Lining a shotgun barrel

[Ploddy Paul]

So as well as trying to do my part in shooting deer I also enjoy shooting original black powder guns. A while ago I bought a combination gun, 577-450 and 12 bore, for no money, just for the history. The shotgun barrel had a slot cut in it under the fore end because it was too worn. I guess not cleaned properly and corroded from the black powder. Having a look at the gun recently the rifle barrel looks ok and the action seems tight so I wondered would it be possible to weld or braze the slot and put in a new lining? I seem to remember a post a while ago where someone said about epoxying in a tube. Would be good to keep it as a 12 bore but if it is easier to come down to 16 or even 20 not fussed. Just to get it shooting again, this would be for black powder only. I can’t afford to spend lots of money on this and speaking to the chap in the local gun shop he said I would need a new barrel so maybe I’ve misunderstood the idea of lining? Any ideas gratefully received. Paul

 

[enfieldspares]

There is lining and there is sleeving. Lining is where nothing is done to the original barrel save inserting a full length tube up its full length from the rear. Yes obviously the original barrel has its internal diameter machined to accept the liner. But you still have all the full length of the original barrel remaining.

Sleeving is where the original barrel is chopped off leaving only the rear four inches or so remaining. This four inches is machined to accept the sleeving tube. Thus tube is then inserted from the front. Externally it's profile tries to match the profile of the old barrel. The whole thing that is the back four inches with this inserted tube is then finished by chambering and boring to accommodate the desired cartridge.

Neither are inexpensive. Which is why you Cape Gun was cheap. Can you do the work yourself? Yes if you have the skills. Relining will be the easiest as you don't need to relay the ribs. Ideally the barrels from a cheap 20 bore single shot with a barrel like a scaffold tube in thickness would do. This could be externally machined to just slip in to your existing 12 bore barrel if you profiled it at the rear to the external dimension of a dimmer 12 bore cartridge.

But there is one caveat. The chamber will then accommodate and fire a .450/.577 cartridge. Back in the day indeed some would use cut down 20 bore cartridges to made .577 Snider cartridges when these were obsolete. So bear that in mind. There would also if you ever sold it be issues of Proof.

Legally you could acquire a single shot 20 bore, do the work, surrender it's redundant action to the police and keep you reprofiled tube on you SGC. Or it may be cheaper if you needed to pay a machinist just to buy one of the American tubes used by US Skeet shooters to shoot 20 bore in a 12 bore and adapt that so it is flush at the muzzle.

Whether any of this is wise however if the original gun is so weakened and made thin by corrosive effect of the black powder is a different discussion!

 

[Heym SR20]

Have a long hard thunk and measure the bores of the rifle barrel / have it bore scoped. Is the rifle shootable, do you want to shoot it / use it etc. At the moment it's an obsolete calibre and off ticket I presume. If you want to shoot it, it will need a variation to be on your FAC, given the rifled barrel. As regards the shotgun barrel - various options available. There used to be a system offered by teague that over bore the shot barrel and then glue in a liner. It was not particularly successful and I think they have stopped doing it. The idea of dropping down a 20 bore barrel has some merit. Take a barrel from a semiauto or single shot 20 bore and then draw file it down to fit. A 12 bore shotun is 0.729, a 20 is .615 so will have a bit over 50 thou of wall tickness. Need to check the chamber dimensions. But it will be heavy, and probably not particularly nice to use.

The best way would be to sleeve the barrel - ie it is chopped off ahead of the chamber and a new barrel is fitted - as per post2 above. Cost of having a double shotgun sleeved does depend on who does it, but think £1,500 as a starting point these days. Possibly worth doing if its a sidelock high grade gun, but not for a cheaper cape gun.

My suggestion whould be to keep it as a non functioning curiosity / collector, and keep your resources for something else. Or just use it as a single shot rifle.

 

[Ploddy Paul]

Hi chaps, thanks for your replies, I guess just confirmed what I was thinking. Heym re having to have it on ticket this, ( might ) make you smile. I have a few old guns all brought as section 58 with the idea that so long as they check out they would go on ticket and be shot. This one was bought knowing it probably wouldn’t be used because of the cut barrel but it had to go on my SGC because it had pressure bearing parts ie the breach. No problem. Let my local FD know about the purchase and add it to my SGC. Got an email back why have you got this rifle you have no variation on your FAC. Emailed back rifle is an obsolete calibre no need to be on FAC. No no came back the reply must go on your FAC! So the one gun I knew I wouldn’t be using and is an obsolete calibre has ended up on my FAC, reason why? I don’t know. Paul.

 

[Heym SR20]

Hi chaps, thanks for your replies, I guess just confirmed what I was thinking. Heym re having to have it on ticket this, ( might ) make you smile. I have a few old guns all brought as section 58 with the idea that so long as they check out they would go on ticket and be shot. This one was bought knowing it probably wouldn’t be used because of the cut barrel but it had to go on my SGC because it had pressure bearing parts ie the breach. No problem. Let my local FD know about the purchase and add it to my SGC. Got an email back why have you got this rifle you have no variation on your FAC. Emailed back rifle is an obsolete calibre no need to be on FAC. No no came back the reply must go on your FAC! So the one gun I knew I wouldn’t be using and is an obsolete calibre has ended up on my FAC, reason why? I don’t know. Paul.

I suspect its because the shotgun is not an obsolete cartridge and thus not an obsolete firearm. Given it also has a rifled barrel it makes it into a Section 1 Firearm. Whilst ammunition for the rifle barrel will require quite a bit of effort to sort, pretty much any one can find a 12 bore cartridge.

Yes the shot barrel has a slit underneath the forend, and that firing it would not be advisable, I suspect that it would still fire a perfectly good pattern of shot, but you would get a big dump of hot gases into your hand which would a little on the irritating side.

I doubt it would let go. Most of the pressure will be in the chamber and forcing cone, and the slit will allow gas to escape thus reducing pressure. But it would still be deadly to anything at the other end.