Blowing up Shotgun Barrels

[Vikram]

Some very interesting results there. You know now what not to do with your shotgun.

[herb]

Thanks for sharing this Vikram, very interesting and informative video. I started the watching and will go back to watch the rest.

Most barrel failures can be attributed to obstruction or faulty reloading.

We focus a lot on minimum wall thickness in North America where as I have heard of 12 ga guns with MWT (minimum wall thickness) of 16 thou passing proof tests in UK.

I have shot old Damascus barrels with low pressure 2.5 inch cartridges and had no issues, one can never be sure if there is rust in between the twists that cannot be seen easily with naked eye.

[timmy]

We focus a lot on minimum wall thickness in North America where as I have heard of 12 ga guns with MWT (minimum wall thickness) of 16 thou passing proof tests in UK.

Herb, that's a very interesting piece of data! My guess is that not a lot has changed in the basics of shotgunning, except over the last 60 or so years. From the muzzle loading days until then, shotgunning was shotgunning, pressure and performance-wise, until people started making 16s and then 12s out of 20 gauges and then the skybusting aspects of long 12s and 10s. Steel shot also is a beg change.

But then, the nature of waterfowling. with so many wetlands disappearing, and hunting pressure may have something to do with this, as well.

I remember a friend telling me of his shotgun reloading experiences from when he was young: HE apparently didn't want all of that space in the hull between pellets to go to waste, so he filled them with smaller pellets, until he had packed the wad column practically solid. The gun didn't blow up, (it was a Remington 870), but it no longer locked and was ruined, he said. A little too much innovation, it seems.