Reader Forum

H&R Trapper Have you a schematic for the Harrington and Richardson Trapper? Harold Freeman The H&R Trapper Model was manufactured between 1924 and 1941 and offered with a 6-inch octagon barrel Doug Marable Quemado, NM and two-piece walnut grips. We know of no serial number records for pre- WWII H&R models but Trappers appear to be in the same serial number series as the Model 1906, its parent model, as the numbers appear to be a single series starting at 01 and going up.

William Stokes Casper, WY The Model 1906 was one of anew series of H&R revolvers introduced first in 1905 with the large frame model 1904 followed by the medium frame Model 1905 and Model 1906. Catalogs never included a schematic and just listed the parts along with a picture. H&R Trapper revolver has parts similar to the Model 922. Gun- PartsCorp.com/gun-manufacturer/ hr and Gun-Parts.com/harringtonrichardson has more info.

Ithaca Shotgun I have an Ithaca Single Barrel Victory shotgun in my shop for repair of a separated vent rib. The solder joint has failed and someone tried to repair it with epoxy, with similar result (photo attached). I’m not sure, at this point, that I can get it clean enough to re-solder and I don’t want to destroy the existing bluing. Would it be OK to drill and tap for 2, 6-48 screws, finishing the screws flush to the inside of the barrel?

I believe that resoldering would be the preferred fix, but with just that short section that has broken loose, getting the area clean and retinned will be a challenge. Jeffrey M. Lagendyk JL Custom Rifles From Sergey Lyalko. First, to respond to your question, absolutely do not drill and tap the barrel in any number of places. The rib has to be heated up to about 250F to unlock the epoxy and completely remove the rib from the barrel.

Then surfaces of barrel and rib have to be cleaned, tinned, and put together by soldering. My article "Rib Work on Double Shotguns—Principles and Procedures" in the August 2004 issue has more information. As an alternative, the rib can be soldered using a number of ways. The proper way, though, is to solder the rib. It is not difficult but takes some preparation and tooling. See also bit.ly/2Ws KD4r.

Parker Brothers Shotguns As author Paul Mazan was describing how to refinish an oily and greasy stock (Parker Brothers Shotguns, Part Two, February 2019), he suggested that one soak it in paint thinners, mineral spirits, etc., and leave it for extended times. I have found that Brownells has a product called Old Fashioned Whiting (083- 032-100AU) that mixed with mineral spirits speeds up the process and minimizes toxicity. It takes several tries and some elbow grease but takes some hard work out of the project.

Author Paul Mazan replies. There are several methods of degreasing oil-soaked stocks taking different degrees of elbow grease and yielding good results. Your mention of Whiting compound is indeed one of them. Having used many of the methods, my experience has been that most will give you a satisfactory result on stocks that are moderately saturated, including most sporting arms.

I have settled on the soaking method in the article because it has given me satisfactory results on old military stocks that have been packed in Cosmoline for years and are literally black and soaked all the way through. I have used it successfully on stocks that have been degreased by other methods, including oven cleaner, mineral spirits, heat, and combinations of them, only to have them turn dark again after weeks or months as the oil held deeply in the wood slowly leeched to the surface.

So far the soaking in turpentine has never let me down or caused me to have to do the job a second time. I’m delighted you have been successful with the method you employ. As long as it gets the job done for you on the guns you have worked on it’s exactly what you should be using. In many cases, soaking is probably overkill but I really dislike having to redo a job so I use it because it works for me. John A.

Reichel Fixed-Sight Revolvers This May 2019 article makes some good points but the approach to "moving the barrel" (took me a second to figure out what that was, but never mind) by cranking away on the frame with a large walking stick while holding the barrel in a vise is a little concerning. I’d not recommend this as it’s too easy to warp the frame, especially in the inexpensive revolvers referenced, and risk losing the gun altogether.

This would be especially true when using around stick; it applies all the force in the middle of the cylinder "cutout" in the frame and that’s the worst possible place; more leverage for the frame-warping forces. Some revolvers have very tight barrels indeed (Ruger comes to mind) and the use of a speciallymade frame wrench would be much safer for the frame.

There is also the issue of the front and rear revolver sights being in two different vertical planes, which would seem to cause inaccuracy; that condition is certainly one we try to avoid in rifles. Further, what is special about regulating single-action revolvers? As far as the frame and barrel are concerned there would seem to be no difference between single and double action. Finally, since the writer brings up calculations: How many degrees do you typically have to rotate the barrel?

And how do you precisely control that? Just "marking" the frame and barrel will likely not be anywhere near precise enough. Nick van Vonno From author RK Campbell. These are good points, however, the barrel moving technique outlined has been in use ever since revolvers have been in general use. Solid frame revolvers (double or single action) are similar but single action revolvers—even modern Rugers—seem to be out of zero more often than double actions. Brownells offers a chart for rules in adjustment.

Less is better and minimum testing should be 25 yards. As for calculations, the "by God and by gosh" method works with experience and I have never wrecked a frame wrecked this way. I did my first about 1979 on a Colt Lawman using pretty rough tools. It worked on the first try. Marking the barrel is essential—not necessarily to predict the movement needed but to have a register of how much the barrel moved. AG