Need a piece of Bess barrel

[Lucky R A]

    I need a minimum of 20" of Bess barrel or similar smoothbore  barrel.  It needs to be .750 I.D , .1000 O.D. at bottom end.   This Bess got the bobbed many years ago and wants to go back to full length.  Nice gun original 1746 lock all intact, just a bit short, and size does matter....

[Dphariss]

I have no idea what your experience level is but the material in the barrel may be (I would bet on it) virtually  unweldable.
Just something to consider.

Dan

[Acer Saccharum]

and you're sure it's not an artillery side arm? 

[JTR]

Welding could be difficult, so it might be a good idea to try it on the end of the original barrel beforehand as a test.

Another thought, if you have a lathe, and if you have enough thickness in the barrels, is to thread the barrel pieces with a fine thread and screw the pieces together. Leave a little bit of extra thickness on the add-on piece, and peen the metal toward the original piece, and you can make a totally invisable seam.
It wouldn't be good for a shooter, but doubt you're going to shoot her anyway.

John

[Lucky R A]

John, this is just a barrel stretch on a restoration, the gun will never be fired.   There are a number of options on joining the two pieces, threads, sweat joint or shrink fit, in addition to a very skilled man with a TIG that I know.   I may have to turn the donor piece down from tubing, and do a lot of aging.  I just thought someone on this board might have a chunk of barrel hanging around that I could use...   Thanks again  Ron

Tom,  right now the Bess looks very much like some of those "Canoe Guns" that the guys were building.  This one has 23" of barrel with a 3/4" hole looking at you, tis a shame that it was hacked up...Of course look what we did to all those 98Mausers and 03 Springfields....Ron

[Dphariss]

John, this is just a barrel stretch on a restoration, the gun will never be fired.   There are a number of options on joining the two pieces, threads, sweat joint or shrink fit, in addition to a very skilled man with a TIG that I know.   I may have to turn the donor piece down from tubing, and do a lot of aging.  I just thought someone on this board might have a chunk of barrel hanging around that I could use...   Thanks again  Ron

Tom,  right now the Bess looks very much like some of those "Canoe Guns" that the guys were building.  This one has 23" of barrel with a 3/4" hole looking at you, tis a shame that it was hacked up...Of course look what we did to all those 98Mausers and 03 Springfields....Ron

Before you start talking about skill with a TIG you need to give him a piece 18th century or pre-civil war iron to weld.
Has little to  do with skill has to do with massive amounts of "stuff" in the metal that cause it to fizz when it flows. Gas bubbles?? Boy do you get gas bubbles. BTDT as have others. Its VERY difficult to make a "structural" weld that would hold 2 pieces together much less look right.


Dan

[Don Getz]

Lucky......let me check over at the shop tomorrow, might be a useable piece of 75 cal. stuff there....no promises.....Don

[JCKelly]

Right now you have a real musket with historical significance. You/we just don't know what is the history of whacking off the barrel down to 23"

If you weld a piece of modern steel tube onto it, regardless of skill involved, you now have a gun with no historical significance. Some might regard it even less favorably than that.

I am aware that many people like to work over an old gun to make it into what they wish it were.

I like history.

Want a 46" barrel Bess? Buy an old one $$$$$$$$$$$$$
or,
There are Honest new well-made copies available, saw a couple on TOW recently.


 

[TPH]

John, this is just a barrel stretch on a restoration, the gun will never be fired.   There are a number of options on joining the two pieces, threads, sweat joint or shrink fit, in addition to a very skilled man with a TIG that I know.   I may have to turn the donor piece down from tubing, and do a lot of aging.  I just thought someone on this board might have a chunk of barrel hanging around that I could use...   Thanks again  Ron

Tom,  right now the Bess looks very much like some of those "Canoe Guns" that the guys were building.  This one has 23" of barrel with a 3/4" hole looking at you, tis a shame that it was hacked up...Of course look what we did to all those 98Mausers and 03 Springfields....Ron

Before you start talking about skill with a TIG you need to give him a piece 18th century or pre-civil war iron to weld.
Has little to  do with skill has to do with massive amounts of "stuff" in the metal that cause it to fizz when it flows. Gas bubbles?? Boy do you get gas bubbles. BTDT as have others. Its VERY difficult to make a "structural" weld that would hold 2 pieces together much less look right.


Dan

Dphariss  is absolutely right. If you feel you absolutely HAVE to do it, find a piece of an original BB barrel with a lot of damage to the breach end, ream the inside of the barrel and the piece to a larger size and install a sleeve of the correct caliber, that is the only way that you will be able to do it and get it to hold together. Contact Bobby Hoyt, he can help. Frankly, I would leave it alone, as said above, it has it's history just as it is. But then, what do I know.....

[JTR]

Stretch it!
Unless it has a note saying something like chief fuzzy wuzzy killed a bar with this chopped off Bess, it doesn't have any history the way it is, either.

John

[T*O*F]

Kinda funny that when a guy asks for a part and no advice, all he receives is advice and no part.

[JTR]

Isn't that the truth!
But I don't have the part, so all I could offer was advice!

John

[Lucky R A]

Don,  Thanks for the offer.  If you find something I can pick it up when I come down in a couple of weeks.  Pat needs a home visit and I deed to drop a load of stocks off to Fred.   
          Thanks for the advice offered,  the decision to restore the gun is not mine.  The gun belongs to a client.  This one has no regimental markings and no link to any significant history.  When restored it will be a nice example of an early Bess.  The barrel and stock was cut off with about the same level of skill that the average back alley sawed off shotgun is done---and probably with the same intent.       
           It might be rather eye opening for some if they could see "Before and After" photos of some of the "originals" that they drool over.   There are a lot of stretched guns out there.   John  is an advanced collector and knows the game well.   In this case it is sound move to restore.      Ron

[Dphariss]

Kinda funny that when a guy asks for a part and no advice, all he receives is advice and no part.

Yeah well, I was trying to help someone avoid doing possibly irreversible damage, to BOTH the "new" part and the one he already has.
The "problem" I described cannot be appreciated until experienced.

So far as the "restoration". I tend to be pretty conservative about this.
By the logic of some here a great many "modified" antique firearms need to be "fixed".
Shortened Hawkens, shortened Kentuckies, chopped trade guns for whatever reason and SA Colts to make hide out guns....
Why does who owned them  matter?
If it was the last of its kind and needed restoration to provide a sole representative piece it would be one thing.
Stretching the barrel on an antique in most cases is just silly.
Dan

[eric43]

All he asked for was a piece of barrel.......................

[Acer Saccharum]

Please keep this civil fellers.

Is this an open discussion? I think we should all be able to say what's on our mind, as long as it's civil, and falls within the guidelines of the ALR.

Acer

[JTR]

I’m always polite and will continue to be polite, and realize that whether to restore, or not too, will never be agreed on one way or the other.
And I agree with Dan that tig welding isn’t a good way to weld old iron. I know how to tig weld and I’ve tried it, and generally there’s just too many impurities to get a good weld.
Whether it’s silly to stitch on a piece of barrel on a shortened gun is a matter of opinion, always has been, always will be, but it’s been done on many many guns, a lot of the guns very well know.
I guess that as long as there’s a gun out there that’s in less than pristine condition, there will always be someone that wants it fixed, and there will always be someone willing to fix it.
If anyone’s interested, I have about a half dozen guns that need fixing. If anyone wants to buy them to preserve them as is I’ll be happy to part with them,,,,, otherwise I’m gonna fix ‘em.
In the past, lot’s of broken, beat up, unsightly guns have just been tossed in the trash, so I look at fixing them as a sort of service, to help keep them available to future owners.
Other opinions may vary.
John