Has anybody tightened up a Jones under lever double? I have a Charles Osborn 12 bore with 32” barrels which is a bar in wood action. When closed, with out the underlever engaged, it is tight and on face. But when you close the underlever you can see it being crammed forwards, off face by .005-.006. It does not wiggle because the underlever has it cam,ed in place. It is still solidly closed, those Jones actions are very robust.
I seem to be collecting a few of these bar in wood or crab joint guns but they all seem to be from pre 1875 or so and everything wood-wise is needing repairs. They never were a robust action wood-wise, with a lot of wood 1/8”-3/16” thick. Sanded and refinished they become paper thin. Plus 150 year old wood gets very weak in unsupported areas which they have an abundance of.
This one needs a full restoration along with a bit of wood repair. For several years I just thought this gun was too far gone for a rescue, until I measured the barrels which were well within saving. They had been painted black many years ago, and that might have saved them. The bores were perfect other than some dumb azz lengthened the chambers, by elongating the forcing cones. Just load short shells people. Nothing makes a gun stronger by removing metal in the highest pressure areas.
The repair list is a bit long. Off face which should be a simple fix, left hammer not a good replacement, wood chipped, cracking and missing in a couple areas. I got lucky and found a left hammer, in my spares, that was almost a perfect twin of the right. Even the engraving was a close match with only the hole needing slightly to be welded up to reposition it, to time the hammer-axle-firing pin and then a new screw turned, threaded and engraved. I could get by with the old screw for now. Then a stock strip and finish. Fix the off face first.
