Summer projects part II

[firedup]

A 12ga Damascus SxS. Cartridge gun made in Birmingham, England.  Nothing real special. Hardware store gun. Dates to 1890's. I have done a good bit of work to tighten the old girl up over time an recently redid the faces and hook. I am in the process I'd trying to develop a decent load that will work for Turks and squirrels at a reasonable distance. Say 30-35 yds. I have taken it to a gunsmith and as far as possible deemed it safe to shoot with reasonable loads. Nothing magnum for sure. I have shot it and have killed a couple Turks with it so that can be done. But they had to be CLOSE. read that as 10-15 yards. Maybe closer Currently picking up old primed paper shells, dumping all contents and reloading with over powder cards and shot. No wadding as yet. One shot per shell. Max powder at present 60 gr. Don't want to go to much beyond this. So light loads. I don't mind plastic shells really but really hate to go to plastic wadding and BP. The real issue is pattern. Best the gunsmith and I could measure I have AT BEST modified in left and improved in right. I need to tighten up the patterns a bunch. A pop can at 25 yards is in no serious danger. Any ideas or suggestions welcome. Post em up or pm me. I have a few front loaders that shoot pretty well but the method of stacked loading just doesn't seem to carry over very well. My apologies for the long post but wanted to thro this out there as I know there were a few Roosters who enjoyed this sort of thing too.  Thanks for the look! LT

[Colt P]

Love them old double guns I hunt with a 36 model my dad's gun is a 20s model Belgium made hammer gun. All the old rabbit and squirrel hunters I grew up around loved um to, ant a shotgun made  that handles like um! Good looking gun good luck!
 Colt

[B-Ready]

Great looking double you got there LT.... 

[Mmcdonald]

Sweet gun LT!

[firedup]

Why are the pics upside down....Jeez! 

[jmck]

great looking ole gun LT---I got a headache standing on my head trying to look at it the right way though 

[firedup]

I tried to flip em over for ya Jeff.  Switched to Imgur so...mite be better but.....I resized but they seem huge on my screen.  also added a pic of a gun I refinished for my uncle.  An English Parker Hale.  Early model with german mauser action.  It WAS in pretty rough shape.

[Blackfalcon]

Nice projects LT!  I usually shoot RST loads out of my hammer guns..very nice company to do business with. You could probably give them a call and they might have a solution to tighten your loads. Your gun looks to me like a Crescent Arms variant which were made in Belgium and marketed through Birmingham. They were a workhorse and sold through several hardware store brands such as the AJ Aubrey and New England Wonder advertised in the 1908 Sears Catalog
Here is a link for RST  http://www.rstshells.com/

[firedup]

Dave I was looking at Gamebore, RST and Polywad.  All advertise they have shells for these old guns. I have heard nothing but good about RST and they have several powder load options.  I got some from Polywad to start with. The owner done there was such a nice guy...I guess I bought the sales pitch hook, line and sinker!  LOL  They are a very low charge so I will see how they pattern.  RST could very well be in the future as well.  They sell a heavier load.  I just never had the success I have wanted by "rolling my own" as far as a decent pattern goes.  Thanks for the link pal!

http://www.polywad.com/vintager.html

[Blackfalcon]

LT,
Let me know how you make out..I'm quite fond of the old hammer guns. With the right loads they can be quite enjoyable to shoot as well as effective in the field. One just has to know their limitations as well as safety in handling them. Interestingly some of the old guns were choke bored which delivered a lot of kinetic energy to the target as well as reducing felt recoil which I always presumed was a modern concept!