I have several original rifles and shotguns that are my go to guns for shooting. I am not afraid to use them and simply try to keep in mind that they are 170 years old or so. It is not possible to know what kind of loads that they have seen and we know that the materials and procedures used to make them are not the same as it is today.
I am not an engineer or a metallurgist, however In my professional life I have been very much involved with research on metal fatigue as it relates hazardous materials cargo tanks. I have investigated quite a few catastrophic tank failures.
Load cycles and fatigue on metal is not a new or unknown subject. The key is not subjecting the metal to a yield stress that will cause damage that might lead to a future failure.
The fact that the barrels held with a large load does not guarantee that they will hold a second time with that load or even a reduced load. The only thing it proves is that it held that time.
What I have learned in the past 33 years is that metal cracks. Not all cracks are bad cracks, depends on their orientation and which way they are growing. One of the metallurgist from the University I have worked with on the investigations and research likes to state that there is not a air plane flying that does not have cracks in it. Metal cracks.
While I have never been involved with research on gun barrels they are still metal cylinders and are also subject to stresses. I also believe that especially on older barrels that they have a high likelihood of having cracks in them. Again that does not mean that they are all bad cracks.
I have seen several older cargo tanks that are 50 years old and still in service with over 80 cracks on the inside of the tank. These cracks had simply not grown to the outside of the tank yet causing a failure.
We dont know what and if any cracks were already in the barrels and we dont know if these were caused to grow or if new cracks were created by using a heavy load.
25 years ago I would strap down a set of barrels with a stout load and touch it off to see if they held and all of them did. Today I simply do a good inspection of the barrel/s and if it appears to be sound I simply use it with what I consider reasonable loads and I dont worry about it.
Enjoy your new toy! If you are like most of us, you will start looking for the next one soon. IMO there is nothing like using a old gun like these. I often wonder if the craftsmen that built them ever thought that they would be used in the United States 150 years latter to shoot pheasants, deer, bears etc.
Pete S.
I am not an engineer or a metallurgist, however In my professional life I have been very much involved with research on metal fatigue as it relates hazardous materials cargo tanks. I have investigated quite a few catastrophic tank failures.
Load cycles and fatigue on metal is not a new or unknown subject. The key is not subjecting the metal to a yield stress that will cause damage that might lead to a future failure.
The fact that the barrels held with a large load does not guarantee that they will hold a second time with that load or even a reduced load. The only thing it proves is that it held that time.
What I have learned in the past 33 years is that metal cracks. Not all cracks are bad cracks, depends on their orientation and which way they are growing. One of the metallurgist from the University I have worked with on the investigations and research likes to state that there is not a air plane flying that does not have cracks in it. Metal cracks.
While I have never been involved with research on gun barrels they are still metal cylinders and are also subject to stresses. I also believe that especially on older barrels that they have a high likelihood of having cracks in them. Again that does not mean that they are all bad cracks.
I have seen several older cargo tanks that are 50 years old and still in service with over 80 cracks on the inside of the tank. These cracks had simply not grown to the outside of the tank yet causing a failure.
We dont know what and if any cracks were already in the barrels and we dont know if these were caused to grow or if new cracks were created by using a heavy load.
25 years ago I would strap down a set of barrels with a stout load and touch it off to see if they held and all of them did. Today I simply do a good inspection of the barrel/s and if it appears to be sound I simply use it with what I consider reasonable loads and I dont worry about it.
Enjoy your new toy! If you are like most of us, you will start looking for the next one soon. IMO there is nothing like using a old gun like these. I often wonder if the craftsmen that built them ever thought that they would be used in the United States 150 years latter to shoot pheasants, deer, bears etc.
Pete S.
