Barrel dent

rossowmn

Just bought a "New Ithaca Gun" double-barrel 12-gauge hammer gun for $75 as a wall-hanger (no firing pins). It has Damascus barrels. One has a dent about halfway down. I'm just curious: Is there a way, without special smithing tools, to remove the dent? I don't plan to ever shoot the gun -- I'm just curious. One thought -- could I put a socket that just fits the bore on a long extension and tap on it as I heat the barrel with an O/A torch? Again, not a shooter; I just like to tinker. (Yeah, I know, just hang it the other way on the wall.)[:D]

11b6r

I think the socket-driven-down-the-bore is likely to "iron" a wave into the metal ahead of the socket- and damascus may tend to pop at the welds. Thre is a tool called a dent remover- tapered plug you insert into bore, turn screw, plug expands, pushing out dent. HOWEVER- even using the proper tool, I still would not shoot a damascus barreled gun that has been de-dented- but that's because I am partial to all of my body parts staying where they are. Just my opinion...

toolsforfools

Leave it the way it is.That's part of the history of the gun.I'm sure somewhere in time there is a story to go with it.I would not change a thing.

rhmc24

A quick and dirty way to push dents out is to make a round rod that fits the bore, grind a flat on it, grease it good, insert it with the flat under the dent and turn the rod. Flat should be about 3" long and smooth transition to outside diameter. Before turning the rod, be sure the rod flat is centered behind the dent. If the rod is smaller than bore size, with care you can shim behind it to make a better fit. Keep in mind that pushing out the dent requires pushing against the other side of the bore and you want to spread that force over a larger area than the dent. For example if you drove a bore-size ball down the bore, to raise the dent, the ball would be pushing against the other side of the bore and could make an outward swell. This won't give a perfect dent fix but for cosmetic purposes, as for a wall hanger, it works OK and with care and experience can produce a good job.

Been there, Done that!

GuvamintCheese

I like to be able to shoot all of my guns! Some shotguns go thru their whole life with small dents and it never effects shooting. If you look down the barrel and can see the dent form the inside, you can have a good smith remove it rather inexpensivly. But he needs the right tool.