doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pitted barrels; to hone or not to hone?

Once rust starts it like cancer...either remove it all or it will keep eating away at the metal.

I used to own some SxS's with pitted barrels...I got rid of them because I tired of trying to convince myself "they're OK".

Why should he not try to have them honed if it could be done and the barrel measurements remain in proof ?

I once had a "London guy" try and sell me a gun with pitted barrels....claimed he could measure how deep they were.

I've read that the London Proof House says the minimum thickness they approve is 20 thou. My Scottie barrels are pretty heavy, but I have no idea how deep the pitting actually is.

What I am considering is having Mike Orlen or Steve Bertram backbore and polish to remove as much of the pitting as possible without reducing the minimum thickness to less than 25 thou. The risk is still having pitting after that is done, and not improving my situation. If I can actually remove the oxidation with vinegar or naval jelly to prevent further growth of the pits, I may be better off just doing that.

Somebody convince me one way or another. The conflict is stressing me out...Geo

Well, if it helps, you can do the vinegar treatment for $0.99 plus the cost of a couple of corks. And you still have all your current barrel wall thickness intact.

Well then, all those browned barrels will surely rust to oblivion.

These tubes had 90+ years of rust. I let them sit for 24 hours in vinegar. Dumped the vinegar and refilled for another 24 hours in vinegar. Took them out, rubbed them down with a scotch-brite pad and ran water over them. A light coat of oil and they were done. Have been sitting now for months with no sign of rust.

Pete

I am also thinking that if I backbore several thousanths of steel out of my barrels, the chokes, which I like now, will also have to be adjusted to match be new bore diamater. More expense; and I already have .99 cents for the vinegar..Geo

Truth is, honing thins the barrels for their entire length, therefore weakening the whole barrel. If a barrel has good wall thickness outside of a pit it is probably quite strong. I'm reminded of a set of barrels W. Greener (the first) wrote about in his book, "The Gun". The owner of a very old gun wanted the barrels saved and a new gun built around them. The gunmaker noted and pointed out that the gun had pitted all the way through and there were several small holes where gas would jet out. But the owner was adament to keep them, believing them to be the best shooting barrels he had ever seen. The gunmaker relented and built him a new gun with the old barrels. The last Greener heard of them was much later and the gun had just continued shooting great. I guess the moral of this drivel is that a pit does not weaken the tube nearly as much as honing (thin walls). I've been on both sides of this issue several times with my own guns and have reached the conclusion to leave them as is unless there are other valid reasons to hone, such as increasing the choke, etc. Remember, honing will NOT make the barrel stronger!

That was over a 100 years ago with an almost new gun....what we have here is a gun that's well over 100 years old.

I'm sure it still holds true today if the deep pitt or hole is not in a high pressure area.
I shoot with a guy that has a Damascus barrel with a small hole in it that vents....it's close to the muzzle.

I'd go with the .99 cent vinegar solution....that way every time you pull the trigger you can just can keep telling yourself those pitts are not very deep...

Then wonder if they go sideways into the pattern welds ?

I see the "moral of this drivel" as...

Don't buy guns with pitted barrels leave them for the unknowing.