Everything is relative to wall thickness. A well-struck light game gun might pose a more serious question than a thicker walled gun. I once had a French 20 for 2-1/2 shells that barely scaled five pounds. Its barrels were quite thin throughout their length. I had no pits inside but several outside. I lightly draw filed the pitting out, polished and rust blued the tubes. Guy I sold it to never had any trouble with it using short shells but said he couldn't hit anything with it (same reason I sold it). Where it is today, no one knows. I have a Model 97 which looks like a sewer pipe inside but shoots great 90% patterns when used with shot cups. I guess the only way to tell for sure is to separate the barrels of a double and take into account the thickness where the ribs join. I wonder how many gunmakers took this into consideration when striking the finished and soldered tubes. Maybe the only sure test is a long string and an old tire to tie the gun to. There are no easy answers, I reckon. Chopper
