I was gifted a pretty neglected 1887 10 ga and am searching for parts, a barrel, specifically. I've looked around the web with no luck yet and am hoping someone can point me in the right direction.
Other than not having any finish and missing the carrier stop screw on the right side the gun is in good shape... except the barrel. I have been scrubbing the bore and swabbing, bringing untold nastiness from inside but I fear it is long too late now. Any help is very much appreciated, thank you.

The following link is to an outfit that specializes in the model 1897. I would contact them to see if your old 97 can be salvaged. Good luck.

https://classicoldwestarms.com/gunsmithing-services-2/

Much appreciated but I have an '87 lever, not a '97. Thanks anyways for trying to help.

OOPS! You might still give those folks a call as they handle a lot of old repeaters.

Yeah, I might just have to reach out to a few places if nothing pans out. You link is one I wasn't aware of, Jack First comes to mind also. Bob's Gunparts and maybe a few others I can't remember right now too.

I did find a barreled, stripped receiver for $350 a bit ago. Seller claims only minor pitting, it's a bit more $ than I'd like but maybe I shouldn't be TOO frugal in this case. They haven't been made in at least 118 years, after all.

In reviewing this post again, I remember shooting with a guy who had what he called a "Chinese made copy of the 1887" it had a 20 inch barrel as he said it was supposed to be for HD. He shot a 24/25 with it in skeet! I tried it and could not hit the ground with such an unwieldy gun. He indicated that he had to really work on filing up and smoothing many internal parts for it.

My reason for mentioning it is that they may be a source also for some usable parts. It looks like Century Arms and Chiappa made copies. Attached article has some info on these clones of the 1887 that may be helpful.

https://www.guns.com/news/review/the-wi ... 87-shotgun

https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/ ... view/77786

I'm afraid those recent clones are 12 gauge only, and not faithful copies from what I've read. I do appreciate the help though.

I just bought that barreled receiver I mentioned above, after a quick consultation with my 'smith friend. He offered no guarantee's but hopefully we can breathe new life into this tired old gun.

I will update this thread when it all comes together.

Well, bad news. Amazingly, my 'smith was able to remove both barrels. Unfortunately, they aren't interchangeable. The breech end is quite a bit larger in diameter on the "good" barrel, making it impossible to install in the receiver of my gift gun without turning/rethreading. The barrel from my gift gun simply falls into the receiver of the donor/parts gun, I believe my "parts gun" might be a 1901.


Stay tuned...

Gun is back from 'smith and sorry to report it was in worse shape than we'd thought. After confirming the barrel was slightly bulged at about 6-7" from muzzle and finding no suitable replacement we (I) decided to cut the barrel and re-blue the gun. I know, I know but it was so far gone it couldn't harm anyways and I had made a promise to revive the old girl. This gun belonged to my BIL's great grandfather so sentiment over-rode any value considerations.

Now, where on earth can I find replacement forearms? I have scoured the net fruitlessly for three days... ANY help would be appreciated. Used, repro, whatever.

Only the barrel, magazine tube and some screws should be blued, and they should be rust blued, not hot salts. The receiver and lever should be color case hardened.

Agreed and already ahead of you, gun went into a cola soak yesterday morning and is now stripped back to bare steel. That blued receiver just didn't look right, I thought it'd be OK but I was wrong. I'm familiar with and have rust blued so that's no problem but the color case hardening I'm undecided what process to use.

I dabble in blacksmithing but am reluctant to do the proper bone/charcoal method due to having to remove the barrel yet again. I've flame-colored decorative pieces before but am considering chemical coloring for this gun. Thoughts? Opinions? Advice?

I suspect that getting a Model 1887 receiver properly color case hardened, without warping it, is no easy task.

I'm afraid to attempt the heat methods, the chemical approach is becoming more appealing to me.
I found this interesting company via youtube video https://youtu.be/TXqo4hDbpA0

I may experiment with different chemicals on scrap and if nothing satisfies me, order their products.