16ga.com ~ View topic - Tools-O-Da-Trade

Ive been thinking about buying some gunsmith tools. I've already got a set of good screwdrivers. Next on my list is a stock gauge to measure pull, drop, cast, etc. Then a choke micrometer. Last a chamber length (or is it depth) gauge.

Any one care to weigh in on who makes the best (in your humble opinions) and what to avoid?

Thanks,

Peter

Peter: We went through this with Dr 16g as he was deciding what to do with his Sterly and 2 extra brls, his LC, and new French cutie Very Happy

I once had the excellent Stan Baker brl micrometer which is now advertized in Shotgun Sports Magazine as the CSP Barrel Reader Item # PUNIS1 for the 4 gauge set (no mention of 16 Mad

) and the 12g Short Set PSGES1 for $210. 800-676-8920
I use Skeet's Shotgun Bore Gauge from Brownells www.brownells.com Item # 843-200-126 for 12 & 16 for $91.
Here are the conversions for the micrometer markings:
70 = .700
60 = .690
50 = .680
40 = .670
30 = .660 (standard 16 .663-.665)
20 = .650
10 = .640
0 = .630
90 = .620
The tool is easy to use, just be sure the bore is clean and re-zero with the provided .700 ring every time you take a measurement.
Bore micrometers can also be used to measure the chamber length (I marked out 65mm (2 1/2"), 67mm (2 9/16"), and 70mm (2 3/4") on the shaft), but Galazan's Handy Model Chamber Length Gauge Item # T0320 for $39 is nice to carry at gun shows/shops www.connecticutshotgun.com

Joined: 03 Jul 2005 Posts: 370 Location: Amarillo, Texas

Revdoc wrote

"I use Skeet's Shotgun Bore Gauge from Brownells www.brownells.com Item # 843-200-126 for 12 & 16 for $91. "

That is what I use also. Flintsteel measured chambers in an Ithaca 16 gauge with the Galazan's brass gauges and got 2-3/4" chambers. I measured the with the Skeets Bore micrometer and got 2-1/2" to 2-9/16". I think the bore gauge is much better and it is about $140 if I remember correctly.

I also like having a walk thickness gauge. There is a guy in California that sells one that is particulary easy to use at a gun show, it is called "Truth Tool" and I will post contact information tomorrow as it is at my office.

Revdoc I somehow got it in my feeble brain that you lived near Doc16 and were going to Russel, Kansas this weekend. I hope that explains my peculiar posts the last few days.

As far as the drop measuring gauge Joe Flintsteel taught me how to measure without it. Put the muzzled on your toe or carpet. Put a tape measure on the comb - perpendicular or course. Look down the rib and move the gun forward and back. At the point where the bead just disappears note where the rib lines up at the tape measure and that is the drop. Same thing at the heel. Again this can be done at a gunshow or a gunshop. I watched a shooting instructor use one of the drop gauges to measure several of my guns. I got within a 1/16" of what he did. Cast off can be eyeballed if you have a square in your eye.

Thanks!

Mike

No problem Mike-wish I was but cold out in Russell right now.

And good tip about checking drop, though for those of us with less eye-hand coordination Rolling Eyes

it's easy, esp with SxSs, to lay the gun rib down on a table with the bead just off the end of the table and measure with a ruler. Hard to do that one in the aisle of a gun show though!

Member Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 376 Location: North ID.

Rev,
That's one of those, why didn't I think of that, it's so simple! I had a yardstick and ruler out this morning trying to measure drop.

Great tip!

Thanks,
Cameron

Member Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 446 Location: Wisconsin

I use Galazan Professional gauges exclusively. They are expensive but work superbly and if amortized over the cost of one expensive double or a few less expensive doubles, the cost is quite reasonable.-Dick

Member Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: 40 Location: California

Revdocdrew,

2 1/2" chambers are 63.5 mm not 65mm.

2 9/16" chambers are 65mm not 67mm. Actually 65.0875mm.

67mm chambers are 2 5/8" not 2 9/16". Actually 66.675mm which rounds to 67..

2 3/4" chambers are 70 mm. Actually 69.85mm, but close enough for a metric conversion..

Grab your calculators guys and check!

When you buy a box of "2 1/2" labeled shells that say "65mm" in length you are getting 2 9/16" long shells. Grab your mike and check out a few fired hulls. They will be anywhere from about 2.540" to about 2.561" long, which is about the same distance shorter from 2 9/16" as fired 2 3/4" hulls are from 2.750" - regardless of hull manufacturer or hull gauge.

P

Are European shells accurate to their metric sizes? Are American shells accurate to our standard of measurement? And has anyone ever noticed discrepencies with English and Continental guns?

Member Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 781

Good infro but I'll add that:

Regardless of what it says on the box, the actual length of the hulls after firing varies a lot from manufacturere to manufacturer and at times from lot to lot.

Apparently the standards for acceptable deviation are as loose as old slippers......

Jeff

What Jeff said.
I just lined up a bunch of 16g shells, unshot and empties; 2 1/2", 67mm, 70mm, 2 3/4". Quite a variance in length and not near as uniform in elevation as SW KS Very Happy

How concerned do I need to be? I apologise if I'm being naive. All of my shotguns, regardless of gauge get a gunsmiths seal of approval before use. So, how concerned do I need to be.

Winchester 21's, Purdy's and several other gunmakers manufacture 50 caliber double rifles on these very same shotgun actions. I'm sure that a .500 Nitro develops far greater pressures than any shotshell.

My friend shoots about 100 (out of 1000) 3" magnum 12 ga. shells per year through a 2 3/4" Beretta Over/under. According to him, he's done this for over 20 years. So, why should he change just cause some fool (thats me) tells him different. I'm not that reckless, but to me, if the gun says 2 3/4", the gunsmith says the gun is sound for 2 3/4", and I use a 2 3/4' shell, do I really need to be concerned?

Don't come down on me if I'm wronh. I really don't know the right answer.

PGG: It's in our own (and our gun's) best interest to be sure and know what loads our classic American and Foreign SXSs were designed to shoot-then use those loads. Sometimes it is wise, in light of our gun's maybe 100 year old wood, to use low recoil (which is not necessarily low pressure but tends to follow) shells.
And it's wise to be sure our smiths are doublegun specialists. I suspect you'd want your angioplasty performed by a cardiologist trained in interventional cardiology and not by me! Shocked

I did have my angioplasty performed by a Cardiologist at the #2 heart hospital in the country. . But if you're offering a competitive bid...

My gunsmith is trained in 100 plus year old guns. I use low recoil 2 1/2" RST shells in most of my doubles. (I''m 6'1" 260 lbs. and I bruise easily).

But I do have and shoot a J.P. Sauer 2 barrel set. Barrel #1 is 28" SXS 12ga. Barrel #2 is SXS 9.3X74 Rifle caliber. The gun has 2 underlugs and a cross bolt, just like most of my doubles. I guess what I'm saying is that I really don't understand this pressure thing. And where is it exactly? At the breech? in the chamber? In the barrel? Even in the same length cartridge, how could a low brass target load develop higher pressure than a high brass load?

I am not trying to disagree with anyone and I definitely don't want anyone to follow my lead. I just don't understand.