doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Help With Manson Wall Thickness Gauge

If you are handy you can make a vertical bench WTG for around 100.00. Having owned a Manson gauge for a year or so I decided a bench gauge made better sense to me. After making several prototypes I settled on the one pictured below. The base is aluminum 1.25 thick x 6 x 6, it is heavy enough to stabilize the tool so the weight of the barrels will not tip it over. The post that the dial is mounted on is 3/4�, it is rigid enough and won't deflect easily. The post for the probe is 5/8� drill rod and will clear 12ga and 16ga barrels, there is a brass nub for the dial indicator to rest against, it also has a hole drilled for a 1/2� rod for 28 and 20ga barrels. An important feature is the collar and brass bushing on the probe, it allows easy adjustment for depth of the probe, the brass bushing with the taper centers the barrels on the probe and allows rotating the barrels, originally I planned on installing a Gaddy spring but it really is not necessary. I have also discovered a digital gauge is easier to read than one with a dial. I sold my Manson gauge to Greg, but did experiment using a digital gauge with it, a real improvement. Pete the white block also helps stiffen the probe and as a stop when measuring shorter depths.

Jim A

Happy to post pix of a tuning fork-type gauge in use suspended from overhead but can't get access to P-bucket due to some BBBSSS about six character passwords. Some of us here, including JL and myself, employ the gauge in the vertical orientation based on the experience and recommendations of the late Oscar Gaddy regarding methods to reduce manipulation-induced error. Some of us also have a piano wire spring (or spring-actuated brass lever) opposite the anvil ball on the internal "tyne" (sic) of the fork, intended to hold the anvil in contact with barrel wall by pushing against opposite wall. This is, or used to be, called the "Gaddy modification".

I've arrived at the point where I don't think it matters all that much whether you keep your sox up with garters or with new-fangled elastic. Certainly, the extension past the anvil on the internal rod of the Hosford model (and on AM's "truth" gauge presumably) is important in that it allows Mike and Hosford to zero their gauge while accounting for gravitational deflection of cantilevered weight. Mike's photo of that vital procedure is very clear for a gauge in which the anvil is a bearing ball located away from the bitter end of the internal rod. This is almost impossible to do with a rod on which the anvil or contact point for the gauge plunger is a turned or screwed-on swelling at the very end of the rod.

Pix of mine later mebbe.

jack

James,is this type of wtg available commercially? It is just what I need,but I'm not up to making one. Justin

Sorry to derail the conversation with another question, but here's hoping for a merciful answer.

I need a bore diameter gauge and a wall thickness gauge so I can better understand the state of prospective gun purchases. I hear names like truth gauge and others but no links to buy them, leaving me calling around to find out the order of magnitude of such expenses.

Can someone recommend the most cost affordable 12 bore solution to bore diameter and wall thickness gauges sold turn-key? How about a solution that does 12-28? Anything exist under $200?

Thanks!

Jim,

I like the digital gauge. Don't know why it never occurred to me.

I will have to try the white block for that.

One of the things I did was to put a hash mark every inch on the rod with a permanent marker. Makes it easier to tell the depth that way.

I picked this up years ago. It will measure to a depth of six inches. Very handy to bring to a gun show.







Pete

There is some difference of opinion on wall thickness gauges. The Manson that is available from Brownells is the least expensive. The Manson was designed to be used in the vertical position. Eightbore has been using it in the horizontal and apparently so have others. My shooting student Joe Wood, who introduced me to the Truth Tool, and I both think the Truth Tool is the better tool although it costs $200 or so. It was designed to be used in the horizontal, to hang the rod in the end of the barrel for zeroing, and is light enough to take into gunshows. There are those here whose opinions I respect that like the Manson and Hosford better. The Hosford gauge is about $500 I think.

Here is a link to a discussion that occured over in the classifieds:
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=214417#Post214417 It has a link to the Manson and contact information for Johnathan Pool who makes and sells the Truth Tool.



Best,

Mike

Thanks Mike,

Please realize I get confused easily on this topic. Are the Manson, Truth Tool and Hosford all multifunction? Meaning, are they all BOTH bore diameter and wall thickness gauges?

This is the Galazan tool, over $500.


This is the Hosford tool, about $500




This is the Manson tool, $100 at Brownell's


Pete

They all look like Wall Thickness Gauges. What do I buy to measure bore diameter so I know that the gun I'm considering is within proof range?

$100 Manson tool for wall thickness + how much for bore diameter?