doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Steel inserts for an old Darne

1518 is a relatively low carbon manganese steel. Manganese steel is extremely tough and very impact and wear resistant. It is also very corrosion resistant. But depending upon the manganese content, it could be extremely difficult to cut or machine in a lathe, even with carbide tooling.

I had to drill some holes in manganese steel several years ago, and it was the toughest stuff I ever drilled. Good HSS drill bits were ruined almost immediately. I can't remember whether it was cobalt or titanium nitride coated bits that finally got through, but it was very difficult. It was also very hard to cut with abrasive cutting wheels. I thought it was stainless, but later found out it was manganese steel. I got it for free. It turned out to be not such a great bargain due to how hard it was to work.

Are you first going to ream the chamber and barrels concentric with hand reamers and then make the tubes to fit the bores? you might as well make the chambers 2 3/4 if not already. Please post pictures of your project

mc, yes turning an original barrel between centers would be interesting if you don't have a bandsaw and grinder.
Mike

Why do all that?

I used Lothar Walther adapters to convert a Remington 3200 barrel set
to 16 gauge

Using a set of these
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/952494023

Do the extractors/ejectors still work with the Lothar Walther inserts?

I cut a slot in the inserts,
welded up some 12 gauge extractors,
and refitted them to 16 gauge.
All now work as a normal 16 gauge

If you use any kind of inserts, trybefore buying. I have a set of Brily's (the fits all version). an older set of another brand, and chamber adapters of several brands. Only the old ones work in 2-1/2" chambers and they were custom ordered for the gun.

I think you should really consider honing/reaming the barrels. I am refurbishing an old R-11 16 ga right now. The bores were horrible looking. I lengthened the chambers so I could us inserts if I wanted. I used a long forcing cone reamer to helps remove some of the worst pitting. I then used an expanding reamer to remove about 0.015 from the bores (diameter). After honing and polishing the wall thicknesses were still thicker than the bulk of the doubles I shoot.

This is a common case of worrying about originality, when in actuality the serious pitting will detract more from value than a barrel opened up, clean and still with good wall thickness.

Do a lot of measurement before hand. It is hard to hone heavy pits out smoothy and reaming to size then honing is usually better. I have found that I was always surprised, however, how little removal can be needed to remove some horrible looking pits.

The OP is in Mexico. He is honest, and law abiding, and as a direct result of that, he has been targeted by virulent leftist Mexican gun laws. Had he some street cred with one of the larger cartels, Eric Holder and Barrack would have personally seen that he had access to anything he wanted, but, that privilege will go to others. Too bad.

Suggesting he acquire a part to fix his gun is a no-no. He can’t. So, well intentioned that anyone who has posted on some nifty part that they can buy of eBay, or, wherever, is doing him exactly no good.

Make note of it. You ain’t in Kansa anymore, Toto. Americans always believe their gun laws are the only gun laws. Not so.

Guess I’d shoot for measurement and cleanup, which, if he is talking about producing a part on his own, he should be pretty close on equipment.

Good Luck, Jose’

Best,
Ted

YES, but the Lothar Walther inserts are ONLY sold in Germany

Man, that’s handy.

Best,
Ted