A guy I used to hang out with, was a sucker for "shootable antiques". He bought a Hollis percussion trade gun at a gun show that was in great shape, and was determined to shoot a buffalo with it. I told him if it were mine, I would disassemble it, and make sure nothing was blatantly wrong with it. He called a couple of weeks later, and asked if I would drop by, and look at his trade guns barrel. Under the forearm just ahead of where the rear thimble would be on a longrifle, was a brazed up spot about an inch long. We have no way of knowing if this was an inclusion that was brazed up just in case, or an old failure that was repaired. The forearm showed no signs of damage, so I suspect this was done at the point of manufacture. This would make me believe that such practices might have been fairly common. Such repairs could easily make a three or four foot barrel a two foot barrel, if the repair failed.
Hungry Horse