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How often should I have my barrels checked?

Corrosion is less likely to cause serious damage to a modern gun because of the use of rust-resistant steel alloys or plating.

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By Bill Harriman

Friday, 05 October 2007

I have a Rizzini over-and-under shotgun which is about 16 years old. Do you think I would be wise to have the barrel checked, as I have fired thousands of cartridges through it?

A: It's always a good idea to have any gun routinely checked and serviced by a gunsmith, particularly older guns that may develop faults, not just in their mechanisms but also in their material thinning barrel walls or small cracks in their actions, for example.

Modern guns, such as your Rizzini, are very robust because they are made with good-quality modern materials to very high standards of quality control and they are unlikely to develop material faults even after firing thousands of rounds.

Corrosion is also less likely to cause serious damage to a modern gun because of the use of rust-resistant steel alloys or plating.

Any gun that has fired a lot of cartridges may become loose in the action, particularly if heavy loads are used.

This needs immediate correction. But, in my experience, barrel wear is more likely to be caused by over-enthusiastic cleaning rather than heavy use.

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