Quote Originally Posted by RobD View Post
1. If buying to shoot, the condition of the bore beats all other considerations. This means if possible using a bore scope and/or bore gauges, not just a squint down the bore. Rebarreling is very expensive.
I think this is the best advise, and would add paying particular attention to the area just beyond the chamber. I have seen several No. 4's with what look like pristine bores, running the bore cam in from the muzzle end, only to have the throat look like a bomb went off in there with shards of metal "peeling" away - or so it looks that way. I have come to learn a bomb did go off, hundreds or thousands of times, in the form of old surplus ammo loaded with cordite.