doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Safe barrel wall thicknesses for shooting Damascus

What do you all think? I am looking at a 100 year old high grade European gun with fine Damascus. 9" back from the muzzle and 9" in from the breach, the barrels have a minimum thickness of 25/000. The gun is 6 lbs, 3 oz and would make a great grouse gun. The barrels are not rough or pitted and appear to be in good condition. I shoot light 1 oz. loads, such as RST. Do you think 25/000 is OK? Rich

Have a good qualified gunsmith look at it. If the seller won't allow it pass on it. Just because at that one point it is 25/1000 does not mean it is safe all over. Better to have a smith look at the whole set of barrels especially if its your first English gun. Good luck.

They need to be in proof - a recent proof all the better.
More meat to 'em would be nice also!

Mike is correct, but this was discussed recently here:

From the PGCA site:
http://www.parkergun.org/forums/forum1/595.html
We who shoot Damascus barrelled guns look for a minimum of .025 wall thickness...measured at 9" from muzzle and breech with .080 at the end of the chambers.

I went out of my way to find a recent proofing.
My long gone Jos. Lang was reproofed in 1996, I bought the gun somewhat later on. Shot nothing but Gamebore blackpowder.

I like much closer to .090 at the chamber.....I'll go as thin as .020 or so near the muzzle.....everyone has thier own comfort level. My view is that most of the pressure happens closer to the breech (and that is also the place I put my fingers, and that up front it is much less a worry. Of course if I'm buying......you know the deal. Be safe and use low pressure loads and have a good barrel man check them before purchase.
Steve

Dents to easy at .020!

Lowell,
tis true.....but that just makes you be a little more careful. It all depends on the gun, the rarity, and the price. If its rare and something I want, priced right, I won't let .020" stop me. But thats just me and my collection.
Steve

...and thats good enough for me!

Mike's point is a good one. Barrels typically aren't concentric, and it takes a thorough check to make sure there's not a thin spot somewhere. But if .025 is as thin as it gets and if the bores aren't pitted (often an issue with Damascus), it should be safe.

As for the proof issue . . . a gun could be in proof from what's stamped on the flats, and still have minimum wall thickness of less than .025. On the other hand, barrels might have been honed enough that the gun is now out of proof because it's more than .010 over spec, but it could still have .030 minimum wall thickness, if it started out with thicker walls. Personally, I'd pick the latter gun over the former, but I'd probably try to negotiate a better price based on it being out of proof.