I did not want to hijack the .404 thread so I thought I would start a new one.

Has anyone slugged some Douglas barrels? I never have, but am curious about how they would measure. I know the bore (measurement on top of the lands) is the largest of any I have worked with. I have yet to have a Douglas barrel that would snuggly take a removable pilto on a chamber reamer. That means the bore is greater than nominal+.001". I know others who experience the same thing every time they chamber a barrel.

I have no way to measure the groove diameter but have always wanted to know what it is. Curious to see if the groove diameter is larger too, or if the rifling is just shallow. If it is the latter, I wonder what effect that has on barrel life?

I know the proof is in the shooting, so it is not necessarily a bad thing, but it just seems weird to me. It is one of the reasons I started using the cheapest SHilens for "budget" barrels.

Just curious what y'alls experiences are.

The majority of my test barrels are Douglas and I have no complaints. My 375 is .3750". My 458 is .4581". I consider + or - .0003" to be "in spec" but I have never seen a Douglas that is anywhere near that loose.

Your loose pilot has as much to do with the pilot as the barrel. The best thing is to make you own pilot(s). I'm sure that the maker of the pilot figures the worst case scenario of probably at least .005" deep rifling. Douglas generally runs ~.004".

I uses Pacific Tool and Gage bushings in .0002 increments for the caliber. I know how to fit them in the bore. WHat bushings tell you is the diameter across the lands. So no, they are not telling me the diameter of the pilot, but rather the pilot tells me the diameter of the barrel across the lands. THe numbers you posted are for the diamaters of your grooves. If the groove diameter is spot-on and the land diameter is large, then that means the lands are not as tall.

I have never had a Douglas firmly hold even the largest bushing in a given caliber-which will be a full .001" over what the nominal would be expected. Have talked to others who had the exact same experience.

Again, I never said it made Douglas barrels bad. I was wondering if people ahve actually measured the GROOVE daiameter.

I use a pin set to get bore diameter of my barrels .....most of which are Douglas.

The pin set is calibrated -.0002/+.0000.

Obviously I can't get groove diameters so I assume they are correct....in this way I have assumed (we all know what that means) that the rifling in Douglas barrels is .004 deep.

Hello,
If you give Mr. Tim Gardner, Owner/President of Douglas Barrel Co., Cross Lanes, WV., a call and ask him questions about his barrels, he will probably be able to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about his barrels. Believe they are the oldest and largest barrel mfg. in the U.S and make a very fine barrel.
Earlier post mentioned life and some years ago had a 22-250, 8 twist, 30" long and shot almost exclusively Sierra 80 grain MK's at 600-1000 yard matches and put slightly over 3000 rounds through it before setting it back and put some 1200 more through it. Gun was always a .5moa performer at whatever range. Good life and good performance and equalled the similar Krieger barrel had earlier on the Rem. 700 action.

never slugged on but got hit by a guy names douglass once OK so its another long day