I bought myself a barrel set that is marked Adams and Co. 32 Finsbury pavement London. It is Damascus "not for ball" marked putting it between 1875 and 1887 date. I have not received it yet but going by the photos it is in very good condition. I bought it to practice barrel browning on. What's interesting is that it has purdey bolt lugs on the bottom and a foreend catch that appears to be exactly the same as a Charles Osborne I have from the same period. Is there any chance that I could turn this barrel set into a spare for my Osborne with some slight modification? Would it be possible to bring them onto face onto another hammer gun action with the same locks and forend? I am wondering if any of you have accomplished this?

Thanks for any insight. I paid less than a hundred dollars for the barrel set so if I wreck it with working on it I am not out much.

Thanks

Over the years I have acquired a large collection of 'good' damascus barrels in the hope that I would find a set that would fit onto another gun (with a modicum of work), replacing the damaged/sleeved/shortened/whatever barrels that on it.
Sadly this has never worked out.
Given the multitude of different barrel makers and actioners back in the C19th, who all seemed to work to a different set of 'standard' dimensions, perhaps this was never going to happen but I lived (and live) in hope that one day....!
The essence of the problem seems to be that the barrels, action and forend interact is many subtle ways and even when one finds that one set of dimensions look promising, another aspect makes the whole job extremely challenging. A hammergun should be the easiest option as there are generally no ejectors to worry about but even then, short of putting in a whole new set of lumps, there seems to be very little actual compatibility in guns that look superficially very similar.
I have no doubt that a genuine, highly experienced barrel maker and actioner, working in collaboration, could achieve what a lowly gunsmith such as I would baulk at but could they be bothered? And would it make economic sense?
Interesting thread none the less!

This is what I figured. The lack of standardization is amazing, all these small workshops working by natural light and oil lamps filing, hammering and twisting away to produce what are essentially one-offs that are hand-made to fit a specific action. No wonder they serial numbered them. I wonder if you found a barrel set that had the same initials stamped in them would they be roughly to the same spec. My Osborne has WR stamped on the underside. I will update how close (or far) the barrel set us from fitting once they arrive. Either way it's good to have a barrel set to practice working on without fear of rendering an entire gun scrap.