doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 12ga bores of currently manufactured shotguns ?

I believe the only way to cut through the hype and find the answers for yourself is not by comparing similar guns that have had the bores treated differently, but by taking one gun, and testing it before and after over boring, f.c. lengthening, etc.

This cryogenic barrel treating is a strange thing. I suspect that it is done to relieve stresses in the steel created by hammer forging the barrels. Perazzi is the only major shotgun company I know of that drills their bores from stock, but I have not confirmed this with research. They claim increased longevity and recoil reduction from this. The recoil reduction is one of those things that may, or may not, be hype. One thing is for sure, Perazzi's total package of production techniques is impossible to argue with. Their ruggedness and longevity is legendary.

SRH

Bob Brister did just that, and reported on the results--as well as dealing with forcing cones and chokes--in his "Shotgunning" book. See the chapter entitled "Barrels, Chokes, and Forcing Cones". He's pretty clearly a believer in overboring and longer cones.

When you get right down to it 99% of shooters can not tell or take advantage of anything that changes shotgun performance by ten percent plus or minus on a consistent basis. It is all marketing hype to me. Just to many variables in shotgun shooting. Just change shells or just shot size and it changes, same for distance, tempature, clothing worn, and everything else involved. Perhaps you might lower the odds slightly but equipment is just another variable to me.

Becker use to be a guru for Fox shooters with his custom boring, choking and general tweaking of guns for the well to do. Now days a guru would go for over bored ported barrels with 4" forcing cones and custom screwing choke tubes. The US norm 12 bore is now over bored to most people.

Just like golf makers make a thousand different standard variations of clubs gun maker will make anything which will sell or stimulate sales. Meeting market demands keep them gong and if some writer convinced us that 12 should all be bird 13-14 ga and buyers demanded them all makers would be making under bored guns today.

Both golf and shooting have significant mental components in addition to the obvious physical part. If you have more confidence in your gun, specific load, choke, backboring, lengthened cone, whatever, then it's likely to help you shoot better--even if, in a blind study, it could be shown that whatever you had done to your gun makes no difference at all.

I've read that more than once.

SRH

The 12ga 3 1/2 load is essentially a 10ga load. Why some one like Benelli who makes hunting shotguns keeps a tight .721 bore and does not overbore surprises me, because though they make an excellent gun they don't pattern as well as the lowly Mossberg 835

As an infamous woman said "what does it really matter?"

It matters quite a bit in performance for the heavy hunting loads and in money for the target shooter.