doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Barrel Measurements, your thoughts ?

In the last few weeks I have looked at on line offerings for three guns from three different sellers. I asked each of these sellers for barrel measurements, but was told that they didn’t have tools to measure. One said that if I was successful in bidding I could take the gun to a gunsmith for measurement.. Another offered wall thickness at the muzzle, only. The third offered pics of the muzzle with a pencil eraser for comparison. These sellers total well over 2000 current listings on the internet. What do you think about a seller who will not disclose gun condition questions ?

Don’t ask don’t tell sellers. Very lame.

Was one of these sellers ed good? I'd go elsewhere.

I don't view myself as a serious collector, although I have a few nice doubles, and can measure wall thickness and chokes. A dealer certainly should be able to.

I think it is exceedingly common and it surprises me that anyone might think otherwise.

I think that if there is, as is common, a proper return policy than that is part of the cost of doing what we do. Verifying for ourselves the specs of a gun. And if it doesn’t measure up, back it goes.

I’m much more concerned about the return policy. Is it straightforward or is it ambiguous and open for interpretation by the seller to suit his best interests. For example, I stopped pursuing a gun I was interested in that was being offered by a member here because every effort to clarify the return policy was met with bafflegab

A return policy should never come into use over simple to measure things. If you can not get a measurement of wall thickness do not bid. Why should I pay shipping and insurance both ways, then wait for funds to be refunded? A basic wall thickness measuring tool should cost you a couple hundred bucks at most. Top of the line are $700.00 or more. Cost part of doing business are the tools needed to be in business. A carpenter needs a hammer and air-nailer to work, a gun dealer needs tools to measure chokes and wall thickness.

You can not eyeball thicknesses and it is an important thing to know for real condition, original condition and safe use. I have seen more than one gun which had barrels cleaned up so poorly that they were trash. A mint looking LC Smith almost came home with me last year until I found the barrels had been reamed out until they were .014 about 12" from the breech. The gun had a honest 90% case color and 95% bluing, dealer 99% & 99% but the barrels were paper thin right about where my fingers hang out. I do not buy unless I can measure things anymore. Some dealers do not know and do not want to know facts which might interfere with selling a gun. Those will not measure and may not allow you to measure their guns. So I just wave goodbye to them and count my blessings and fingers.

Your statement “I do not buy unless I can measure anymore”

Don’t you put in bids at auctions? How do you measure guns that you’re bidding on, especially overseas?

I don’t trust dealers measurements a lot of the times….I just brought in a gun and when measured on my tools….the wall thicknesses in both barrels were less than advertised and the bore diameters were also different than what this “respectable” dealer had in the ad. Gun was still in proof and MWT were adequate, so I kept the gun.

Back when Tom Bryant was in charge of the Gun Libraries' internet listings for Cabela's, I remember suggesting to Tom that they should all be able to measure barrels. His response: "Larry, a lot of them have trouble using a bore and choke gauge correctly."

I was interested to stop into Owatonna Cabela's a couple of weeks ago. The guy working the library was not completely clueless. They are buying guns again, and I sold him one, though not a double, although I did offer one. There were 28 used side-bys in the wrack. None of particular note or interest to me, but still, a lot better than my LGS.

Regarding many auction houses. If they can tell be the chamber length and the chokes and the bore diameter, I can get a pretty good idea from those three things whether a gun has been "Bubba'd" up. I'm talking american doubles and primarily Foxes because that's what I like. However, I have been lied to by at least one auction house. Called and asked specifically on a Fox whether the ejectors worked and whether the guide rods were ok because I'd had more then a few break. They said everything was fine. Got the gun (as is auction) and the right ejector guide rod was sheared off and stuck in the barrel. I had to pay a couple of 100 bucks to get it fixed. I wasn't happy because I had specifically asked about that situation.

Above I said, I saw a double at a dealer at the Southern last year. Zero measurements noted on the hang tag regarding the barrels other then chokes (full/mod) and barrel length. I asked the dealer if I could have Jon Hosford measure the bores etc etc and he said sure. Took it to Jon and the first barrel about 12" down from the breech was .0018. I told Jon I was no longer interested in the gun and what did I owe him and he said nothing. Took it back to the dealer and set it on the table.