Bill, or anyone, what is the bore diameter of the old ten gauge bores pre-1900. I thought they were also .775 but some think they were closer to .800 for the old shells fiber wads
10 ga is .775" old or new. However many of the older guns with 10 ga chambers had oversize bores. It was not because the wads were fiber though, but because they were also oversize in many cases. The 10 was a very popular waterfowl gun & for this use the thin brass shell was also popular, as the early paper shells were bad about swelling. The all brass shells required oversize wads so the guns were often bored for these shells. I know that my pre 1890 Lefever 10ga has oversize bores but off hand don't recall by how much. Technically of course it does not have a 10ga bore, even though chambered for 10 ga shells. A 9ga is .803 & in between there was 10/1 & 10/2.
