Hello Harry Eales,
Thanks for your reply.
I don't doubt that these early rifles had barrels of softer steel than used today, but of the over 50 vintage rifles in my collection, I have shot jacketed bullets in all of them, and have yet to "shoot-out" the rifling in any one of them.
I had read many times about NOT shooting jacketed bullets in vintage guns, but never had a "first-hand" account from someone that had a problem.
So, I did an experiment once with an 1870's Springfield trapdoor. I did a cerosafe casting of the throat area and the muzzle, and then I shot it 300 times with various jacketed bullets. When I repeated the cerosafe casting, I found absolutely no indication of wear in the throat or at the muzzle.
Maybe the person who originally wrote about wear with jacketed bullets, was using old steel jacketed military bullets, and fired thousands of rounds.
Anyway, I don't seem to have a problem, but each to his own.
I too thought the ivory inserts looked pretty miserable at first, but I'm starting to get used to them.
I recently had occasion to remove the stock to take a good look around inside, and found no evidence of cracks or repair to justify using the ivory inserts as cover-ups. That means that someone actually put them there on purpose, thinking they were making the rifle look more beautiful.
So who am I to judge.
