or worse they always looked like crap. It not location or the job but skill of the person doing it and the willingness to pay for best quality work.

You are on the right track, IMO. I went down that same road several years ago, but with an MX-8 choked .020" and .020". My scores steadily improved. I am 100% convinced that many serious students of sporting can improve significantly by going to tighter chokes and not worrying with changing chokes for different presentations, but concentrating more on the bird (and not the gun). It does wonders for your confidence in yourself when a clay bird turns to dust when centered by a load out of that full choke, doesn't it? BTW, I don't find I l give up enough close targets with tight chokes to even make it a consideration. Smoke dem rabbits.

SRH

Stan, Brileys price is inline with mine at $2000. Of course some barrel lengths become hard to get.