Barrel wall thickness

[charlie cleveland]

looks like all the powder loads were fairly close in peak preasure.... charlie

[Joe Wood]

Jay, thanks a lot for your input--you clearly stated what I'd feebly tried to say earlier in this thread.

I always carry a wall thickness gauge with me and it has saved my butt several times. One very nice gun offered by a well known dealer and having no visible defects gauged .010! That was a close call! I too am amazed how few dealers have gauges capable of measuring the whole length of the barrel. Do they prefer not to know? Caveat emptor!

[J. A. EARLY]

"This is almost always in a 3-4" area very close to the top rib or bottom rib, and only on one side of the tube. As one person on this thread mentioned, virtually all vintage American doubles have a very noticeable lack of concentricity, ie thicker on one side than the other. There is also the matter of soldering on the ribs, with the required filing of overflow solder tight in to the rib, creating these thin spots."

Jay,

Thanks for the above reply. On almost every set of barrels, this is where I do find the thinnest spots. I had never understood why as one would think this area would not have been the one to meet the file as much as the outermost metal. The tendency is to measure the outside three-fourths of the barrel away from the ribs for thickness and to ignore the one remaining fourth of the barrels for measurement next to the ribs. Now I know why that is where they are the thinnest there. I see it on top more than on the bottom, with lots of low .020 measurements on smaller framed guns.

[Drew Hause]

Possibly 'splaining this. No infro on the load

[Bindlestiff]

John,

I was recently told that the TIG process was discontinued and the only liners they are doing now will reduce the gauge size; similar to what others have been doing for years. I have not checked with them directly but the person that told me is very knowledgeable about such things.

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

John,

Leave the barrels as they are. Chances are that was how they came from the factory. They are plenty safe for everything except using them to strike rocks!

Just shoot it or sell it. There is nothing wrong with the gun except that it is a lightweight.

Mark

[winplumber]

So John do you still own the 20ga ?

[Joe Wood]

I suggest you keep it as is and disclose the thin walls to any potential buyer (which you already have). That is one beautiful gun! My goodness, how many rounds has it digested in its long life that were probably a heck of a lot hotter than what you've been feeding it.

Remember, WW Greener once had one of his barrels thinned to .010 near the muzzle and then shot proof loads through it with no ill effect. Then he used a pen knife to slit the tubes to show bystanders.

[John D.]

Yes, I still own her. I would NEVER sell something to someone without sharing all I knew. I am so thankful that the prospective buyer asked that I take the barrel dimensions and measurements. I should have done that when I first got her, but I didn't. Its simply a righteous little DH.

So, thanks guys.... I have an aversion to sleeving - especially is it drops her down a bore size. So, I will probably update that "for sale" thread given what I found out - and repost it at a lower price, or - more realistically - just keep her in my safe and shoot it on special occassions with my RST low pressure loads or removible gauge tubes?

My thanks again... Now you know why this thread has been of incredible interest to me....

John

[winplumber]

So what some are kinda saying is some Parkers with Damascus barrels let the factory with 019 thickness we say is unsafe they say was ? Damascus gota Love it. NEVER MIND THIS I WENT BACK AND DID JOHNS MATH !