All --
It occurs to me that the industry and [b]in particular, the buying public would be well served by the development of a set of industry standards by which the barrel regulation of double guns can be measured / defined. For this purpose method of measurement for the point of aim vs point of impact divergence should be defined or both barrels. In addition the method of measurement for the point of impact divergence between the two barrels should be similarly defined in such a standard. I can think of several simple methods for making these measurements.
The individual manufacturers could then publish their own specification for barrel regulation with respect to these standards, which they are willing to "stand behind" and guarantee. These specifications could provide a competitive advantage to technical competent companies. Even the unilateral adoption of such standards and specification could provide an individual company a competitive marketing advantage.
The current barrel regulation problems, found throughout the industry, appear to derive from the benign neglect of an uninformed public which assumes good barrel regulation as a given .... and from the not-so-benign neglect of most shotgun manufacturers. If the current situation is to change for the better, the buying public may well have to demand this new set of industry standards.
Unlikely? … well, I do not know. But, if a few companies adopt such standards and reasonable specifications, based on these standards .... and this fact is well advertized by those companies that adopt them -- the entire industry may be forced to move in this direction. The technically competent companies and the buying public will benefit from this process.
Regards,
Don
