What to look for in a "shooter" ?

[Bill Graham]

Originally Posted by Mills Morrison

As Dean says, wall thickness is the key.

Thank you Sir. Is the minimum threashold for wall thickness the same as that of a plain steel barrel?

[Mills]

Hopefully, Drew Hause will chime in on this thread as he is the expert in old shotgun barrels

[charlie cleveland]

mills i have shot the decarbinized barrels i have had no problems this was a plain steel barreled gun..i have 2 of the guns in 10 ga both lifters...i think in that study they done on barrel steel that decarbonized steel is very strong...charlie

[Bill Murphy]

"Decarbonized Steel" barrels are identified on the barrel legend, stanped on the rib. Wall thickness is determined when you buy the gauge and use it. There is no other way to identify safe barrels. The gauge is not expensive and only about one in a hundred gunsmiths own one.

[Bill Graham]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Wall thickness is determined when you buy the gauge and use it. There is no other way to identify safe barrels. The gauge is not expensive and only about one in a hundred gunsmiths own one.

Deep River is where I shoot and they have the gauge and knowhow to use it. I was wondering more about what is wall thickness safety threshold people agree on for damascus is. .025", .030" ?

[Paul Harm]

I think you'll find Parker barrels are thicker than 25 to 30 thou, unless they've been honed quite a bit. I'd feel better with 40 to 60 only because they're less easy to dent. Decarbonized steel was a Remington term for their steel barrels and Parker also used it for a short period of time. Some think maybe they got those barrels from Remington. I have two Remingtons with decarbonized barrels and shoot nitro reloads in them all the time [ same is true for my Damascus guns ]. The only draw back Bachelder found was " they dent easier", but no safety issues with them.

[Paul Harm]

I had two Parker lifter 10ga hammer guns. One had 2 5/8" chambers with a sharp step - no forcing cones, and the other 2 7/8" chambers. With a 10, you'll need to reload or buy RST shells. With the 12, even with a tad shorter chambers, you can still shoot 2 3/4" nitro low pressure shells. Some guys even shoot regular modern shells, but that's up to you.

[Dave Moore]

My definition of a "shooter" is a gun that is in very nice condition and showing no signs of heavy use or neglect but they may have the value diminished by some alteration or refinishing.