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kennedy756
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 5:15 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 30 Sep 2015
Posts: 637
Location: NEW SALISBURY INDIANA

what is the correct tool to measure shotgun chokes? I have a dial caliper, but can`t measure the bore before the choke

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MSM2019
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 5:58 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
Posts: 1819
Location: Central ND

You need a dial bore gage. They aren't cheap. Skeet's Gun Shop used to have them at a reasonable price. You can still find them on eBay.

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3drahthaars
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:07 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 21 May 2015
Posts: 127

Telescopic gages and micrometers... old school, but I've measured bores to within 0.0001" for bearings.

That should suffice for a choke evaluation.
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win7stw
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:17 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 30 Jul 2012
Posts: 316
Location: Central, ND

3drahthaars wrote:
Telescopic gages and micrometers... old school, but I've measured bores to within 0.0001" for bearings.

That should suffice for a choke evaluation.


This is the way

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kennedy756
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 7:15 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 30 Sep 2015
Posts: 637
Location: NEW SALISBURY INDIANA

thanks on the advice, but having problems finding for sale, any idea who sells them. talking about the telescoping bore gauge etc

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16ga 3-Win 37
16ga Ithaca 37 1946
16ga Western Auto Revelation
16ga Browning A-5 1929
16ga Marlin 90 1939
16ga browning citori lightning grade 3 2003
16ga Francisque Darne 1920
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double vision
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 8:13 pm  Reply with quote
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These have gotten expensive but they do a fine job.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/332703244959?hash=item4d76a8a29f:g:cwoAAOSwVEdbNlR~
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putz463
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 2:52 am  Reply with quote
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Location: West MI

https://tmttoolbox.com/product/asimeto-7487023-1-2-3-4-x-12-depth-telescoping-gauge/?gclid=CjwKCAjwy_aUBhACEiwA2IHHQPc0t3Dce9gbk1tBL0l5k064qlC_ZrYyRwQJsBzaczNylLRhW8yHbhoC7ZIQAvD_BwE

Will do 20, 16 & 12ga. Get the 3/4" version if wanting to measure 10ga, or add a piece of tape to this one. If I did this for a living I'd spend for a Starrett but this (or any of the) cheap one(s) work good enough for this armchair gunsmith.

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16'er
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 3:26 am  Reply with quote
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Location: Tappahannock, Virginia

I have the skeet’s gauge, and it’s handy,

The instructions for the choke reamers I have shows a scissors type bore gauge used in conjunction with your micrometer:

https://www.brownells.com/guntech/choke-adjusting-with-gilchrist-precision-choke-reamer/detail.htm?lid=10553
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MSM2019
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:55 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
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Location: Central ND

Telescoping gages are great, but they have a learning curve along with the right 'feel' to get an accurate reading. Fine for those of us that have a machinist background, not so good for the guy that is going to use them once or twice.

Find a used dial bore gage from Skeet's.

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Cold Iron
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 6:51 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Mar 2016
Posts: 746
Location: Mn.

MSM2019 wrote:
Telescoping gages are great, but they have a learning curve along with the right 'feel' to get an accurate reading. Fine for those of us that have a machinist background, not so good for the guy that is going to use them once or twice.

Find a used dial bore gage from Skeet's.


It has been 27 years since I retired from the Navy as a Machinest Mate Chief and I agree with Mark on this. Not the first time we have agreed though LOL. Although the new ones on ebay linked above would be my preference over a used one and what I ended up finally doing.

Because I got burned with a 6" telescoping gauge and mic.



Yes they both are 16 ga. The 37 RVD on the bottom was choked full but the previous owner must have been a trapshooter and was a member of the Full and Fuller club and had it jug choked. With a LONG jug section. I measured it and sent it to Briley to have bore matched tubes installed. My 6" telescoping gauge wasn't deep enough to catch the jug choking and even the .004 tube will smoke any target on the skeet range.

Have always been a believer in the right tool for the job. In the late 70's drove cross Country for the first time between duty stations. Except for gas the only stop I made was in Iowa at Brownells.



Still have it and added a number of European thin bits when I started with SxS guns a few years ago.

The right tool for the job.



I can now accurately measure every thing except for the 410. Waiting on Briley to make me 22 custom bore matched tubes going on 4 months now. I used the bore gauges not the telescoping gauge for my order. Telescoping gauges are part art and part black science. You have to center them and take a number of readings, the more the better.

Odds are good that someone at a club you shoot at has a bore gauge or 2 that can measure your bores for you if you ask around.
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 8:19 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

A set of pin gauges will work too. Find the biggest one that fits and you're good. Ex: if a .664" fits in through the chamber and goes down the bore and the .665" doesn't, you know bore size. A plus side of going this route is that they can be used for raising barrel dents as well.

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MaximumSmoke
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 1:44 pm  Reply with quote
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Pin gauges, telescoping bore gauges and mic's, etc, etc. Yeah, you can make measurements with them, but where along the bore and how much fiddling? There's a reason why the shotgun bore gauge is the best. Its another one of those "right tool for the job" things. A shotgun bore gauge is inserted into and drawn up and down from either end of a shotgun bore and you can thereby get an entire profile of the internal diameter -- your chamber, bore or bore profile, your choke constriction and where it is and the length of it (the meaningful part of the original poster's question). Try that fumbling around with a little telescoping bore gauge or a plug or pin gauge. You can do it in no time flat with a shotgun bore gauge. Unless you have the "other tools" recommended here in your shop, you'll spend a hell of a lot more on them, or time scrounging them up than you will for a simple shotgun bore gauge. If you did have them in your shop, you certainly would not be asking the original question. The right tool is always the least costly, and most effective and informative in the long run. A local gunsmith should have one that works for you, or you can buy this one, it's plenty good for your usage:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007336962

$89.99 (plus shipping and tax, of course). Seriously, that's cheap. How much are you paying for a box of shells these days? . . . or a flat of good beer or a bottle of decent booze or, heaven forbid, a tank of diesel fuel or gasoline. Just get one. You will find more to do with it than you might have thought.

Cheers!
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double vision
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 2:25 pm  Reply with quote
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Here’s another.

https://www.theunloader.com/
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MaximumSmoke
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:10 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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Location: Minnesota and Florida

Those look very nice. I can pretty much guarantee they won't be priced anywhere near $89.99, and that they will not make barrel measurement more easily or more accurately than the Skeet's gauges. I have no dog in this show; I'm only trying to direct the original poster to an appropriate and cost-effective tool.

In addition to the Skeet's gauge for 16 gauge and larger, and the other one for 20 gauge and smaller, I do have the Stan Baker bore gauge set. I purchased it used for considerably more than $89.99. The Stan Baker bore gauges are a lot like those pictured in the above post, and though they are aesthetically superior to the Skeet's gauges, they operate on the same principle, and are no easier to use. While they are somewhat more satisfying to use, they do not do a better job than the Skeet's gauges. If one needs only an occasional measurement, the Skeet's gauges are sufficient to the task, and will never wear out.

Additionally, digital readouts, while they are sometimes easier to read, do not add to accuracy, nor do they automatically add to resolution. Accuracy is limited by the concept and precision of the mechanical parts in the probe, and a dial gauge with 0.001" gradations can display better resolution than a digital indicator with 4 digits after the decimal point. e.g. The resolution of such a digital display is really only 0.0005", and one can see the slightest fraction of a thousandth of an inch on a dial gauge with 0.001" gradations. Either way, that's splitting hairs that are already insignificant in chamber, bore and choke constriction measurement.
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double vision
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:22 pm  Reply with quote
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Tony, if you look again at the Midway link you posted it says they are discontinued. You won’t get one for $89. The only Skeet’s bore gauges I can find are the ones listed on eBay for $170 plus shipping, and I don’t know why they are only on eBay. I bought my Skeet’s bore gauge 20 years ago and glad I did. I’ve measured hundreds of chokes for myself and my friends. Like I said in my first post, they do a fine job.
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