Make Damascus guns great again??? Lil Skeeters?

[Deavis]

I dont know if this rates in the:

"I wouldn't do that if I were you"

Or

"It'll be fiiiiiiiine"

Catagory.


If you had a decent damascus 12 and inserted a few of these:

12GA to 20GA – Little Skeeters

www.littleskeeters.com

Especially light 20 or .410

It seems maybe doable?

Are antique guns immunue from NFA barrel length restrictions? I know they dont need FFLs for transfer.

And Andy, before you say it, I just dont want to load BP 12 ga!

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[Mike_M57]

If I had a decent Damascus 12 ga., I wouldn't risk ruining it by shooting anything through it.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

For old Damascus shotguns....
You gotta take a good look at the barrels...to make sure they are sound and not dented or splitting.

As far as shooting them....
Chamber length is important to know.
Lead only...light loads , even with black powder.
I have shot damascus shotguns with light loaded , as in handloads with smokeless powder before.
However...
That was done with shotguns that while old were in excellent shape.
This needs to be done as a case by case basis.

I would never suggest shooting a damascus barreled shotgun , without a detailed breakdown of the gun and inspection..
By someone who knows what to look for...
And...
I would also suggest sticking with black powder loadings.
Andy

 

[CLT65]

Don't take my word for anything; I'm not an expert of any kind, but I would consider really low pressure loads before I'd use chamber adapters. 20 gauge ammo is loaded to the same pressures as 12 gauge, so I don't think chamber adapters will help you any.

When I say low pressure, I don't mean light target loads either. Low powered doesn't necessarily mean low pressure. Black powder loads also have a different pressure profile than smokeless, generally. You'd want a load with a low peak pressure.

Again, I'm not an expert. I probably wouldn't even do it at all, but my understanding is that it can be done safely if you know what you're doing, but not with off-the-shelf ammo.

 

[CountryGent]

Are antique guns immunue from NFA barrel length restrictions? I know they dont need FFLs for transfer.

ATF's answer here.

 

[oremike]

All I know for sure is my grandfather shot the 1896 Remington shotgun I now own up until the mid 1960's so most likely with modern smokeless loads. I'd bet they were dove and quail loads. I've had the shotgun looked at and was told light modern loads would be fine. I haven't shot it though, I've got a BPS for shotgun duties. Grandpas gun is a wall hanger do to it's sentamental value to me.

 

[CLT65]

Several years ago, a lifelong friend asked me to take a look at an old shotgun that his son had bought.

It was an old Belgian double barrel 12 gauge from around the turn of the century. It wasn't Damascus steel, but it was proofed for black powder only, and near as I could determine has slightly shorter chambers for obsolete black powder shells, 2 5/8" instead of 2 3/4" or something like that.

The wrist of the stock was cracked and busted up, and a side plate was bent or something as I recall. I straightened and patched it up as best as I could (turned out pretty good), but I strongly recommended that he NOT shoot modern ammo in it at all. I told him that there are sources online for low pressure ammo for it, even offered to help him get set up to reload. He wasn't interested, just thanked me for fixing it. (I only do stuff like that for friends, and do NOT take payment. I'm not a gunsmith.)

Very nice young man, but he obviously didn't take my word for it. I heard some time later that he loved his old gun and shot the heck out of it every time he and his buddies got together. I haven't heard of it blowing up or anything, but I expect it will be sloppy loose and worn out before too long. Those old guns just weren't made for high pressure modern ammo.

 

[Deavis]

I guess my thought is that the lil skeeters will confine the bulk at on-set.

Pressure would reduce when the little load opened into the big tube (more volume)?

.410 in the 12?

 

[arakboss]

I guess my thought is that the lil skeeters will confine the bulk at on-set.

Pressure would reduce when the little load opened into the big tube (more volume)?

.410 in the 12?

I agree with you. The breech face will still be subject to full pressure but my guess is the breech face isn't the likely area to fail.