Back bore to remove pits

[Bill Graham]

1906 VH, Vulcan steel barrels, 2 5/8"chambers, very good barrel exterior condition, and a number of deep looking pits in the bores.

Took measurements tonight with a Dave Manson bore wall thickness gauge (not extremely precise) and came up with the readings in the pictures. Does it look like I have enough meat to ream the bores some and still be within safe ranges, or is this barrel scrap? I cannot afford to sleeve the barrels, and it wouldn't be worth the expense anyway if I could.

Thanks.

[tom tutwiler]

IMO it depends where those pits are. If they well towards the breech, perhaps. If they are half way or further down the barrels I'd say they are toast. That said, a bunch of smart folks will chime in who no doubt have more experience then I do for sure.

[B. Dudley]

Pitting always looks worse than it is when you are looking down the bore. Because you are looking across the pit. Not at it dorectly the Surface.

If used properly, a manson gauge will provide you with accurate measurements for wall thickness. But the large ball end on it does not allow you to measure how deep the pitting actually is. A hosford gauge is much better for this.

The measurements you have listed on the barrels look to be perfectly normal for most barrel sets. I would not call the barrels junk too quickly. At least from a shooter standpoint.

I would not recommend any backboring. You would be throwing money at something that is just going to compromise the integrity of the barrels. Yes, pitting looks bad, bit it usually does not effect the shootabiltiy of a set of barrels.

[Daniel G Rainey]

Pitting does not usually effect the shootabiltiy. I learn something from the site all the time. But, does pitting effect the pattern the the gun?

[OH Osthaus]

lately- i think more and more about adding an endoscope to my inspection tool kit

just to get a better view into pitted areas- i used one to look down into a SxS muzzleloader's tubes since I could not look down the bores- made me feel much better about the purchase

and pits are so objective- i have bought guns that the seller says the bores are great and i see pits, and have looked at some i thought were junk and someone else says "these aren't that bad"

[B. Dudley]

There are scopes that plug right into the usb port on your computor. Cheap. Stick a wite cloth in the end of the bore and then stock the scope in ghe other end. You can see everything. However, still cannot know how deep pitting is this way. But it may reveal it is not as bad as it looks.

Those scopes also work great for a do-it-yourself colonoscopy.

[B. Dudley]

Originally Posted by Daniel G Rainey

Pitting does not usually effect the shootabiltiy. I learn something from the site all the time. But, does pitting effect the pattern the the gun?

How would it with a shot cup?
And when i say that pitting does not effect shootability. I mean safe shootability... And pitting that is typical of these older guns. How many of us are shooting hammer guns with moderate or even heavy pitting?

[Bruce Day]

Why thin the barrels to the overall wall thickness of the deepest pits ?

It will not adversely affect the pattern. Shoot it now and see if you have a ragged pattern with holes.

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by Brian Dudley

Those scopes also work great for a do-it-yourself colonoscopy.

is that one of those "don't ask me how I know" sort of things

[Mills]

I just acquired a GH that has pitting, but the minimum wall thickness I get with my Hosford gauge is right at 30 thousandths. These old Parker barrels can generally take a lot of abuse and still be sound. At least, in my experience