[duenor]

- why do so many garand rifles have minimal (2 or less) muzzle wear but 3-5 throat erosion? I would think that the muzzle would wear out first before the throat, especially given the way GIs were told to clean their rifles.

kev

 

[Galaxieman]

Maybe because the throat is where the bullet first contacts the rifling, thats where all the 'imprinting' on the bullet occurs.

I think too some wear is due to the gasses being a little hotter right there.

 

[Tom-M]

Also most barrels dont start out with a TE and MW of 0.0. I have guaged quite a few new barrels that had a MW of 0.5 TO 1.0 and TE of 1.0 to 2.0. Manufacturing of barrels was not that precise. I have two brand new barrels right now: one with a MW=0.0, and a TE=2.0, and a second with a MW=0.6 and a TE=1.7.
You will also find that diff guages give slightly diff measurements.

 

[AndGunsForAll]

This is why I bought those te/me gauges years ago and sold them off, my opinion is whats at the muzzle cause I was getting false or worn readings for te, having bought two of those gauges before I figured out they were both giving the same reading.

Nah, I go by visual observation only on rifles I want to buy or evaluate for resale out of my collection, you can get a pretty good idea looking at the rifling wear and the muzzle, making sure there aint obvious damage at the throat.

I haven't seen any te gauges for mauser rifles for instance, always seems to hover around american firearms, but wait, that's where all the money has been, so the gauges give the uninformed a false sense sometimes of bore wear when reselling so someone like myself can pick something up for a decent price with a, ummm, horrible te of 2-3, and grouping at my range sessions nicely at 300 yards.

 

[Beanstrung]

They are the result of different causes.

Throat erosion is the result of firing cartridges, and the hot gasses eating away at the lands in the area near the case mouth.

Muzzle erosion, more often than not, is caused by cleaning-rod wear. The hot gasses are much cooler by the time they reach the muzzle, than they are near the chamber, so repeated firing is much less of a factor in muzzle erosion.

 

[duenor]

thanks for all the informed advice.
I too prefer to visually inspec the chamber, etc., but that is often not possible with internet sales or CMP. a service grade is ME of less than 3 and TE of less than 5 - if TE is a 3 or 4, how much life can I still expect out of this barrel before the TE wears to the point where it is either unsafe to fire or unable to perform reliably?

 

[lite-box]

Muzzle gages are a waste of $, a simple visual check is all that is needed to check a muzzle for clear sharp rifling, dings and or damaged crowns. Anyone who just uses a muzzle gage is sure to be a victim of an unscrupilous dealer or seller who adjusts muzzle readings with a hammer !

TE has much less effect on accuracy than crown/muzzle condition, my best shooting Garand has a TE of 9 with a pristine bore & un-molested muzzle.

 

[duenor]

oh. i hadn't thought about that. yikes. taking a hammer and flattening the muzzle down... whoa that's bad. okay, i'm CMP service grade... here i come!

 

[SfcRet]

I would think that the muzzle would wear out first before the throat, especially given the way GIs were told to clean their rifles.

t's the only way they could clean the barrels, from the muzzle end, there is no way you can clean the barrel from the chamber end with a cleaning rod

 

[zampilot]

I agree with litebox, muzzle wear gages are a joke. They want to impart that wear from 'tight' to 'worn out' falls somewhere inside a '1 to 3' rating. Use your Eyeball, Mk 1 to get the best guess, or scribe a gage with .001 increments for better accuracy. Also, gages do not offer an opinion on just how round the muzzle is. Round or slightly egg shaped?????? Throat erosion doesnt bother me much unless it's above '5'.