[Austin W Hogan]

We measured the outside diameters of several Parker barrels to attempt to generalize barrel taper. These tables will appear in the Spring Issue of Parker Pages.
Parker barrels are hand filed, and the outside of the barrel is not concentric with the bore. One cannot simply subtract bore diameter from outside diameter to determine thickness. However, examining several barrels and subtracting the nominal bore diameter allows one to estimate the nominal thickness the filers were trying to produce.
Analysis of 22 twelve gauge barrel sets, including three sets weighing less than three pounds, indicates the nominal minimum barrel thickness at 24 inches is 1/32 inch. Eccentricity may cause portions of the barrel to be thinner than this. Minimum nominal thickness at 18 inches would be about .050 inches.
If those of you that have barrel thickness gauges would like to make up tables of actual measurements, we will publish them in a later issue.

Best, Austin