Shotgun Forum banner
  • Whether you're a greenhorn or a seasoned veteran, your collection's next piece is at Bass Pro Shops. Shop Now.

    Advertisement
1 - 15 of 15 Posts

Rastoff

· Registered
Joined
·
20,125 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
A week or so ago at the range a guy asked me how long the barrel on my gun would last. This caught me off guard as I had never heard or thought of this before. I guess it's possible to wear out your receiver and other moving parts, but the barrel? I guess a rifled barrel could have the rifling worn out over many thousands of rounds, but a smooth bore?

So, have you ever seen, done or heard of this? I certainly haven't.
 
I can't imagine the bore having issues, but perhaps, on a gas gun, there might be some erosion either with the ports or where the barrel connects to the receiver? Just guessing. I have seen a Beretta 303 with well over 100,000 rounds have part of the ejection port worn away - didn't affect the functionality, but looked funny.
 
A friends Webley & Scott has what I can describe as worn out barrels.
The right barrel is paper thin, and the left is a bit better, but not much.
Without a doubt, and with the naked eye, one could see it's been shot to point of being worn out.
I have often wondered about this, as the gun has not that many shots trough it. It was used a lot but for upland only, and adding up I can only guess a number of shells that would never cause such thing in current gun.
The gun is from the 1950's.

This is not uncommon in guns from the UK, mostly used for driven shooting. It's common to see (Best)guns advertised in auctions with a note: " replacement barrels by the maker" or sometimes " replacement barrels by other ", the second case bringing the price down considerably.
 
This is a not uncommon in guns from the UK, mostly used for driven shooting. It's common to see (Best)guns advertised in auctions with a note: " replacement barrels by the maker" or sometimes by " replacement barrels by other ", the second case bringing the price down considerably.
Is that due to shooting through them, or due to the fact that they were thin to begin with and maybe got dinged up??
 
Sometimes after thousands of rounds a choke can get very smooth, causing the gun to pattern more open than it should because the wad is pushing the shot load. Roughen up the choke area with emery cloth and the correct pattern comes back.
 
If the barrels are actually thinner, (by enough that it is noticable), than when they were new, it's much, much more likely that they were "honed to death". Maybe more than once. You don't hear much about honing the rust/pits etc out with todays newer alloys, and non-corrosive components, but it used to be quite common.
 
jugchoke said:
If the barrels are actually thinner, (by enough that it is noticable), than when they were new, it's much, much more likely that they were "honed to death". Maybe more than once. You don't hear much about honing the rust/pits etc out with todays newer alloys, and non-corrosive components, but it used to be quite common.
THAT sounds pretty logical!
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
58evinrude said:
Seems like lead is such a soft metal that it shouldn't be able to wear the steel.
An interesting question.....I hope to wear one out one day! :D
JBJ
Unless you are loading some really weird loads, the lead will never touch the barrel either. The wad is the only part of the projectile that should touch the barrel.

This is why I brought this up. The fellow I talked to seemed to think that replacing the barrel was commonplace and should be taken into consideration when purchasing a gun. I was quite flabbergasted by the whole idea.
 
If my memory is correct one of the UK cartridge manufacturers had an English side by side (Webley ?) which had gone through upwards of 500,000 test loads with no appreciable barrel wear. That would of course be mainly 2 1/2" cases with lead game loads.As someone already mentioned barrel wall thickness will be reduced by internal honing to remove pits and also cleaning up after dent removal.
Likewise the wall thickness will be reduced externally every time the barrels are struck off for reblacking.
Some top end English game guns would have started life with only 25 to 28thou wall thickness and that leaves little room for any reduction. My 'best' gun is down to about 22thou in areas of one barrel and I bought it (for not a lot) in the full knowledge that any damage. like a dent, is going to mean scrapping it.
Certainly most guns nowadays have sufficient wall thickness that barrel replacement would never be required over several lifetimes, barring accidental damage of course.
 
Sans Peur said:
Some top end English guns would have started life with only 25 to 28thou wall thickness and that leaves little room for any reduction.
Certainly most guns nowadays have sufficient wall thickness that barrel replacement would never be required over several lifetimes, barring accidental damage of course.
Bingo
 
I'm told that an 1100 or 11-87 will eventually crack the barrel extension that mates into the receiver, that's due to vibration instead of normal wear.

The notch for the bolt lug can also get rounded out.

Both of those events would take more ammunition than I can ever afford to shoot.
 
This maybe possible if an older barrel intended for lead and the choke opened up so that steel shot can be used, but that would depend on the hardness of the barrel. Just a theory and it could be wrong. :D
 
The hole in the barrel may not wear out, but other things can contribute to the point that a new set of barrels is the practical solution. I have a friend with a P gun. The side ribs have been reattached several times, the last time crudely although effectively and if I recall correctly, the last time I saw the gun, a portion of the top rib was being held on with a tape wrap. While the bores may be fine, it is hard to look at the barrels without thinking the only cure is a new set, if and when he decides to do anything about them. In the meantime, they are still safe, unless one of the nuts on the bolts holding the side ribs comes loose and hits somebody in the eye!
Dave
 
1 - 15 of 15 Posts