SLEEVED BARRELS PROOF TESTED...

[Jerry Harlow]

I have a beautiful GH with barrels marked "sleeved," the crown and BNP below that, .729, 2 3/4", marked 3 1/4 tons per square inch. On a number two frame.

I found the discussion below that states the British ton to be higher than an American ton. Still the discussion states that would be proofed at 9800 psi.

I always figured these barrels to be some of the stoutest and have always shot regular loads in them. Was thinking about using high powered factory loads for turkeys, but now am confused that they may not be as strong as the original Damascus barrels were. Thoughts? Do I need to baby this gun with low pressure loads?

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=356049&page=1

[charlie cleveland]

jerry i would not be scared to put stout turkey loads thru the gun..hope you get a big one...charlie

[Dean Romig]

A "standard" load will kill a turkey just as dead as a "high powered" load will out to 40 yards or so with chilled 6's. "High powered" loads are for body shots where you will need to punch through an armor of feathers (not a recommended shot) but standard 6's for a head and neck shot is perfect.

[Jerry Harlow]

Been hunting them for over forty-five years, and I still like my heavy loads. I had rather overkill than have one run off. For me in a 12 gauge, it is going to be 1300 fps with an ounce and quarter if I use this gun.

Not every shot is perfectly placed right on their heads. Heck, I've shot and seen them run off and then when I recreated what I did, I forgot to aim!

My question was about the barrels though, not what load will kill a turkey. I can kill him with a stick if he is close enough.

WHAT THE HECK DOES 3 AND A QUARTER TONS FROM A BRITISH PROOF HOUSE REALLY MEAN?

Should I baby it with low pressure loads, or should it handle straight out of the box Remington Express high brass 1.25 ounce 1300 fps shells?

[Drew Hause]

The British and Europeans have designed a system to confuse we Colonials :( and all of this probably won't help

3 1/4 tons is the standard British proof for 12g guns with 2 3/4" chambers. The use of Tons however was discontinued in 1989, and pressure is now reported in BAR. Unfortunately, there is essential NO formula to convert BAR expressed as LUP (CIP/European) to PSI (SAAMI by piezoelectric transducer measurement).

Per the 1954 British Rules of Proof the equivalent CIP service (using) pressure for 3 1/4 tons is 9,682 psi BUT this is also measured by lead crusher units (LUP) rather than transduced psi (SAAMI), which would be about 1000 psi higher (see below).

However, the CIP standard proof pressure of 850 kg per sq. cm. (BAR) = 13,920 psi proof pressure= 10,730 psi service pressure (SAAMI) because the SAAMI psi conversion for the 1954 TONS measurement is different from the 1989 BAR measurement :(

12g 2 3/4 inch 3 3/4 dram equiv. 1 1/4 ounce loads (1330 fps) are usually near the SAAMI max. of 11,500 psi.