Late the other night a silly mishap ended with one of my Damascus double shotguns slipping from its perch and sliding down the wall and hitting the corner.
All was ok except the upper 1/8" corner of the left barrel muzzle is flat, so a little bit of the end got hit hard enough to get minor damage.
I'm no handyman in any sense of the word, but the only thing I could come up with is to get a wooden dowel with a circumference a bit more than that of the barrel and somehow have it evenly coned. Then, slip it into the barrel and knock it until the barrel assumes the circular shape of the dowel at the position it arrived at.
Anybody have any better, i.e,. easier ways to fix this dent or if you like my idea, how I could get a dowel shaped evenly?
I sure do welcome any help.
Hosford sells a handy muzzle rounding tool. It is similar to a ring mandrel. Works well.
A wedge style dent raising tool will get the job done as well.
If the dent is at the extreme muzzle end I've had good luck with a long tapered brass rod tapped gently into the muzzle.
I agree with Joe, tap gently
and I have used this on a special occasion and had great results
Craftsman 1/2 inch extension for a socket set.
Mike
Bring your gun over to the NE side-by-side at Hausemann's Hidden Hollow, June 4,5 & 6. John will likely be there removing dents.
My home made go to tool for dent removal.
Made from bicycle handlebar wedges, all-thread and tubing.
I'd leave it to someone like John Hosford. He did the exact thing to one of mine for something like $10 last year.
One false move and you could loosen your rib at the end. John probably does 25-30 guns a day there. Going to the shoot saves shipping too!
I will second the recommendation to send it to someone who knows how to fix a dent. It is not hard once you have learned the skill but if you care about the gun I would not use it as a learning platform. The cost of lifting a dent such as you describe is minimal. Best of luck.
Steve
I have used a plumb bob with success.
Given your location I would take it to Mike Orlen in Amherst Ma.
Dan Morgan is also very good, but Woodstock VT is further.
I'm inclined to agree with Chuck, should be inexpensive, and you don't want a beginner's mistake.
Use a set of pin gages to perfectly put the muzzle back round......Jent
Thanks for all the tips, guys. I am so VERY tempted to just do it myself, but I've got another set of barrels with a little more sever of a problem so I think I might as well bring two sets of barrels up to Mike Orlen when I visit him.
ps - I never heard of Hausemaan's Hidden Hollow, and have NO idea how far away it is, but have a great time everyone who is going there.
To do it right you would need to know what the I.D. is at that point. Is the choke area tapered or straight? If straight, a pin gage that Jent described would help you in finding what that I.D. is. Since the tool used cannot be put in from the muzzle end unless it is like the one shown with the threaded rod that tightens up the two pieces and expands it, you would have to put it in from the breech and tap it out.
As suggested, unless you have the means to do it, let those that know do it and then let us know how you make out.
