Gun repairs

12guage

Have a really good quality old side by side whose bottom rib has come unstuck at the top of the barrels. Looking for a reputable gunsmith in the Limerick area to repair it. Heard that Gerry Gearon is a good one. Any advice for me.

Vizzy

Have heard great things about his gunsmithing skills. I actually bought my first gun off him, many years ago.
I also have an English gun that needs to be looked at(might actually call out to him tomorrow).
What I do know is that he is an absolute gent to deal with.
I'd suggest that you give him a ring and explain the problem to him and he will probably be able to give you an answer as to whether he can do it or not,over the phone.

gunny123

I have heard good things about Gerry too. What gun do you have 12guage ? I am a side by side fan too.

Grizzly 45

Try gunhappy.ie here on boards too.

juice1304

You should be aware that if the rib repair is done properly as in being re-soldered that the barrels will most likely have to be re-blued due to the temperature.
I wouldn't advise simply gluing it as the moisture left between the barrels will rust and can cause the barrels to rust from the outside in , under the rib without your knowledge as from looking down the bore it will seem perfectly fine. I've seen this a few times:eek:
That kind of rust pitting will take some time of course however i wouldn't want to be holding it if it were a thing the barrel were to give way under 1100bar/16000psi pressure.
It is a fairly simply job to do and would only take an hour or so.
However if they are being reblued they really should be slow rust blued as hot bluing is a hot alkaline salt bath that will eat the solder, which obviously is counter productive, they could be hot blued but its not really how it should be done. And obviously the slow rust bluing is more involved and more time equals more money.
My suggestion would actually have the barrels re-soldered and then have gunhappy Duracoat them as there is an added level of protection then. You then have a protection against rust that is harder wearing and it will also act to protect and hold the solder together in a way.

deeksofdoom

Get up to Gerry Gearon in Knocklofty and he'll do the job, he won't cost you the earth and it won't blow up in your face afterwards.

Duracoat is for a boy racers shotgun, not a side by side.

juice1304

deeksofdoom wrote: »

Duracoat is for a boy racers shotgun, not a side by side.

I would have to disagree that is nonsense, there are coatings that look very very close to actual bluing. We have customers barrels coated here ever week and the majority of people wouldnt be able to tell you if it was coated or not...

Vizzy

As I said earlier in the tread I have (had) a gun that needed a bit of TLC.
Dropped it out to Gerry about 2 months ago as I was in no real rush to get it done.
Anyway, went out today and he had stripped the gun, rejointed the action, serviced it and tested.
Gun feels like new again.
Couldn't be happier.
Gerry was a gentleman as always.
One caution though, if you are in a hurry, you may be disappointed cos he does the guns in the order he receives them and he had about 50 or so in the workshop waiting to be worked on.

deeksofdoom

Vizzy wrote: »

As I said earlier in the tread I have (had) a gun that needed a bit of TLC.
Dropped it out to Gerry about 2 months ago as I was in no real rush to get it done.
Anyway, went out today and he had stripped the gun, rejointed the action, serviced it and tested.
Gun feels like new again.
Couldn't be happier.
Gerry was a gentleman as always.
One caution though, if you are in a hurry, you may be disappointed cos he does the guns in the order he receives them and he had about 50 or so in the workshop waiting to be worked on.

Worth the wait though!