Poor man's bore gauge?

[Phil Yearout]

Is there any such thing? I would like to determine the actual choke in a couple of my guns but I really don't want to invest a bunch in a bore gauge; just don't think I'd have that much use for it after the initial use. Most of the inexpensive inside calipers I've seen probably don't go deep enough, and most aren't accurate enough either. Any suggestions? Thanks...

[OH Osthaus]

Gary Bulley only charges $140 for a dial type bore gauge - a little more for a digital and he is a nice guy to deal with

https://www.theunloader.com/

if I charged $5 for every bore I measure for someone else - both of my digital ones would have paid for themselves

if you really have no further use for it - i'd bet someone here would buy it for a few dollars off

[Phil Yearout]

Originally Posted by Rick Losey

Gary Bulley only charges $140 for a dial type bore gauge - a little more for a digital and he is a nice guy to deal with

https://www.theunloader.com/

if I charged $5 for every bore I measure for someone else - both of my digital ones would have paid for themselves

if you really have no further use for it - i'd bet someone here would buy it for a few dollars off

I frankly don't know anyone who gives a sh!t about the bore diameter of any gun they own, so that sort of payback is out of the question . That said, assuming I decided to pop for one of these, what's a good length to get? And is it worth it to pay the extra $35 for digital?

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by Phil Yearout

I frankly don't know anyone who gives a sh!t about the bore diameter of any gun they own, so that sort of payback is out of the question . That said, assuming I decided to pop for one of these, what's a good length to get? And is it worth it to pay the extra $35 for digital?

its always the chokes they want to know about.

length wise - i like 18" a little room to spare if I want to completely measure a 32" set of barrels.

I like using the digital- but the draw back is - always remember to have a spare battery around. but I also have a dial bore gauge, and it works absolutely fine -

so the answer to that is - personal choice - no practical advantage

[Phil Yearout]

Originally Posted by Rick Losey

its always the chokes they want to know about

So excuse me for bein' dumb, but...you can measure the choke constriction with this as well, right?

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by Phil Yearout

So excuse me for bein' dumb, but...you can measure the choke constriction with this as well, right?

yes. insert it from front of the bore and as you slowly draw it out, the gauge's reading will drop - so, the points of constriction is the difference between the inside bore diameter and the reading at the muzzle. you can tell the length of the choke by when the numbers begin to drop.


to use the gauge - you use a ring that comes with it to zero it - the inside of the ring is .700 for the 16 to 10 size. so when you drop the gauge in a 12 ga for example and it reads .029 that means the bore is .729. if it reads -006 at the muzzle - the choke is .035

simple once you have done it a couple times

[B. Dudley]

An inside caliper can measure the inside of a bore can work to measure constriction. I have seen them with spring loaded legs that are maybe 4-5" long. You can use them for choke and also chamber length gauging.

That would likely be your best option at an "economy way" and still use accurate equipment.

Like these...

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[Phil Yearout]

Brian, my only problem with those is that unless you want to pay a pretty good chunk the ones I've looked at say accuracy is around +/- .01. I didn't think that was good enough. Maybe I just wasn't looking at high enough quality ones?

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Phil Yearout

Brian, my only problem with those is that unless you want to pay a pretty good chunk the ones I've looked at say accuracy is around +/- .01. I didn't think that was good enough. Maybe I just wasn't looking at high enough quality ones?

Are you sure about that number, Phil? Even the Chinese junque at Harbor Freight states, and is, more accurate than that.

I prefer mechanical gauges over digitals, and as Rick says, keep (a pack) of batteries handy; they eat them.
Mechanical gauges with a telltale make meaningful measurements easier. Digitals have a zero function, but when you zero, your previous measurement is lost.
When we were certifying to ISO 9001, digital gauges, on almost every measuring instrument was considered a secondary measuring tool.

[Bill Murphy]

Phil, are you sure of your measurement? .01 is one hundredth of an inch. A good machinist with a scale can identify .01. We are talking about cheap micrometers that will measure one thousandth of an inch.