CZ Bobwhite 12 G advice

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Glock4ever

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I recently picked up a nice CZ Bobwhite from a buddy on trade. The shotgun seems to be in good condition with the exception of a severely damaged bottom rib. Basically it is missing 13.5" of rib from the muzzle end to the mid point along the barrel. I called CZ-USA and they advised me that they can't repair this shotgun as it is out of warranty and not something they could normally fix. I tried DLASK the service centre warranty centre for Canada and they advised me to reach out to a gunsmith. So I am wondering if this shotgun is safe to fire in its current condition of if it has to be repaired. I had contemplated cutting the barrel but according to the regs I can't go shorter then 18" with the barrel being 28" it will still have a problem with the bottom rib as it would still leave 3.5" of damaged rib... Any tips from peanut gallery?

Thanks!
 
Pictures would help ...

It sounds like there is nothing holding the bottom barrel to the top barrel at the muzzle end???? If this is the case, I would not shoot it like that.

A good gunsmith can fabricate a replacement piece, if a spare part can't be sourced from CZ. Then the barrel would have to be re-blued. The next question, is the repair worth it and also is the barrel otherwise damaged? A new barrel set might be cheaper.
 
I think the gun is pretty much useless unless one wants it for parts. Hopefully you didn't allow much on a trade. I don't think the gun is worth what the cost for a proper repair would be. You could find a used Bobwhite cheaper. Even a new set of barrels won't be cheap plus they would likely have to be fit to the gun.
How on earth did the bottom rib get damaged like that?
 
Sorry for being a bobo and not putting up photos. Here is the shotgun:



This is the damaged area:



Close up:


Front (I removed the choke):


I was looking on youtube and there was a fellow installing a new top rib for a SxS and it didn't look impossible - basically he cleaned the old soldering, soldered on a new rib and refinished the barrels. The fellow at CZ-USA said it should be still safe to fire but he did caveat that because he didn't want hold them liable. The barrels look good and I removed the chokes to inspect the bore. Besides the obvious damage the bores and action seem to be pretty good. I probably traded more than I should have but the fellow I traded from is just starting into the sport and I don't really need this gun, I just picked it up to see if I could get it fixed. If I had to guess where the damage came I would hazard that the original owner had a sling stud and maybe tripped/fell which ripped the rib away from the barrels (based on the Midway video it doesn't look like much more than a soldering job to hold the ribs on). The funny thing is that there is no sling stud in the stock but it is the only thing I could come up with.
 
From your original comments, I thought it was an O/U not a SXS. Like the guy said with the caveat ... it looks safe to fire. Someone qualified should have a look just to be sure that there isn't damage that can't be easily seen. Generally speaking, I think that the rib is just cosmetic unless it holds a mid-bead. Many newer high end shotguns don't have the rib between the top and bottom barrels. They are attached at the muzzle end and the monoblock and in the center. Here is a picture of a Kolar barrel ....
Carrier-Full-Barrel.jpg
 
It could no doubt be repaired but again it comes to cost if you are paying someone. While it might look like just a "solder job", you have to know what you are doing plus the barrels would have to be reblued. You can buy a used bobwhite 12 gauge for around $500.00 that has no issues so I would want a quote before having anyone do the work. But, your gun, your money.
 
Certainly a competent SXS specialist gunsmith (and there is a very good one here in BC) could replace the lower rib, keeping the stock barrel regulation, and re-black the barrels, but IMHO it will cost you far more than the gun is worth. Google "relaying shotgun ribs" , lots of info out there.
 
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gunsaholic said:
It could no doubt be repaired but again it comes to cost if you are paying someone. While it might look like just a "solder job", you have to know what you are doing plus the barrels would have to be reblued. You can buy a used bobwhite 12 gauge for around $500.00 that has no issues so I would want a quote before having anyone do the work. But, your gun, your money.
Click to expand...
The CZ Bbwhite barrels are hard chromed black and as such are not blued
 
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