Curious what the reality is with regard to barrels which trend doward the lead pipe vice cathedral bell end of the of the spectrum when rung. We all have been conditioned to run from such a gun (as do I), and yet, I wonder. For instance, I have a high end, pre-war guild drilling which I purchased as a Lieutenant in Germany about thirty years ago. I did not know to "ring" barrels until probably ten years ago. When tapped then as now, these resonate with a brief, D-minor clunk. I suspect they have sounded just like that since they were pulled down from the barn rafters after the occupation following WWII.
This gun has taken probably 25 head of big game, and a truck load of small over the three decades it has been in my possession. I don't use it as often now, but it goes to the range at least once a year, and still shoots the tiny 8mm rifle groups it always has. It is also still the most unforgiving, tightly choked gun in my safe to use on clays. (If it were a 12b vice a 16b, it would make a heck of a pigeon thumper). The ribs show not a hint of seperation.
So what is the truth here? Am I going to line up on a whitetail some fall and find three sets of barrel components in my left hand following the shot? And if it is such a problem why did the only rib sepearation that I have actually seen with my own eyes happen with a nearly new Winchester Model 23? Obviously a flaw in its making, but if this clunking were such an accurate leading indicator, and with as many vintage guns now on the ranges, one would think courses would be littered with barrels and ribs. And perhaps some of the gunshops are. I suspect, however, that a lot of these guns have been and will continue to digest happily box after box of appropriate ammunition.
In any case would appreciate some informed insight.
