Pedersoli Shotgun Find (barrel question)

[TNHagies]

The wife and I enjoy going to Antique malls and this morning while in one I found a 12 guage David Pedersoli double barrel shotgun. The outside of the gun was rust free. Some scratches on the stock-which is to be expected. Overall the outside of the gun looked like you would expect from an older gun.

But here's where you guys come in: I didn't bring my bore light with me as I wasn't anticipating needing it so I couldn't see the entire barrel. I did run the ramrod down both barrels and it didn't feel rough or gritty. What I thought was odd was the first inch or two was shiny silver and even kind of looked like it had grooves in it. Not like it was threaded for chokes as the "threads" were no where near that deep. You could feel them more than see them. Do you think it could have been machined? If so, do you think that could weaken the barrel to the point of making it unsafe?

Additionally, I have never owned or shot a shotgun ML so I'm new to this side. Should the barrel thickness be in teh same range as rifled barrels. The thickness of hte steel on these barrels were no thicker than the ones on my modern shotguns.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Additonall info:
David Pederosli 12G
Percussion (lock was solid and niple area was rust free)
$330 pricetag though the guy said he'd take 300 for it.

[Gm54-120]

All i can tell you about the Pedersoli2 ML shotguns is they have chromed bores according to their website. They also did offer screw in chokes on 2 of these models. The ML rifles have excellent quality steel and barrels.

And they look pretty nice for a camo double

http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/?ite...rsoli2&lang=en

[arcticap]

Originally Posted by TNHagies

What I thought was odd was the first inch or two was shiny silver and even kind of looked like it had grooves in it. Not like it was threaded for chokes as the "threads" were no where near that deep. You could feel them more than see them. Do you think it could have been machined? If so, do you think that could weaken the barrel to the point of making it unsafe?

Additionally, I have never owned or shot a shotgun ML so I'm new to this side. Should the barrel thickness be in teh same range as rifled barrels. The thickness of hte steel on these barrels were no thicker than the ones on my modern shotguns.

The thickness of BP shotgun barrels are often as thin as the barrels of modern shotguns because the highest pressures accumulate more in the breech and not as much near the muzzle.
Some makers use a type of seamless tubing for smoothbore barrels while Pedersoli probably uses machined barrels since they also make double rifles that have a similar design to their double shotguns.

I really wonder if what you feel are a type of lathe marks from the machining & finishing of the bores. I've seen those circular, machine made lathe marks in the bores of their double barreled Howdah smooth bore pistols. I was surprised to see those marks rather than a really shiny mirror polished bore. But I didn't think that you would normally feel them when running a patch down the bore. But rather would be something that you could see near the muzzle crown, close up and with plenty of light.
I think that those circular lathe marks are normal and may indicate that the bore of this older shotgun isn't chrome lined like the later models. I have no way of knowing that for sure but it's just my guess. But companies sometimes do change how they make the same model if it's produced over many years and they might have added the chrome lined feature for waterfowl hunting with non-toxic shot.
The relatively lower price of this shotgun tends to indicate that it probably is an older gun since the newer Pedersoli's have become a lot more expensive. And if the barrels have fixed chokes then what you might be seeing/feeling are lathe marks and the price of the gun matches it's age and features.