doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ernest Bernard - 10g Pinfire Shotgun

Thanks, Aaron. I think I�ll weigh some other gauges and see how they compare with similar gauges in centerfires. Does anyone have a 24 gauge centerfire to weigh ?

I weighed several pinfires today and since Aaron's 10 ga and my 10 ga. Richard Jeffery weighed in the lower 7 pound range, I expected other pinfires to be relatively light compared to British and European centerfires of the period. I did not find the other pinfires to be really light guns. Here's what I saw.
All French and Belgian guns had variations of the Lefaucheux action. I guess the extra light 10 ga. pinfires mentioned are not the standard.

Bissell [England] 8 gauge, 8 pounds 8 oz.
Harkom [Scotland[ 12 ga, 7 pounds 2 oz.
Sneider [USA] 12 ga, 7 pounds 14 oz.
French no name , high quality 16 ga, 6 pounds 6 oz.
Lefaucheux [Belgium/France] 16 ga. ,7 pounds 7 oz.
Le Page [Belgium/France] 16 ga. , 6 pounds 14 oz.
Claudin [Belgium/France]14 ga., 6 pounds 13 oz.
Belgian no name, 24 ga. ,6 pounds 7 oz.

I weighed my W&C Scott & Son 12 gauge pinfire today. The scale I weighed it on is a balance beam & quite accurate, but only graduated to � lb. It just topped 7 lbs, probably between 7 lb 1 oz & 7 lb 2 oz as it was closer to 7 than 7�. This is a bar in wood with keyed forend so wasn't in the mood to take it apart to get closer. According to Mr Crawford, its an A grade & he estimates between 1863 & 18/65 as to build date. Top lever opening was built under a Matthews Patent. Barrels measure 29 13/16" by tape measure. Has no appearance of having been cut. Both barrels are cylinder bore.