Garth, thanks as I have to run another gun up to Pat Laib as he has checked my first Parker I originally bought. I appreciate the help with this. Do you know where people send barrels out to get inspected for cracks that can’t be seen? I’m just curious about that.

The experts will chime in but typically cracks are much less of a concern with modern fluid steel barrels than with Damascus or twist barrels. A visual inspection and measurements by a qualified smith for bulges, deep pitting and any imperfections in the metal combined with the use of reasonable loads should put your mind at ease.

All this concern over a 5 percent chamber pressure increase ?

Who would have thought that MRI analysis of a Damascus or Twist composite barrel would show hundreds of linear density differences?

No steel in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging room Bruce. That donut thingie is a giant magnet :eek:

This is a negative image radiograph (X-ray; not MRI) of a damascus barrel. The difficulty is in differentiating pits from defects within the wall.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../408815326.jpg