doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Odd screw on Cashmore

The hole may be perfect, but the countersink looks like it's leaning a bit. It has the look like someone stuck an oopsie bead there. Does the one on top look like a replacement.

Looks like your case of the jOe is getting worse by the minute.

Best guess I�ve got is it is tapped into both barrels. Probably a crude attemp to fix a loose bottom rib. If so and if it doesn�t penetrate into a bore it is not dangerous since there is so little pressure near the muzzle.

Diameter of the countersink is larger than the screw head, so countersink is visible around the screw. Note also in picture shown the camera was off to the left of being on axis with the screw axis. This will cause more of the C'sink to be visible on the left. It has to be looked at Dead True to say with certainty if the c'sink is concentric with the hole or not. Believe me with 35+ years in machine shops I have looked at a lot of C'sinks & I cannot state positively if this one is or not with the skewed picture. Brent sated it was not misaligned he looked at it in Person, not from a picture. Often seems to me we have a lot of "Superman" eyes around here.

In answer to the OP, one can never be certain but I suspect it was a hole drilled to blow out any moisture that has got under the ribs when the barrels were blacked, if there were bleeds in the ribs. If you look right up close to the action flats or maybe the forend loop you may find another hole in the under rib, most probably blanked off with a lead shot but they may have threaded the hole and used a screw.
I only drill close to the action flats (unless there is a thru loop) and only if I know the seal on the ribs in compromised. Repeated careful heating of the barrels with a torch boils off the moisture which vents through the hole. I then seal with a lead shot peened into the hole.
There is definitely some space under the ribs at this point. Looking at the muzzles, with original ribs it looks like they are solid but that is only for the first 1/8-1/4". It is often referred to as a rib keel and is a good way of establishing if the barrels have been shortened without removing and properly relaying the ribs.

Screw slot looks perfect, too, right?

Still glad it is on his gun. Good eyes, or, otherwise.

Best,
Ted

There's probably only one person who could offer the picture that you're preferring, and it might not be superman or jOe. Since this is for interest and fun, I'd guess if a double gun smith did that intentionally, they might have done it with the appearance of being appropriate. Unless, the picture is deceiving.

Ted;
I only commented on the c'sink, nothing else. From that one picture it appears the entire bottom rib is skewed toward the left barrel. As this is an underside view this would be the barrel to the right in the picture.

Go back & look closely at the picture again & tell me, is that for real or is it an optical illusion from the picture angle.

I believe the goal of this thread was, What was that screw for, not the accuracy of its installation.

Well, having cleaned my ducks and watched the Vikings win their opener, I turned back to the gun.

Of course, this inspection is its last as I will be tossing it in the trash for the junker that it is, but for the sake of the speculators, the hole was, as Geo. and I suspected just a weep hole. The screw is a simple plug of about 3 threads with slot appearing to align perfectly with the central axis of the barrels. And there is, indeed, a cavity behind the plug that is continuous the length of the barrel to a second hole (which I did not recall) that is immediately in front of the forearm hanger. That hole is smaller, unthreaded, and unplugged.

The barrels ring perfectly for their entire length and the two holes, but that is of course solely a function of my miserable hearing, not the gun, since it's barrels must obviously be buggered to vibrate like a busted exhaust shield. Interestingly, if plugged on one end and hooked to a lab vacuum pump on the other end, hold a nice vacuum for as long at I cared to bother.

Oh yes, the ribs are straight and symmetrical as can be. And exactly 30" long. That they look perfect is just an optical illusion when you see them in person. Whomever the bubbasmith was that ruined this piece, you can look for him down under as I got this gun out of Australia or New Zealand many years ago for a 3-figure price that I thought was very reasonable but now I know was hideously high.

I did once really like this gun for its simple, clean lines, really nice balance and fit, and the nearly perfect hammer geometry. It was never meant to be more than a working man's dinner-gitter, and that's what it has been for me - until now. I killed a lot of birds with it. But now that I know better, it will make a good addition to the local landfill.

Next time the action is slow and cold in the duck blind, I'll send pictures of Gus's dentition or maybe one of my less that stellar roll crimps or something like that for the group to speculate upon.

Ted, I hope you get over your case of the jOe soon or it may become a permanent affliction, which would be really too bad.

Thank you for following up on the topic. I guess I should have read the subject line for the answer. If you snap a picture of Gus, try to get a few angles with at least one being straight on, and start off by saying if his teeth look perfect or not, and if you got him from down under for a great price.

If she's sealed up as tight as your lab instruments can measure, are you sure those are weep holes? Seems they wouldn't be necessary.