[cessnadog]

I took a shotgun into a local gunsmith to have a second bead installed. When I picked it up I told them that I didn't think it was centered on the vent rib. They assured me that thy had used a jig to drill it and there was no way it was not centered.

I got home and got out my calipers. If I measure the distance from the side of the rib to the bead, there is a .4mm (.016 inch) difference.

Am I over-reacting to think it should have been closer to that if not exactly right? At least close enough to not be able to see it with a naked eye?

thoughts?
thanks

[BWB]

Anybody who can't drill a hole in the middle of something shouldn't call himself a gunsmith, jig or no jig.

[dutchy]

First of all:
If you pay a professional, you should expect professional work.
4mm off is close to one bead diametre, which is totally rediculous.
Being a long time clay shooter however, I am very much opposed to in the middle beads. IMHO if you think you need that bead, the stock does not fit you.
Remember, a centuries old saying (from Germany) says: the barrel shoots, the stock hits the target. This is especially true in shotguns.
My advice: find a competent shotgun/clay specialist, and have the stock bent and adjusted to you. He can also take away the middle bead you won't need after that anyway.

Hope it helps

[Jimmie]

dutchy - I think he said it was "0.4mm off" which would agree with the "0.016 inches." I would agree that 4mm is a large mistake. 0.4mm is pretty tiny even if it's noticeable.

[rcmodel]

If you can see it, it is wrong!

.016" off-center is a totally botched job.

Simple as that.

rcmodel

[dutchy]

Ooops, I stand corrected, probably because we europeans always print the 0 in front. 0.4 mm....:(
I maintain however that a well fitting shotgun needs no 2 beads.
Just for info:
I use a Merkel SbS double trigger german cheek pistolgripped stock fixed choke !/2 and full for sporting clays.
Main reasons for buying (new):
I just love that sleek look and the view over to sbs barrels,
What worked fine for 300 years can not be totally wrong now,
It was much cheaper than any over under.
However, part of the deal was custom fit to my body, and I think this was more important than the gun configuration.
I will not bragg, but I outshoot almost every member in my club, and I am the only one that only uses a SbS. And ofcourse, all others have interchangable chokes and single triggers.

[cessnadog]

I thought I posted this in a forum about gunsmithing, must have accidentally posted in a forum about clay shooting technique and the need for proper gun fitting.

thanks to those of you who were able to look past my error and answer the question I asked.

I did take it back to the same shop. He is going to take a shot at fixing it and I will decide when I see the results if it is satisfactory. He did blame the jig and said he would use his milling machene this time. He did't even look at it before he agreed to fix it which tells me he knew it was wrong when he sent me out of the shop two days ago....

[simmonsguns]

Jig=eyeball in this case. half@ss gun smiths don't last long at least.

[Jim K]

He may well have used his jig, and the jig may be right. I have seen plenty of ribs that were not straight. A jig uses the bottom of the barrel and a flat to determine what is "straight up", which might not be the center of the rib. When I ran into that situation, I used the center of the rib, which looks better, even though the bead was not "straight."

Jim

[gb6491]

...even though the bead was not "straight."
That brings another thought to mind; it might be a bad bead (and, hopefully, an easy fix).
BTW - welcome to the forums:) Threads meander off topic now and again with no disrespect intended to the op. It just the nature of the beast and usually good reading.
Regards,
Greg

[dfariswheel]

All this may be true, but a GOOD gunsmith LOOKS at his work before sending it out.

If a gunsmith can't look at something and tell it's off before giving it to the customer, he has no business being in business.
It only takes a second to LOOK, and a gunsmith who doesn't take that second is incompetent.
Jigs, gages, and measuring tools are wonderful, but NOTHING beats an "Eyeball final inspection".

[ralfus]

A lot depends on how it was installed. If a self centering jig was used that indexed off the barrel and the rib is not perfectly centered on the barrel then it would be easy to misalign the hole. No one has mentioned that the drilled hole is actually only .008" off center and not .016"(if I am reading post #1 correctly Quote:If I measure the distance from the side of the rib to the bead, there is a .4mm (.016 inch) difference. ) An oblong or bent bead could cause this too.

The smith should fix the problem regardless.

[cessnadog]

I took it back and gave them another shot at fixing it. They did a reasonable job considering the corner that they had painted themselves into.

Long story short he milled out the original hole, on center this time and put in a small bushing, then the bead in the bushing. Yes, you can see the bushing but it is far better than the off center bead.

At the end of the day I have identified another shop that I can just drive by. I don't see any need to spend money there and certainly won't let them touch anything else of value.

[Jim K]

Hi, Dfariswheel,

I agree on the "eyeball" but what do you do in the case I cited where the "eyeball" center was not the same as the actual center?

I sure wasn't going to move the rib, not for the cost of installing a bead.

Jim

[dfariswheel]

In this case, the "eyeball" method is to pick up the gun and look down the barrel.
The front bead, the center bead, and the top-dead-center of the receiver should all line up.

If the rib is off and the bead has to be off to align everything, that's one thing.
If the rib isn't off, then there's no excuse.

A good gunsmith has a "calibrated eye". He can look at things and tell if a job is right.
A trained gunsmith or watchmaker can detect differences in the thousands of an inch just by looking.

[PTK]

I have a bead on one of my shotguns that looks WAY off, but shoots straight. A different barrel with a "perfectly centered" bead won't shoot worth a dang.

Shotguns don't seem to follow all the rules. Glad you got the job fixed, though.