Today I called and talked to a gentleman at the H.P. White Laboratory. He informed me that for $600 they will, normally within a week, proof test a SxS.
I asked how their test compared to those of the Birmingham proof house and received no answer. He informed me that they do use SAAMI proof loads. Their personnel visually inspect a gun before the proof test and again afterward plus they use a "headspace" gauge for the final pass/fail gage.
They do not use any method to measure for permanent deformation other than their headspace gauge. From the man's description I visualized this to be an oversized representation of a cartridge. If it is able to be fully chambered then the gun will have excessive headspace. Of course, a shotshell headspaces via the rim of the shell. Maybe the headspace gauge referenced actually is slightly larget in diameter than the SAAMI maximum allowable for a chamber.
A good gunsmith could do that what this lab does.
Mark
Last edited by MarkOue; 12/27/11 02:42 PM.
