doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Why areTop Ribs on Vintage English Doubles smooth

Most English vintage doubles have smooth non textured ribs with zero anti glare qualities, why...?...

Makers from other countries like Italy, United States, Germany and France textured/file cut the ribs for anti glare... Or were the file cut ribs meant to cut down on heat distortion rising from hot barrels....?

Is there a reason the British makers did not texture these upper ribs, especially on the high end guns they made....?

Yes, I know we joke about the British Isles not having any sun shine, but what is the real reason....?....Or is that the reason, does anybody really know....?....Was it purely cosmetic....?...

Best,

I have never had an issue with the British smooth ribs reflecting into my eyes. I think they look best either smooth or file cut. Just my take.

I have yet to be dazzled by a reflection from my top rib and all my S/S's have smooth concave ribs.
I took a few guns out of the store today and compared the view up the rib between the file-cut (or whatever) and smooth and would make the following observation.
The 'anti glare' finish on the rib makes it more visible to the eye and leads your eye to perhaps be more central to the rib.
The smooth concave surface tends to vanish as it reflects the colours and textures beyond the bead back to ones eye and so one only sees the bead.
However, unless you are aiming at a stationary mark, you shouldn't be looking at the gun rib at all. Your eye should be focused on the target and gun fit should take care of the eye placement.
On balance I think that game or other fast instinctive shooting calls for a smooth rib and anti-glare finishes are best for trap and inanimate target work. IMHO

I think Toby has it right. Smooth and swamped ribs seem to disappear and let the shooter concentrate on what is important, the target.

Were the file cut ribs made for anti-glare or for heat distortion rising from hot barrels.....as a predecessor of the raised vent rib...?

We know that Italian, American, German, Spainish and French makers commonly file cut (and drill turned) their ribs, whether swamped or flat........So why didn't the English...?

The best question would then be do the English file cut the ribs on NEW PRODUCTION double guns today.......?

Best,

I don't understand what you mean by "drill turned" Doug but my Sarriugarte from Spain has a textured rib. Looks file cut to me.

J.R.B.

Some ribs look like the cut of a small hollow center bit rotating and cutting semi-circles, first cutting one direction then cutting the opposite direction (intersecting lines).....I call it drill cut......obviously done on a mill, but looks like a miniature hollow center mill bit was used....?...

I think I read where you were a machinist, so you probably know which mill bit was used....?....

Best,

I would have to see an example of the work to better understand what mill they used but I get your drift. I do a lot of re-sharps in my shop to suit what ever the particular job requires.

I think this is what PA24 is talking about. Look at the rib on this Flues.



http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=252778254

When I did my 20g Sterlingworth custom upgrade project we polished and swamped the rib (swamped as much as possible). It looks great with a nice ivory bead and works fine. Wish I had a pic that shows the rib but you can see here that it is much lower than the original.