There is a lot of information to digest on those barrel flats, and much of it had been obscured by crowding (& presumably by previous barrel refinishing events) over the years. I don't know how many times a set of shotgun tubes can be sent for re-proof, but for me this one takes the cake. How many episodes are we talking about here? I'm counting at least 4 separate sets of proof marks, isn't that right? If you'd hone those tubes any more they'd transmit light(!), it's no wonder the gun weighs so little.
From my measurements yesterday, I'd have to guess that the left tube was reworked substantially after that 2017 London reproof, since 18.5 mm works out to about .728 (by my math) and the left tube now measures .735. So....that's 7 thou difference between the left and right tubes now. Would that explain the .010 constriction on the right while being .003 on the left?
That begs yet another question, at what point do these thin tubes become an issue? It certainly limits the use of the gun to only 7/8 & 1-ounce low-pressure loads (in my mind). For casual strolls down pretty Fall grouse trails it should still be fine, but I'll have to carefully restrict it's use by my son (& myself) to those ideal situations. Thank goodness we still have an 870 or two laying around.
I'm going to talk to Kirby about it, and ask him if I could send a few 1 1/8 ounce target loads down that left tube first (before surrendering my right to return it). I'd expect that it would digest them just fine, but...it'd be nice to know that.
Last edited by Lloyd3; 12/23/23 08:44 PM.
