Measuring Barrel life?

J

joeranger

New member
I guy put a air pressure gauge on my shotgun and said it was too worn.
I had never even seen one of these. Does this make sense?
It is not like the rifling is worn. It's a skeet gun.
 
Never heard of that . Modern cup wads protect the barrel from the shot so it has to be plastic to steel wear ?? Get a chrome plated bore.
 
He might have used a instrument called a Air Gage. BUT unless he knows the gun his results are no better than looking down the bore.

What if he was measuring a backbored barrel, those barrel diameters are larger than standard .729 12 gauge.

I would also say he wants to sell you a new gun, by the way what make is your shotgun?
 
Yes you can measure wear on anything, BUT you have to have a starting point, a known value such as .729 bore diameter and then a second point where it is time to replace the barrel.

Note: as said before we use plastic wads in our guns today. There is more wear during cleaning the barrel not the shooting.

The barrel maker Harry Pope had a gun that was shot over 100,000 times (his own rifle) all lead bullets. during that time here was no loss in grouping or any measurable wear.
 
In an extreme situation, the barrel could become too thin. I've never head of this happening from normal wear. The closest things, I'm aware of, are: When a screw-in choke is improperly installed and the end separates; someone tries to extend a chamber (or overbore) when there's not enough material (both are the result of poor gunsmithing); or corrosion damage.

Taking barrel measurements won't tell you much unless you know the properties of the specific steel alloy used. Higher strength steels allow thinner barrels. If a gun passes a visual inspection and you're still in doubt, consider proof testing.
 
The most dedicated competition shooter will not wear out a barrel in his lifetime. I have seen very old shotguns whose barrels were made of the softer steels available back in the day and the muzzle was worn paper thin, almost sharp enough to cut you. Improvements in metallurgy eliminated that. Methinks the fellow was trying to sell you something or gyp you out of what you have. Goat
 
It was like this...

"I'll give you $500...Oh wait a minute. let me check the barrel...Uh oh. It seems like my instrument reads that I should pay less for this gun. How about I give you..."
It did seem very scientific...
 
A British proof house had a Boss 12ga that they used to test fire ammunition that would be used to test fire new guns. It fired a documented one million rounds and was still "in proof." Of course that was standard pressure function test stuff, not high pressure proof test.

I think Winchester got a quarter million out of a Model 97.
 
It was like this...

"I'll give you $500...Oh wait a minute. let me check the barrel...Uh oh. It seems like my instrument reads that I should pay less for this gun. How about I give you..."
It did seem very scientific...
Click to expand...
Nice...

So, who was it?
 
By the way how is the instrument calibrated?

Seems to me that the instrument says there's more money to be made here, or this gun may become part of my collection.
 
We used to call those guys range lizards. They'd hang around waiting for an enthusiastic new shooter who might be looking to get a used O/U or upgrade from a pump to an auto-loader. The lizard would take advantage of his unsophisticated "new buddy" and rip him off. Thankfully, with forums like TFL, shooters are a lot more informed these days.
 
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