doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Skeets Bore Gauge - Accurate?

I've chosen the wrong method, the wrong adjective, what's next? Nothing to lose: by savvy I meant gun-knowledgable. For example typical "savvy guy" 1) has consistently great scores at trap and skeet; 2) has not had a burst from stuck wad or wrong powder in a reload; 3) is a stickler for range safety; 4) is a railbird hunter and a dedicated fisherman; 5) is a complete idiot about brass "ringsizer" guages. I give up don't shoot agree with anything said by anyone except me! Where's Jack Maloney when you need him? Now there was a cat who could out-obtuse you, Larry.

jack

10 ga is .775" old or new. However many of the older guns with 10 ga chambers had oversize bores. It was not because the wads were fiber though, but because they were also oversize in many cases. The 10 was a very popular waterfowl gun & for this use the thin brass shell was also popular, as the early paper shells were bad about swelling. The all brass shells required oversize wads so the guns were often bored for these shells. I know that my pre 1890 Lefever 10ga has oversize bores but off hand don't recall by how much. Technically of course it does not have a 10ga bore, even though chambered for 10 ga shells. A 9ga is .803 & in between there was 10/1 & 10/2.

Miller, thanks. I know the 10 ga L.C. Smiths of Hunter Arms, Fulton had .775 bore, but I wasn't sure of the Syracuse line. I had heard of the oversize wads and I guess I should have put than instead of fiber wads.

JDW, I have not been able to accurately measure above .790 until I recently started using the $495 Galazan gauge. However, over the years, we have used some shade tree measures which have proven that Parker Brothers, before the mid 1890s, used 9 gauge bores in ten gauge guns. The measures were right around .800. In 12 gauge guns, same time period, Parker used 11 gauge bores, measuring from .745, some as large as .750. Most collectors of early Parker guns agree that about 1894 or 1895 is the cutoff period for the larger bores. Some of these early guns also have square cut chambers for an exact length of brass shell. Apparently, back in those brass shell days, more attention was paid to exact shell length. When I have some time to measure some eight gauge bores with my new toy, I will report the results. At this time, however, I have not proven the accuracy of the gauge in the larger bore sizes.

Jack, nothing obtuse about it. Like most rabbits, you're quite proficient at digging holes. If a guy is gun-knowledgable, then he isn't going to use the wrong tool to measure choke. Matter of fact, why would anyone use any tool when said tool doesn't do what you want it to? Full disclosure: I used to use one of those brass gauges. But I was not gun-knowledgable when I did.

"Mensuration"

Can I do that with a Y chromosome?!?

Here is what I think Jack was saying:
To measure choke constriction on a barrel you don't need to calibrate the dial bore gauge with the calibration ring. From the muzzle end insert the dial bore gauge a few inches. Set the dial indicator to zero. Move the bore guage out to where the balls are at the muzzle. The dial indicator reads directly the amount of constriction in that barrel in thousandths so there is no math.

Using this method you don't know the bore diameter nor do you know the diameter of the muzzle. But you do know the constriction. You do not have to use the calibration ring.

Best,

Mike

I just looked at the thermometer...temperature dropped 15 degrees over night but it has gone up 8 degrees already today. So I know if it rises another 7 degrees it will be the same as it was at bedtime. If only I could zero it, I wouldn't have to do all that math.

Oh
Thanks guys; thought I'd have to buy a different model of Depends. (How's this for OT? )

Not advocating, just trying to validate the process.


Best,

Mike