4seventy,

would agree with your assessment if I had not been shown and explained examples of that by my gunsmith.

In one example you could still see where the flame of the torch was applied on the lug, even a layman could see that the lugs were ruined by heat - the surface looked almost like brimstone. Don't know how they handle the solder issue. They might have the barrels submerged in water while they do that or simply re- solder afterwards. Certainly cheaper then building a double from scratch, easy money is the issue here anyhow.

In another case, someone had not worked on the barrel bundle, but on the receiver, which was heated up and then hammed on sideways so that an extrusion of metal would form left and right of the barrel breech that was utilized to keep the gun closed like in a vice (!). To obscure this, the smith in question then had the entire breech area nickel-plated. Hard to believe until you actually see it.

The point in regard to the above discussion is that a gun that was built in, say, 1905, can have been exposed to improper treatment at some point during its long life, which might not necessarily be visible. Therefore it is a good idea to be a bit more careful with these guns.