Originally Posted By: ithaca1
Ken,
I believe I fall in the over cautious category. smile
My hunting buddy shoots LN/LR Win 12ga all the time in his Purdey hammer damascus. We often shoot side by side at the skeet range with his setup, and I'm not one bit uncomfortable.

With that said, my situation is a bit different. A VERY light damascus Flues 20ga.. Barrel walls were checked years ago but I can't remember the minimum dims. I feel over caution is in the best interest of friends, and my left hand.


I don't blame you a bit. Especially in the absence of analysis data for the smaller gauge barrels. In their case, I wouldn't consider it "over cautious". Since we have the data for the 12ga barrels, I feel fairly confident, but with a different gauge, perhaps not so much. Extrapolation would result in a testable hypothesis, but it's better to always wait until the data is actually in...No need to take chances with either the gun or your fingers and eyesight if small gauge RST and the like loads are available.

I prefer wood to plastic, leather to nylon, waxed cotton to Gore-Tex, and split bamboo to graphite.