Until I read Sherman Bell’s excellent articles on Damascus barrel testing, I had avoided shooting any Damascus or Twist barreled shotguns. Whether due to ignorance, or just excessive caution, I was loath to take the chance.

Local gunsmith Buck Hamlin regularly shoots Damascus barreled guns, often with factory loads, and assured me that he never encountered a problem. So, I had Buck restore a 12 gauge Remington 1900 with Damascus “Star & Horseshoe” pattern barrels, for me. The 26” barrels measure IC & IC, and may have been shortened by a previous owner. As with all of Buck’s work, the restored gun is a beauty, especially the barrels.

Still being somewhat cautious, and not wanting to stress a 100 year old SxS, I loaded low pressure shotshells using Remington STS hulls, 22.5 gr. of IMR 7625 powder, RXP12 wads, , REM 209 primers, and 1 ounce of #7-1/2 Lawrence magnum shot. According to the IMR loading tables, this loading generates about 4,200 PSI – roughly half the pressure of most factory ammo, and 1,100 FPS.

I was a bit concerned that this lighter load might not be powerful enough. I started out shooting skeet (with 7-1/2’s) and can’t see any difference in clay breakage. When I’m on target, the clay birds break the same as with factory shells. Next, I tried Sporting Clays with similar positive results.

This past weekend I had the chance to use the old Remington and the light loads on live quail at a dog training session. Granted these were released birds (not wild), but the old Remington dropped them cleanly. Once the Missouri quail season opens next month, I plan use this old Remington SxS on wild birds.

Recently, I’ve also been playing with an 1890’s Baker 10 gauge SxS with ornate stub twist barrels. Rather than fuss with reloading 10 gauge shells, I bought a set of steel Gauge-Mate adapters that allow the use of 12 gauge shells in the 10 gauge chambers. I’ve been shooting the same #7625 low-pressure reloads. I’m not knowledgeable enough to know how much the pressure drops due to shooting 12 gauge shells in the 10 gauge bore, but it seems to work O.K. This Baker has 30 F&F barrels that measure .060” of choke. Nevertheless, I shot a 17/25 on my first round of skeet with it, even with the tight chokes. And the misses were “operator errors” rather than any fault of the old Baker.

Anyhow, I learned a few things worth sharing:

1. - Quality old American Damascus and Twist barreled shotguns are safe to shoot with low pressure reloads.
2. - 1,100 f.p.s. reloads are adequate for both clay birds and quail.
3. - IMR #7625 powder works well with these “SxS Oldies.”

Jerry Goldstein
St. Louis, MO