The hinge pin is located at the front of the receiver, and the barrel pivots on the hinge pin when the action is opened.

The jobs I like most are the ones where the owner will see a dramatic difference in his gun after I've finished with it.

For example, I remember a number of years ago, an older fellow came into my shop with what had to be one of the most beat-up, worn-out single-barrel shotguns of all time. All he wanted me to do was make it like new! I was concerned about that because of the work involved, and I let him know that the cost of repair would be far in excess of the value of his gun. It seems the gun had belonged to his grandfather, so the actual value was of no importance. The owner was a successful businessman in the community, so he had no problem with paying for the work.

The gun was an inexpensive single-barrel, break-open 12-gauge shotgun probably made around 1900. I don't recall the name stamped on it, but it definitely wasn't a major brand. Besides mechanical problems, a broken stock, and a rusted metal finish, the barrel was loose as a goose. I could hold the gun in one hand, shake it, and watch the barrel move in the receiver. This was of special concern to the owner and to me. To make a long story short, when the owner picked up the gun from me after I had worked on it, aside from all the other needed repairs and refinishing, the barrel locked up in the receiver as tight as a bank vault. The owner was delighted and couldn't believe it was the same gun. He thought I was a magician! It was an impressive repair, if I do say so myself.

Many old single-barrel shotguns have loose barrels. In fact, it's pretty common. On many old guns, you can easily move the locked barrel from side to side and sometimes up and down as well. If you can move the barrel up and down, that's an indication of wear on the locking lug or on the locking lug recess on the barrel. If you can move the barrel side to side, that indicates wear on the hinge pin or on the hinge-pin contact surface of the barrel lug.

Not too long ago, I picked up an old Harrington & Richardson Topper Model 48 single-barrel, 16-gauge shotgun made in 1945. The gun was in fairly nice shape with a good, solid walnut stock. The only problem was excessive wear on the hinge pin. Because of this, the barrel would move from side to side when locked.

Before getting into how you make this repair--and it's really simple and easy--let's take a look at what you don't do. Over the years, I've seen many shotguns on which someone had taken a center punch and made a series of punch marks inside or along the outside edge of the hinge pin contact surface of the barrel lug. The idea was to move metal back against the hinge pin and tighten up the barrel. It would work for a while, but sooner or later, those punch marks would flatten out, and the barrel would be loose as well as disfigured by the punch marks. That's a bad practice--one I wouldn't recommend.