I shot placed birds yesterday with a friend. I was making a point of making sure I could see the ground through the bore before placing the next shell in the chamber of my gun. I have not been vigilant about this practice in the past. My challenge is making sure to do it after every shot. Would everyone agree that complacency is the real enemy in regards to obstructions?
This comment here is probably the most important, and the one most likely to prevent a barrel burst, in this thread. With our doubles, we have the advantage that it is so very easy to just make a habit of peeking through the bores before we load and reload. Also much easier for us to stop and check if we slip in the mud or snow. Several years ago, I grabbed an old Stevens 20 ga. that I leave out in my garage, to shoot a groundhog in my garden. I was ready to pull the trigger when something told me to stop and check the bore. Several inches of the barrel was packed solid with a mud dauber wasp nest.
But this might be a good place to ask... I know what the nominal bore sizes are for the various gauges, but what are the maximum diameters we could expect to see in unhoned vintage American doubles? Since I bought a Stan Baker gauge, I've measured a couple that seemed dramatically undersized, and I've measured a couple that seemed quite a bit oversized... yet there is no indication or clue that they have ever visited a gunsmith.
