More testing on my Barrels

[Mike Franzen]

Today I took my barrles that I had previously mentioned in the thread "Barrel Inclusion", to TSI for some testing. TSI tests metal parts for the Aerospace industry looking for flaws, weaknesses, etc. They spent 4 hours with the barrels and were fascinated by them. About 10 different specialists looked them over. Both barrels were ultrasonically measured for thickness at the breech, 6", 12" 18", 24" and the muzzle. Then the area in question was painted with penetrating dye and viewed under ultraviolet light. Next, they were put under a high resolution microscope. Finally the area was xrayed to try and determine extent of the damaged area. I've included a few pics from what was a very interesting day.

[StubTwist]

Great stuff! What was the verdict?

[OH Osthaus]

and what was the result of the physical??

[Autumn Daze]

Come on Mike you got us on the edge of our seats here. Spill the beans...

[Mike Franzen]

After all their testing they believe it is a gouge caused by something hitting the barrel. There was no evidence of the weld seam separating. The barrel thickness at that spot is 60 thousandths. Here's how the barrels measured in thickness starting at the breech:
right barrel left barrel
.197 .194
6"- .099 .107
12"-.064 .054
18"-.046 .039
24"-.041 .039
32"-.049 .050

That "gouge is about 13'' from the breech.

They referred me to a guy that tig welds for Aerospace industry if I want to do a "Cosmetic" repair. They wouldn't say whether or not it was definately ok to shoot but the Xray tech said he would do the first test firing if I allowed him to.

[Autumn Daze]

Interesting Mike. Thanks for the report.

[winplumber]

What did the bores measure please ?

[Hammer Gun]

I need one of those machines! what did they charge you? Gary

[Mike Franzen]

Due to my good looks and charming personality (and the fact they were having a fun diversion...) they didn't charge me a thing! They usually see the high tech, run of the mill parts, like fuel pump impellers for the space shuttle. They were kids in a candy store with 135 year old twist steel Parker barrels, lol. But, I did pick up on one interesting thing that really grabbed my attention. They have an etching solution in a tank they dip metal parts into that brings out the contrast of differing metals. The guy told me it would show a stark contrast between the iron and the steel. It would plainly bring out the weld lines. So, I'm thinking I'm going to take a section of ribless, 10 gage wrecked barrels, polish them up and give them a dip. Might be interesting. He told me he dipped an old damascus bbl flintlock pistol and it came out beautiful.

[Mike Franzen]

BTW Gary, the ultrasonic measuring device was a Krautkramer USN 160. They said that was as good as it gets.