Where can one find a bbl wall thickness gauge? ...Especially for under $200; the only one I've seen was significantly more.

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-to...prod20463.aspx


not fancy- and practice with it to get good readings -

use the savings to get the Skeets bore gauge and you have a set to evaluate bores/barrels


PS
I have shown this set before here- I put this together after passing on what may have been a great deal on a hammer gun because the too shinny bores worried me that they had been honed too much

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/g...-47-53_808.jpg

I bought a couple since then, that without knowing the stats I might have passed on-

The Brownells manson guage is good. But has some limitations. That is what I used until I bought a Hosford guage.

the Manson is certainly basic but it works if you are careful and it does fit the under 200 criteria -

the Hosford is a great tool - I'd love upgrade someday-

I used the manson guage as a horizontal gravity guage like the Hosford tool. Not vertical as the manson instructions say to use it. It was much easier and also portable.

The limitations I found was that you can't read the depth of pitted areas due to the large size of the ball. And also it was good for only 20g and up. And even some very tightly choked 20g barrels would not allow the guage to go into the muzzle.

Now for bore guages, I still use the brownells guage for bores. It is VERY good for the money. The only major downside is not being able to do 10g bores with it. Well, if I remember correctly, it will measure modern nominal 10g bores, but if the bore is oversized, the guage is maxed out.

The Hosford bore guage is very nice, but a LOT of money.

I think the Hosford dent removal tools and wall thickness guage are well worth the money.

If I were a collector with the intent on buying many guns over time I would agree. Also, the tools don't do much good unless you have the gun in hand. I can get the barrel walls measured after the fact but then it may be too late. I would much prefer to buy a gun that I can lay my hands on but in my neck of the woods Parkers are rarely seen and when they do surface they are often Trojans. Nevertheless, your comments are appreciated and taken to heart. Thanks!

I have a 12 Parker just like the one you pictured - bought it about 7 years ago for 750$. It's still my go to gun for clays, I've always seem to shoot it well. I've bought many a Damascus barreled SxS without measuring barrel thickness - must be lucky - never had a problem with any, but then I'm not buying guns in the 2000$ and up range. Well, one I did for 4000, but only one. A thickness gauge would be nice if I was going to invest in more than beaters.

ok - not trying to stir anything up- but this confuses me :rolleyes:

why would a beater/shooter not require measuring and that be reserved for collector grades?

a "beater" it would seem is more likely to be shot and maybe shot a lot, so if there an issue of any sort with the gun it's more likely to show up.


If you don't worry about wall thickness - that is most certainly your choice - no matter what the price of the gun.

I shoot more damascus guns than fluid steel and personally - i measure - I have passed on a very few for being thinner than I like, but the vast majority measure up and I am comfortable shooting them, so it would seem the odds are with you if you want to play the odds.

I suppose one could argue that high value guns are more likely targets for bbl honing by unscrupulous sellers?

I would put the value of that gun at $1500 max.