What's Your Biggest Concern

[Dean Romig]

Date of manufacture is not a concern to me.
The barrels of any old Parker (that's really all I collect and shoot) that I intend to shoot will have passed muster at every critical point along their length - juncture of chamber/forcing cone; 8" from the breech; midway along the length, and at the beginning of the choke taper. They will have no deep pits and will not have been honed beyond 10% of the nominal bore diameter for the particular gauge.

Folks say that any barrel wall thinner than .0025" is not safe to shoot but there are people who shoot guns with .0019" confidently...

Look at a piece of .0025" shim stock and you wonder how that thin of a barrel wall can withstand even a 2,000 psi pressure rise... but it can withstand 2X that much if it is far enough from the breech...

I have no fear of any composite barrel material on a Parker as long as they meet the standards above... Damascus of any description originally supplied on a Parker, Twist, Stub Twist, Plain Twist, Laminated both early and late, Bernard and certainly all of the fluid pressed steels.

The gun will be tight on face and the wood will be tight to the frame and be uncompromised.

And of course I will only shoot ammunition that the gun was designed to shoot.





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[John Davis]

"And of course I will only shoot ammunition that the gun was designed to shoot."

How do you define that?

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Folks say that any barrel wall thinner than .0025" is not safe to shoot but there are people who shoot guns with .0019" confidently...

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I agree with Dean, with the caveats he mentions. I have a number of guns that have 25 thousandths thickness out toward the muzzle. I also have several English/Scottish doubles -- with relatively recent reproofing -- that are at or near 18 thousandths out toward the muzzle...and those include 16 and 28 bore guns.

I probably err on the more conservative side on the loads I shoot, but generally shoot the "standard" loads of shot for the gauge...with any exceptions made for any gun based on my (probably very unsophisticated) assessment -- and the game I'm shooting (at!).