doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Am I the only one here that seeing the term bore

If sheet steel and wire is measured in gauge, should wall thickness be measured in gauges ?





I'll go and sit back in the corner now.

oops!!
Been meaning to come visit as I have a stock problem beyond my limited ability to address, but thought you were out of town chasing those feathered devils.

You could call wall thickness a gauge only if they were of a consistent thickness over the length of the barrel and that thickness were set against an agreed upon standard.

Ha, never thought of that. I suppose we use the term bore like we would for pipe or cylinder bore in plumbing and engineering.
Would you say the term gauge came about through the use of plug gauges to determine internal diameters ?

From my old Webster's New World Dictionary for the relevant part; Bore, Noun; 1. A hole made by or as by boring. 2. (a) The hollow part of a tube or gun barrel (b) Its inside diameter: Caliber

Gauge; relevant definitions Noun 1. A measure; standard measure or scale of measurement 2. Dimensions; capacity; extent 6. The size of the bore of a shotgun as determined by the number per pound of spherical projectiles fitting the bore

From definition 2b of bore it would seem it would be correct to say a gun was a .729 bore, as to whether that would transfer to a 12 bore may be debatable, but definitely correct to say it is a 12 gauge, from definition 6 of gauge.

Yep that's the way I see it. When the English set up standards for sizes, they set up a standard to which manufactured goods could be referenced to. They used the term gauges to show that a product size could be defined as being able to be referenced against a standard measurement or gauge. Thus a buyer of a 12ga would be assured that he was getting a gun bored to a specific standard as defined by a gauge. In the same token there is no real definition as to what the bore of a 12 bore might be since it does not reference its self to a standard dimension.

Here is what it boils down to in my mind and the basis of my rant:
When the English set up standards or Gauges, they did the world a great service for they set up standards upon we could rely and build on. When we say bore as a tip of the hat to British quality and ingenuity we miss the real genius of what the British contributed at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, that of standardization. This goes along with the greatest gift we got from the English, that of self control and honesty for no people can be free from the rule of others if they can't rule themselves and their behavior.

Well now that I got that out of my system; you folks can call your guns what ever you wish. They are your guns.

Pooch is partly correct. The term "gauge" was used to define a standard but the standard was not "bore" or barrel diameter but related to the chamber. Thus, with the introduction of breech loaders and cartridges there was a need for standardization between cartridge size and chamber size. Thus the term "12 gauge" was used to make sure that the cartridge was matched to the size of the chamber otherwise there could be catastrophic consequences if the two did not match and a cartridge slipped beyond the chamber. "Bore" only determines the diameter of the barrels since a "12 gauge" gun can have barrels which are 13 or 14 bore.

I would think you would know that bore is measured by a standard size gauge ball and there are also 13 and 14 sized gauge balls amoung many others. If you should look up The Worshipful Company of Gunmakers ie The London Proof House, you find in their official literature they list shotgun sizes as 12gauge 20 gauge ect.

Face it gang there is no rational for using the term bore in lieu of gauge other then you just choose to do so.

Pooch you are too boring for me. If you can't accept reality too bad.