Ok, I have a confession to make. My wife and I are Cowboy Action Shooters.

But I run contrary to the norm. While I have "coach guns", they were bought that way. I don't go wacking barrels off.

Another deviation, I'm not obsessed with funneling and polishing the chambers as most Cowboy Action Shooters seem to feel is mandatory. I've restored at least a dozen old doubles to shooting condition and only cleaned the chambers and bores in the process.



I just put up this video of a Hopkins and Allen hammer double that I transplanted a second set of barrels that were cut before I bought it. The black powder loads are loaded in Federal hulls. Yet the fired hulls fall right out.

I've seen chambers in high quality shotguns that have what I'd call a rough chamber with a crossed pattern. I have some memory of reading that a purposely roughened chamber makes for easier extraction as it provides less surface contact with the hull.

Another part of the Cowboy Action Shooting code is to use smooth hulls. They are sure hulls with ribs are going to stick in the chambers. AA Winchester and STS Remington are the top choices.

The old Hopkins and Allen firing Federal hulls goes against all these principles yet still works fine.

So.. For the purpose of extracting, what's the opinion on polished vs rough chambers?

Last edited by Bibbyman; 02/23/18 10:39 PM.