Ring those barrels !
 

When one rings a barrel - if it doesn't "ring true" - is this definitive proof of anything ? If so, is it just proof that the ribs may be loose ? Or, could it mean more sinister flaws are present ????

Please let me know...

Thanks !

John

Think of all the reasons a bell might not ring and those would apply to the the tubular bells of a barrel set. Loose ribs, cracked barrels, all those could be present to damp vibrations .

Thanks Bruce !

From my experience, Damascus barrels won't ring quite as sharply (as opposed to flatly in musical parlance) as fluid steel barrels will. The alternating ribbons of iron and steel will not transmit the vibrations that create the sound as evenly as fluid steel will.

John,
It is sometimes necessary to remove the ejectors/extractors to get a good ring.

The gunsmith did remove the extractors, but he still said they wouldn't ring true. He didn't see any loose ribs, nor any cracks in the barrels. In fact, he claimed that this was primarily a test for rib integrity - not cracks in the barrels.

Regardless - now I'm concerned...

One test I like to perform on a newly aquired set of barrels is to take a .001 piece of feeler stock cut it on a 45 degree angle and run it down the top and bottom rib looking for gaps.Barrel "ringing" will only tell the integrity of the barrel assembly not cracks.

Thanks Dave - that's exactly what the gunsmith said. (This is a set of twist barrels that I've had for years - the gun shoots great ! If a loose rib is the only possible consequence, I'm not going to worry myself too much. I'll keep shooting it with light RST shells.)

My 1886 10ga damascus bbls did not ring like a bell either but nothing loose could be found so they got refinished and have been killing waterfowl ever since.

Ringing like a bell is not a determinative test, its just one of the indicators. If they don't ring well, then its a flag to look more closely at everything in the barrel assembly. If they ring well and they look fine, they pass the integrity issue. You still need to look at wall thickness, deep pits, etc. Shiny bores are not critical to me but they are to some people. I don't like hearing rust scale sliding back and forth under the ribs, but it doesn't bother some people.

By the way, I've seen barrel cracks in both damascus and fluid steel welded successfully when they are in mid barrel or further down. The cracks seemed to me from a hard whack and the dent was raised and the crack was welded. If you have good wall thickness, there is a lot you can do to repair barrels.