Good afternoon:
I have picked up a nice Greener SxS 10 gauge x 2 7/8" shotgun. It is the "Treble Wedge Fast" lock, with the Haymarket St address on the barrels. The proofs are ones used between 1887 and 1896, and with the barrels stating "winner at all trials 1875 to 1890" it must be 1891 - 1896. I do not see any Nitro or Not For Ball marking so presumably this one is BP only. The lockup is tight, the locks are crisp and the 32" barrels have no pitting, but the left hand one has a tiny dent about halfway up. The thing weighs a ton.
Two questions:
1. It has an unusual marking on the barrel next to the usual Crown/BP Cursive mark, a partially obscured word, which I cannot make out (not the Greener elephant, which is easily visible on both barrels). Has anyone seen this word in its entirety to know what it is?
2. I would like to shoot it. I expect that while it might handle gentle smokeless ok it would be best to use BP. I have shot some old percussion and cartridge English and Scottish 12G before, but havenot reloaded 10 G BP before; what do the experienced folks on this forum recommend for a hull? I see brass 10G 2 5/8"and 2 7/8" casings on Buffalo, but also see that some people use paper with a roll crimp. Not sure how successful I would be finding 10G paper hulls. I have used some plastic hulls with BP in 12G x 2 1/2"; anyone done that with 10G?
Thanks in advance.
Ed
Greener photos