doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Question on Briley tubes in and out of guns.

Someone asked me today if he could shoot a set of Briley tubes that extended beyond the end of his barrels? At first I started to so no way but then had to stop and admit that I did not know and that he should call the maker. Of course I expect they would say no as a precaution against any possible problems down the road. But what is the right answer?

He bought a set of used tubes that are 30" and wishes to use them in a 28" gun. As luck would have it they fit into the barrels. Beyond the chamber area the barrels have very little surface contact with the tubes and can not lend much in the way of support or strength to the tubes. I even remember a Remington 3200 or K-32 that some smuck had cut a series of scollops out of the sides of the barrels to make them lighter. Then he shot the gun with old Skeetmaster or Parabaugh tubes. It must have worked but looked as odd as heck.

Purbaugh tubes stuck out the end. Screw in chokes sometimes extend beyond the end.

I would say it would be a questionable practice
with 2 inches sticking out.

Should the tubes expand ahead of the barrels they
would be difficult to remove.

In addition, the tubes are much more likely to be
damaged or bent as they are not protected by the carrier barrels.

I do not believe pressure is an issue but Murphy lives

Mike

ADDED: is the front end centering diameter inside the barrel
or out of the barrel?

The tubes do not use the barrels as a means of containing pressure and the vast majority of the pressure is gone way down at the end of the barrel/tube. My question is where is it shooting? The muzzel serves to center the tube so it shoots where the original barrel shoots. On a set of ultra lites there are two bands at the muzzle end. The inner one is just short of bearing on a 28 inch barrel.
bill

My shooting buddy uses 32" tubes in his 30" P gun in all sub gauge events with nary a problem. The tubes are centered with no perceptible clearance at the muzzle.

Just make sure the bore diameter and the inside diameter of the tubes are matching. Many tubes are custom make (as my brileys are) to coincide with the proper bore diameter.

I think the custom made is more about fitting them into the bore than anything else. When you have guns with +/- bore of .010 or more you have to measure the bore and start out with a set of blanks that will work. Over bores ave under bores require different size tubes. Also I expect they check the chambers and forcing cones to see if they need to be let out.

My Renato Gambas both have .723 bores so Briley had to make a special diameter for them. I don't think most people realize the variance in the shotgun bores and the importance of the proper diameter chokes for them..

I understood that where chokes had been retro fitted to a gun (I have a gun Teague choked) they are custom made and must only be used in the correct gun. Teague can make extra chokes by me quoting the reference number etched on the choke tubes.

Where they have been factory made (such as Beretta, Browning etc) then I believe they are fully interchangeable within the same gun/choke model.

Getting off the original question.