Gunsmiths in central Illinois?

[b money]

I live in Granville IL and I'm looking for a gunsmith because I just bought a J. C. Higgins model 101.7(which I belive is a stevens 311 made for Sears) and didnt notice till after I picked it up(auction so no going back) that one of the barrels has a bulge in the choke area plus some rust out past 22in's. I was thinking about taking it to a smith and having the barrels cut to 20-22in. But the only smith I know of is at gander mountain and from what I hear they send guns out if they have to do any heavy mod's or repaires. I dont need someone like wilson combat but I dont want bubba down the street either.

Thanks

 

[Trent]

Sorry, I'd help but I'm not a licensed FFL anymore.

Try giving Pekin Gun a call. They're not fast at turnaround but Dave is a good smith and knows his business.

 

[b money]

I've been there a few times, didn't even know they had a smith. I will give them a call. Do you know of any others in the area?

 

[Trent]

Not off hand, I don't know of any.

They have a proper machine shop off-site, the owners have quite the personal estate.. like I said before, they aren't fast and he *may* not even accept the job, so you should call and ask for Dave, before making the trip up. Any barrel cuts, by default, are going to make a smith uneasy.

Doubles, by default, are usually set up tuned at a certain barrel length to converge at a certain range - cutting it may cause your point of aim overlap on the barrels to be.. well, less than great. Probably negligible, but something to keep in mind.

Front sight fixture would be the hardest - that has a bead on the junction at the front, right? Relocating it (or fabbing a new one) would be the trickiest part of the whole thing.

 

[b money]

Yes it has a bead out front, I didn't even think about the over lapping patterns
Would installing chokes help this at all? I'm kind of guesstimating here but cutting the barrel and replacing the bead might be around $130-150 from what I saw on the net. I have no clue what choke installation would be.

 

[Trent]

I took from your original post that it is threaded inside for chokes - that's highly likely what caused the bulge to begin with. (Shooting slug with choke installed = really bad)

Chopping the barrels and then rethreading for chokes is pretty damn expensive on a standard barrel that can be chucked up easily - far more so for a double barrel.. very difficult to do right.

PS - could always use a vice, a hacksaw, a glue on bead or fiberoptic front sight, and just not worry about chokes.

(Yeah, that's bubbasmithing, but practical bubbasmithing.)

 

[b money]

Sorry if I didnt explain very well, but no it does not currently have screw in chokes. The bulge is only 1in from the muzzle so my guess is it was fired with mud or something in the barrel.

I dont need screw in chokes, especially if it'll cost an arm and a leg to install them. I just figured it would make the shotty more versatile.

 

[Trent]

Yeah, obstruction is likely.

How bad is that bulge?

This really doesn't sound like something you absolutely need a smith for.

Sawing it off cleanly would be best with a bandsaw (MUST be done perfectly straight - or your patterns will be crap). Some guys have had good results with rotary pipe cutters but neither it nor lathes work well on a double barrel or ribbed barrel. Bandsaw (not a chop saw) is about the only way to go.

Debur it carefully with a file. Get a small bottle of cold blue, and touch up the shiny end.

As far as that front sight, an appropriate sized drill bit and tap can make and thread the hole for a bead. But, I've also seen a lot of modern shotguns with fiber optics sights stuck on with adhesive for better low light pickup.. they make really GOOD adhesives now. So re-tapping is optional.

 

[Trent]

Also, since the bulge is close to the muzzle, you probably have enough room for a "practice" cut or two before you get to your comfortable minimum.

 

[BigEasy]

Central Illinois Gunsmith

Hi b money:

A great gunsmith in Central lllinois is Bill Oglesby of Oglesby & Oglesby in Springfield. I don't believe he has a website.
His phone number is (217) 487-7100.

Hope this helps.

Dan

 

[b money]

Thanks for the help guys. As far as doing it myself I'd rather take it too a smith. If it was a $50 single barrel that would be different, although I am trying to do some mild stock work to some of my guns, and hope to get a little more in-depth at diy repairs. Maybe buying cheap sears guns at auction fixing small things and selling them.