Barrel regulation

[Jeff S]

Very good information. I think next time I check a gun I’ll use a wider variety of ammo.

[Stan Hillis]

Crossfiring, or the opposite, doesn't scare me as much as it used to, as long as both barrels do so more or less equally. As mentioned, load manipulation can help that tremendously. The killer is when you find that one barrel is too high, or too low, and the other isn't. Not much you can do about that with load changes. However, Dean Harris of Skeet's Gunshop in Tahlequah, OK has developed a method of relieving metal very slightly, AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE CHOKE AREA. It was he who found that the 1 oz. loads at 1165 moved my patterns to where they needed to be. I had sent the gun to him to work his "magic", after which he called and said that it would be unnecessary. During our preliminary discussions he told me he has moved the POI on barrels as much as 6" at 25 yards, but that extreme pattern movement such as this was not always possible. The great thing about it is that, after he does his work on a barrel, it is not noticeable at the muzzles, like it is when someone removes metal AT the muzzle to move a pattern.

[Silvers]

An alternate way to correct high/low or crossfiring is to bore the choke(s) at a very slight tangent, a few thou is all it takes. The first pic I posted shows the lathe toolpost setup used by Ken Eyster to offset the muzzles and then pull a draw reamer through the choke. I was surprised when I saw how little offset - like a few thou - will affect the POI immensely. frank

[kgb]

“ The guy set himself as an expert and elitist with the single purpose in life of being the greatest upland grouse and woodcock hunter. He then writes at length about taking 34 years to figure out his Fox gun had poorly regulated barrels. These barrels did not change regulation. Any decent shooter would figure that out prior to ever carrying that gun behind a dog. Poor regulation was a known Fox issue and one of the reasons you seldom or never saw one shot in serious competition when other doubles were commonly utilized.”.

Pure BS - If it took this guy 34 years to figure out his Fox had poorly "regulated" barrels, it tells us he never patterned his gun in the first place. So far as the phenomenon being a "known Fox Issue", I guess Askins, Sweeley, Becker and Buckingham wasted their time (not to mention William C. Letterman!). Kevin

That is a quote of the guy in question. He was talking about GBE taking 34 years to find the problem with his Fox, not himself taking the time, then he goes on to say poor regulation was a problem with Fox guns. Maybe GBE never patterned his gun, or so you have deduced.

[vaturkey]

From the same feller, not saying whether right nor wrong:

For a right handed shooter firing the left barrel first will give more straight line recoil which you will perceive as less. Faster follow up shots.
When shooting pigeons with F/F chokes the left barrel was always fired first.

[MC1952]

I saw that also. It makes sense to me, for a right handed shooter, to fire the right barrel first. That barrel should, theoretically, recoil away from your face. Perhaps he was referring to the time it would take to get back in position on the stock for the next shot. I guess in theory if the gun recoils into your face you are not off the gun and ready to shoot the next shot quicker.
My feeling that none of this matters at all in the real world.

[eightbore]

Let's see, this guy is more than 34 years old, probably 54 or better. He is a grouse and woodcock killer. He isn't a PGCA member because they all love Foxes. I bet he isn't a serious Smith guy either, or he would be crucified by now. Who is he? Surely not the soft in the head 16 gauge guy.