Barrel Wall Thickness

[Jay]

The bores of my 16 SW have 99 years worth of imperfections built in, including what looks like a very shallow, partial ring dent about seven inches from the muzzle. No dings or dents are visible on the exterior. No pitting. No reason to believe that the barrels have been messed with other than a recent rust blue job. I would like to have these warts removed. Should I be concerned about barrel wall thickness? What is the accepted minimum? Planning to send the barrels to Mike Orlen.Thanks much, Jay

[Stan Hillis]

Jay,

Do you mean a ring bulge ? If so, can you feel it with a tight fitting patch on a jag ? Reason I ask is that, if there is no evidence at all of a bulge on the exterior, it may be only a visual ring, and not an actual displacement of metal. It you can feel the ring with a tight fitting patch, see if you can feel it on the exterior with a very thin piece of paper in your hand, like tissue paper used for gift wrapping. There is something about running your hand over an imperfection, with your bare skin against it, that "masks" it to the touch. But, with a something very thin between your hand and the metal it can often be felt better, and more easily. An old auto body man showed me that trick. If you can barely feel it, inside and/or out, or can't at all, there will probably be such a small amount of metal that will have to be removed from the bore to clean it up that it most likely will not be an issue with wall thickness. At 7" from the muzzle the pressure in the bore is so low that wall thickness is more an issue concerning the barrel getting dented from bumps to the outside than it is from pressures within, IMO. At any rate, Orlen will be able to give you very good advice on this after inspecting it. At this point, I'd be inclined to say that you would do well to follow his advice on it, remembering, of course, that it is your gun and you have the final say.

What weight barrels are they ? This is an indication of the beginning wall thickness.

Best of luck with it, SRH

[Jay]

Stan,

I just did as you suggested, and could feel nothing, inside or out. I am feeling confident that Mike Orlen will indeed be able to clean up the blemishes without issues. At two pounds, fourteen ounces, the 28" barrels must be four weight? Thanks much for your input.

Jay Barrows

[Stan Hillis]

That is good news, Jay. Probably just a blemish that could have been caused by any number of things many years ago. Ring bulges are bad news, usually never any good outcome with them.

SRH

[MARSHFELLOW]

Stan,

That is an interesting tip about the tissue paper.... I will file that one away for sure.

tjw