doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Would you buy your dream gun if barrels were .019

Really appreciate the opinions!

You guys have hit the nail on the head. For me with many of these guns, we're caretakers. We have it for a while, use it and care for it, but eventually due to whatever circumstances it changes hands, and when/if I tire of it (before dying?!), I'd like to be able to sell it.

It's not my dream gun with barrels that thin. Can it be shot with low pressure loads? Probably. Would I? Probably not. Too many guns in the world to risk life and limb. Well, that's a bit strong, but if anything happens to the barrels it would probably be a total write off.

One word on this "LOW PRESSURE" bit. All you folks riding this low pressure "Hobby Horse" are talking about maximum chamber pressure. Take two loads with same overall ballistics, say 1oz @ 1200 fps with pressures of 10K & 7K in the chamber. That 10k load is almost certain to have a slightly lower pressure down there where the thin spot is.
The only problem with that .019" assuming as previously stated it's in the forward third of the barrels is from handling damage, not from the shooting.
Do you have a gun with good dimensions over the chamber & first 9-12 inches of barrels but thin toward the muzzles you want to shoot. Shoot a moderate shot load with moderate velocities using the fastest powder which will stay within proper pressure levels at the chamber. DO NOT think you're babying the front of the barrels by dropping the pressures at the rear unless you also drop the total ballistics of the load. Do not use any of the so called slow burn Progressive powders if you're truly concerned about the Front End of the barrels.

I'd pass.

The other thing you might consider is how much does your dream gun cost you with good wall thickness, and also, at what stage do you stop worrying about wall thickness? If they were .020 or .023 would you have the same concerns? I don't know.

At 019 I do not believe it would stand in my way. But we want to know what is this dream gun?

Nosirree bobcat.
JR

I am aware of both Parker, Lefever and Fox barrels that were struck that thin in the factory! These are not uniformly thin but usually a section found on the side or bottom of the barrel. And yes, I'm satisfied the bores haven't been honed or the barrels refinished. Very few guns have had their wall thickness' accurately measured. I recall a very nice Belgium boxlock I was attracted to in Tulsa. Price was certainly right and everything looked right. Fetched my wall thickness gauge and ran it up the bores. A whole lot of the front end measured .011 or thereabouts! Amazingly, the seller seemed to instantly develop a hearing problem....obviously, I passed....and ran!

your dream gun if barrels were .019 [Re: swoobie]
Demonwolf444 Offline
Sidelock

Registered: October 18, 2014
Posts: 174
Loc: North Yorkshire. England. Not an expert in barrels but this is my 2p's worth. *assuming its a 12 bore not needing any work.

.019 and .020 in its self would not be a deal breaker in a gun I simply wanted to own use and enjoy, in fact as you have alluded to it might mean a otherwise unaffordable gun is well priced as long as you shoot appropriate loads and look after it there is no reason why the gun wouldn't last your lifetime and perhaps longer again.

Thin barrels are inherently less strong, ie more prone to dents and should you develop a dent your more like to end up with a worrying thin spot.

Just don't convince yourself its an investment, its an indulgence.

http://www.vintageguns.co.uk/articles/thin-barrels/

I generally listen to Joe Wood but this guy hit the nail on the head....I bought a Boss a few years ago and dove hunt with it but the thin I think .018 is near the muzzel.
I don't think it was ever real thick to begin with........ and yes for considerably more I could have gotten one with thicker tubes... But I own a Boss

Pull the trigger

Other than perhaps trivial information pertaining to barrel wall thickness, these comments are useless as regards whatever decision Brother Swoobie may ultimately make with his "dream gun"; but I was visiting with Buck Hamlin earlier this week when this very subject arose. Buck said that some years ago, the now departed Lanny Samson came across a thoroughly well-used Damascus barreled Lefever (didn't remember grade) with a burst right barrel (just past the forend tip)that he had purchased for parts; and he commented to Buck how extremely thin the tube was at the rupture point. As Buck was conducting strength testing on Damascus barrels at the time, Lanny sent him that Lefever with the understanding that Buck would run heavy loads thru the left barrel until it failed. On receiving and examining the gun, Buck was amazed at how hard this gun had been used, as portions of the original stock wood was simply worn away from having been carried and used. Barrel wall thickness at the rupture point was .010; and Buck was convinced, based on the condition of the gun, that the gun had simply been shot so much that barrel walls had worn thin from shooting.
So with the intent to blow the left barrel, Buck measured bore diameter and started his experiment with a box of 2 3/4", one and five-eights ounce short magnums; and the original 2 5/8" barrel chamber was not lengthened. The left barrel digested that box of shells just fine, and with no change in bore diameter; so he then moved to phase 2 of his experiment. The chamber was lengthened to 3", and 25 rounds of 1 7/8 ounce magnums later the barrel remained intact with no measured changes to bore diameter (all loads used were factory rounds given to Buck by duck/goose hunters to make sure they didn't accidently violate mandated steel shot laws; all shot was lead and mostly lead #2 and BB sized pellets); so Buck now moved to test phase 3. The left side chamber was now opened to 3 1/2" and gun subjected to 3 1/2" two and one-quarter ounce lead turkey loads; the left barrel ruptured after only a few shots. Buck then measured barrel wall thickness at the rupture point, which was almost perfectly aligned with the bursting point in the right side tube; and wall thickness there measured .010 also. Obviously whatever strain this particular Damascus tube could withstand means nothing as regards application to another, and perhaps even thicker tube; but having this information would certainly make me feel a bit easier about shooting a gun with a barrel tube almost twice as thick provided that barrel was judged sound and low pressure loads were used. But regardless, experiments such as described herein clearly indicate that good quality Damascus tubes are capable of far more abuse than any members here would ever consider dishing out.