Fox Collectors

I have found a Fox with a ring of pitting around the inside of the bores right in front of where the chambered shotshell would sit,is this common on the old early Fox guns that were used a lot?
The rest of the bores look fine and the gun looks well taken care of everywhere else.
How bad /deep can this ring pitting get to where the gun is to far gone and has become unsafe?
I think I read somewhere not to go past .020 thickness of depth of the barrel?Does this sound right?Will it be better to clean this out or better to leave as is?

Also did pumpkin mountain gunshop close?

I have heard no word of Jason closing shop. I think someone on here would have probably heard and posted it, if he has.

As to the pitting, I don't know of any way that a layman like myself can determine the real seriousness of bore pitting. I can usually determine if it is more than "freckling", and the extent of it, but not how deep it is. For that kind of evaluation I send the barrel/s to a barrel specialist. One particular barrel man has a set of mine now, making a determination as to whether the wall thickness is sufficient to allow the pits to be honed out and still have safe wall thickness in that area of the barrel. IMO, experience and the proper equipment is the best way to determine that.

Again IMO, no one can say just how much honing is safe without measuring the barrel wall thickness at that point.

All my best, SRH

I got a email from Jason yesterday he is still open.
I had a 1909 Fox one time that had several Pitts in the barrels.I took a cleaning rod and rigged a tooth pic tip and could scrap around the pit and determine the Pitts were very shallow and not deep at all,but just peaking in the bore there was just no way to tell.
I have never seen pitting that goes all the way around the inside of the barrel and in the chamber front area.
I did get to talk to a oldtimer the other day that has sold antique guns for years,he said that the pitting ring around the front of the chamber was common in the old shotguns and nothing to worry about,just shoot the low pressure shells and stay away from buckshot and magnum loads.Thanks for the help.

Is the area ahead of the chamber were I have the pitting ring called the forceing cone?
Could I have the forceing cones lengthend?or just have the chamber lengthend/reamed out a little?

Send the barrels to Skeets Gun Shop and he can determine what is needed and if pits can be removed. Bobby

As an easy plan B, I've used 0000 steel wool wrapped around and Copper cleaning brush soaked in gun oil and attached to a cleaning rod secured to a battery operated drill and went after it. It will remove any light oxidation in front of the forceing cone very quickly and you can see what you truly have. Doesn't hurt a thing.

Thanks vaturkey that sounds like a good tip.
I will try it and see what happens.
I don't see how it could hurt anything.