Pedersoli Classic with both barrels bulged.

[3Setters]

Thanks for the link. I just ordered myself a set. With my old set of Vernier Calipers the left barrel measures .695 ID at the muzzle, the right barrel is .698 ID which even allowing for operator error of 2% +/- means both barrels are still mighty close to Full Choke. what say you?

I'm still going with those bulges are there to add choke tubes that were never installed. It it were me, I'd take it to a gunsmith and have them opened up to cylinder and get out shooting.

 

[Britsmoothy]

If you're worried about safety of those bulges don't. Pedersoli uses really good steel (30CrMo4/EN 1.7216). Supposedly same type of steel as was used for German machine gun barrels in WW2.
They already replied the gun is safe to shoot.

The below is for people like me interested in verifying it for themselves

The way all steels break is by elongation. One can roughly estimate if a given steel has reached close to its breaking point by comparing actual deformation with maximum elongation for this type of steel given in tables. This particular steel comes in two varieties. Tempered or annealed. As not many people can measure Brinell hardness at home when estimating safety we have to assume the worse of the two. Tempered is much stronger but its elongation at break is only 12%, Annealed is weaker, but it can elongate to 23%. We can't simply measure the bulge and if the resulting diameter is less than 112% of the normal call it good, because within the bulge itself there are areas where steel elongated more than others. However, if we measure the bulge (outside) and the diameter increase is let's say 3% bigger. At the same time there are no cracks at all. I would consider it safe and shoot it myself.

If it patterns well just shoot it.

Regarding steel shot. Many Pedersoli SxS (like mine) have chrome lined barrels. I don't know when exactly they started doing that. If your gun has chromed barrels steel shot is fine. To find out if you can't tell by looking, or test the surface (by using bluing liquid) best to write Pedersoli with the serial number.


.

No sir, the paper thin chrome plating is NOT facilitate the shooting of steel shot. Pedersoli started doing that many decades ago and it is purely to resist corrosion.
Does that mean you should not use steel shot, no. Use steel if you wish.
If chrome plating was sufficient to protect a barrel from steel shot why don't breach loaders use it? Why do cartridge manufacturers use special wads if all that was required was some thin chrome plating?

Yet another useless myth that goes around and around and around

 

[Ironoxide]

No sir, the paper thin chrome plating is NOT facilitate the shooting of steel shot. Pedersoli started doing that many decades ago and it is purely to resist corrosion.
Does that mean you should not use steel shot, no. Use steel if you wish.
If chrome plating was sufficient to protect a barrel from steel shot why don't breach loaders use it? Why do cartridge manufacturers use special wads if all that was required was some thin chrome plating?

Yet another useless myth that goes around and around and around

I reviewed my Pedersoli manuals and they don't mention steel shot anywhere. Probably best not to use it then unless you write to them and they reply it is OK. I heard this "chrome is for steel" statement from few sources. It seemed reasonable to me so I accepted it. The only kind of steel shot I shot from my Pedersoli chromed smoothbore is copperplated(with and without a shot cup) I didn't notice any scratches where the chokes are, but that may have been due to copper plating or because I only shot maybe 10 loads. I only shot copper plated steel to see how it would pattern.

If I wanted to shoot non plated steel shot without a cup from my gun I would probably write Pedersoli to ask.

Edit: Just as an afterthought, according to Industrial Chrome Electrolizing Corporation of Ohio hard chrome plating has hardness of 65-68 hrc. Another source says plated chrome has to be at least 1 thou thick to assume target hardness between 60-70 hrc. Steel shot used for shot peening in the industry has hardness between 40-65 hrc (no idea about steel shot used to shoot). Based on that, if we lived in a world where one couldn't write Pedersoli to ask, I would probably be OK with uncupped steel shot in a cylinder bore if it was this or me going hungry... Choked bores are a different matter.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I reviewed my Pedersoli manuals and they don't mention steel shot anywhere. Probably best not to use it then unless you write to them and they reply it is OK. I heard this "chrome is for steel" statement from few sources. It seemed reasonable to me so I accepted it. The only kind of steel shot I shot from my Pedersoli chromed smoothbore is copperplated(with and without a shot cup) I didn't notice any scratches where the chokes are, but that may have been due to copper plating or because I only shot maybe 10 loads. I only shot copper plated steel to see how it would pattern.

If I wanted to shoot non plated steel shot without a cup from my gun I would probably write Pedersoli to ask.

Edit: Just as an afterthought, according to Industrial Chrome Electrolizing Corporation of Ohio hard chrome plating has hardness of 65-68 hrc. Another source says plated chrome has to be at least 1 thou thick to assume target hardness between 60-70 hrc. Steel shot used for shot peening in the industry has hardness between 40-65 hrc (no idea about steel shot used to shoot). Based on that, if we lived in a world where one couldn't write Pedersoli to ask, I would probably be OK with uncupped steel shot in a cylinder bore if it was this or me going hungry... Choked bores are a different matter.

If you ask pedersoli they will say that it is safe to use steel shot in their muzzleloading shotguns because it is safe to use.
However do NOT assume that is a function of the chrome plating.

Part of the chrome plating process involves a thin copper wash for the chrome to bond to. It is so thin that the kinetic energy of softer steel shot or iron shot will dent, flake or damage it eventually. It is so thin and the material underneath it is soft it offers no protection other than a corrosion resistance to salts.
Does it matter if it gets damaged? Not really.
I too have loaded steel and shot it out of muzzleloaders, no damage.
It is however not a option simply due to the chrome plating.
It is purely an option.

 

[Ironoxide]

If you ask pedersoli they will say that it is safe to use steel shot in their muzzleloading shotguns because it is safe to use.
However do NOT assume that is a function of the chrome plating.

Part of the chrome plating process involves a thin copper wash for the chrome to bond to. It is so thin that the kinetic energy of softer steel shot or iron shot will dent, flake or damage it eventually. It is so thin and the material underneath it is soft it offers no protection other than a corrosion resistance to salts.
Does it matter if it gets damaged? Not really.
I too have loaded steel and shot it out of muzzleloaders, no damage.
It is however not a option simply due to the chrome plating.
It is purely an option.

That's very good to know. I didn't realise there is a copper layer there(however thin) . In this case the chrome will just provide some scratch protection (and rust protection as you said).

 

[Glenn A. Smith]

Thanks for the link. I just ordered myself a set. With my old set of Vernier Calipers the left barrel measures .695 ID at the muzzle, the right barrel is .698 ID which even allowing for operator error of 2% +/- means both barrels are still
mighty close to Full Choke. what say you?

MGA, no Idea how it was treated by the original owner.

Also I have no idea how many times this firearm has changed owners.

 

[Glenn A. Smith]

Exactly. I can’t really see what three pages of speculation has achieved or what the OP was hoping to learn. An email to Pedersoli would elicit a swift response in my experience.

I was hoping to learn from anyone who had experienced this barrel bulge issue and how they had handled it. I gained knowledge about Jug chokes and two methods they have been done. Most importantly I had my faith in my fellow muzzleloading enthusiasts reinforced on multiple occaisions. Several responders, my Gunsmith and Pedersoli seemed to agree that I should just shoot the gun and enjoy it. That is now my plan. Mission accomplished.

 

[Glenn A. Smith]

On the last photo there is a clear line across the barrel on the right and a faint one on the left. Was it cut?

Not a cut, under a magnifying glass it looks more like a clamp of some type creased the steel at that point. Thanks for the question and observation. Good eye there Sir.