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Originally Posted by Pukka Bundook
Philip,
Smaller bore and higher velocity. Makes sense. :-)
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I'm sure that this was one goal of those master Brescian barrel makers of the 17th cent. (the Cominazzi, Franzini, et al) when they designed and made those wonderful barrels for sporting guns and pistols. The marriage of superior metallurgy to a controlled relationship between bore and outer profile to create highly functional tubes of smaller bore than many north European products, but which could handle the powder charges to get those bullets moving faster. Marvellous things -- strong at the breech and thin-walled at the muzzle, giving the guns an excellent balance, with subtle aesthetic treatment that doesn't try to steal the show. No wonder that the signatures of these craftsmen were so widely faked on the numerous (and for the most part markedly inferior) knockoffs cranked out in other parts of Europe and especially parts of the western Ottoman Empire over the next 200-odd years.