OK, so going off on another tangent here, but another slightly crazy friend of mine used to fire this sort of thing all the time (when it was still legal, he had all the licences and do-dahs), old muzzle loading 'double rifles' and the like, and anyway, we were chatting about how the barrels often look 'thin' on the upper rim of the muzzle.
He said it was due to persistant overcharging the load and the projectile rubbing harder on the upper edge as it exits the muzzle.
I've not got enough experience of firing these things to venture an opinion, but I notice that my Afghan damascus barreled musket has the same thinning.
Any thoughts?
Its interesting to think of these 1.5m long barrels being overcharged to fire further! If the theory is true of course.
Gene
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