Gauge (firearms)

The gauge (in American English or more commonly referred to as bore in British English) of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the inner diameter (bore diameter) and other necessary parameters to define in general a smoothbore barrel (compare to caliber, which defines a barrel with rifling and its cartridge).

The gauge of a shotgun is a list that includes all necessary data to define a functional barrel. For example, the dimension of the chamber, the shotgun bore dimension and the valid proof load and commercial ammunition, as defined globally by the C.I.P.; defined in Great Britain by the Rules, regulations and scales applicable to the proof of small arms (2006) of The London Proof House and The Birmingham Proof House, as referred in the Gun Barrel Proof Act 1978, Paragraph 6; and defined in the United States by SAAMI Z299.2 – 2019.