doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com shooting rst and polywad shells in damascus guns

The barrel walls must be measured. The gun should be inspected by a gunsmith who knows old doubles and has the tools to do a proper inspection. Any signs the barrels have been honed should be examined closely.

This is a 1891 example of recommended barrel wall thickness. It is a good example of the points that need to be measured.


The pressure should kept at or below 7,000psi. Low brass is NOT low pressure. The loads should be kept below or to 1 1/4 oz.

Almost every example of a blown damascus barrel I have seen can be traced to thin walls, barrel obstructions or high pressure loads. I shoot my damascus guns with both black powder and low pressure nitro.

Pete

I did pressure tests of the RST roll crimped 1 1/16 ounce classic field load. It pressure tested at 6600 psi and velocity in the mid 1100s. It is the prettiest 12 gauge shell I have ever seen. I also pressure tested the Falcon Ultralite 3/4 ounce loads and they tested at 4300 psi. I have considered making a test barrel from PVC to test these RST Falcons. Most guys I have asked have been skeptical about the PVC withstanding the Falcons. I think I could get away with it. The RST Falcon and Falcon Ultralites probably pressure test way below what a black powder load would test. By the way, the Falcon Ultralites sounded just fine when shot in cold weather. I did not "freeze" them, but I did leave them outdoors at about 20 degrees overnight. I am going to freeze a box when the weather gets cold again. They are the best shells I have ever used in Damascus guns. rstshells.com

4300 is about as low as one can go and still get effective cartridge, no?

That is true and that is why I felt the need to test the RST Falcon Ultralites in cold weather. I was surprised to experience no off sound or off performance shells in a round of skeet with 20 degree shells in 20 degree weather. I would be the last to think that the sound would be as uniform at zero degrees, but I don't think I would be shooting these loads at zero. Many other RST loads are of somewhat higher pressure and still safe for good Damascus guns. If anyone is interested in the pressure testing of any particular load listed on the price list, call or email Alex Papp and he will look it up for you. The contact information for Alex is on rstshells.com.

I brought a thread titled "RST Low Pressure Shells" to the top on the PGCA forum so we could get some more particulars on pressure readings on RST ammunition. On the last page of that thread, more pressure readings on more different loads are mentioned. Among the different pieces of information on that thread are mentions that the test gun has a 24" barrel, so the velocity readings may be exceeded in our longer waterfowl guns. There are also mentions of the crimp styles and tube material in the various loads, information also available on the RST website.

What hull are they loaded in ?

I don't know where they get their hulls, but both paper and plastic are offered, depending on the load. I just know that the paper shells are pretty beyond description, especially the roll crimp with clear plastic top wad.

The RST hulls are manufactured by Cheddite. Polywads are also, I believe.

I'll second eightbore's recommendation of the RSTs. They just need some in purple for us 16 ga lovers.

I think I have some 2 1/2" 16s in a grainy medium tan which are very nice. Don't drop one on a grouse. It would disappear.

I bought some poly wads last week...they appear to be loaded in "red" chedite hulls.
In two of my hammer guns the primers were blowing. (Before you start blaming my guns).....Neither gun has ever did this with any other hull primer combination. In one of the guns I've shot 3 or 4 hundred of the clear chedite hulls with black powder without incident. In a third gun the Poly Wads worked fine.

I might give the RST's a try.