doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Purpose of 12 ga. Mod/Full SXS from 1920's?

What was the intended use of a field grad Modified/Full SxS in the 1920's?

Type of game, range and load.

Thank you

Hi Bushmaster,
I am not sure about your gun, but I have an LC Smith 10g a Ideal grade (Damascus) that is a bit different.

ABout a a half pund lighter than most, choke a tight modifiesd and x-full. It came from the Maryland Shores out of an estate. Had signs of salt water inside the action. I was told it was a Rail gun.

The hunters would place one gun at the front of the boat, while the other paddle through the wild rice. The first shot was a bit close so no full choke in that barrel.

JUst food for thought.

Jerry

It was a 1917 gun.

Kinda of a non specific question. A 12ga in mod/full was probably the most commonly sold choking as most folks still think they need tight chokes to hunt despite never shooting beyond 30 yds in their experience. What would be hunted with in those days was just about anything. In the days of fiber wads patterns did tend to be more open than with the plastic wads we use today. By varying the shells from the lighter "upland" loads to heavier waterfowl loads the 12 would meet most requirements. When I was a kid about 60 years ago the hardware store shells were still typically 1 1/8oz in light loads and 1 1/4 oz in the duck and pheasant loads. About 1956 the 2 3/4" baby magnums appeared with 1 1/2oz loads if I recall correctly. There were some 3" mag 12ga around which were largely waterfowl and turkey guns which launched 1 1/2oz loads with better velocity than the short mag. Above that it was the Super 10 and then 10ga Mag loads which were goose guns. A light weight 10ga in 2 5/8" made a dandy duck and pheasant gun with 1 1/2oz loads.

Shells without shot cups pattern about one choke more open than modern shells. Don't know about others but Parker's did not not use modern choke labels. Guns were ordered and sold by how many pellets in a circle. Range & size shot. They were built for the job.

Boats

1920's . . . pheasants hadn't really caught on yet in a big way. Numbers of prairie chickens and sharptails were drastically reduced. A lot of bird hunting was for waterfowl, and they require tighter chokes. And a lot of the field grade 12ga sxs sold were general purpose guns. Farmers' tools, for shooting anything from a rabbit to a duck to the proverbial fox robbing the hen house.

The smaller bores, 16's and 20's, were more along the line of specialty guns, for ruffed grouse or quail. And there were far fewer of those made in comparison to 12's. For example, Fox made about 107,000 Sterlingworths in 12ga compared to 45,000 16 and 20ga Sterlys, combined.

Thats true and as a general rule the 20's were more open. Although I have a Hunter Arms 28 inch 20 thats Cylinder and Full. My Parker Trojan 20 modern measure is about Lt Mod x Improved Cylinder.

All my 12's are tight choked.

Boats

Back in the 60's I bought my first decent double which was a Fox Sterlingworth in 12ga with 28" barrels choked modified and full. This gun at $150 was a financial stretch for me and I had to pass on the Crown Grade L C Smith the guy also had at $250.
The Fox was the only shotgun I had for years and I used it for hunting everything from quail to ducks to deer.
This was considered a good all around configuration at that time and I suspect I could get by with it today if necessary.
Jim

And besides, the average hunter fancies himself a good shot even if he isn't.

A great many full choke guns were sold simply because it was manly to own a full choke gun.

We also consider ourselves a nation of riflemen, even if we can't hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle.

A 12-gauge, 30-inch, choked modified and full was the norm for North American doubles from the 1890s to WW-II. Virtually anything else was a "specialty" item. Used for everything from Quail to Ducks to Deer. The vast majority of shooters/hunters only had one shotgun and if it was a double, that was it.



Your point is right Larry, but two and a half decades of recording Sterlingworth serial numbers shows nearly 20000 less total. There is a 16000+ gap in the 12-gauge serial numbers from the high 143xxx range to 160000, and in the 20-gauge Sterlingworths a 3000+ gap from the 266xxx range to 270000.

There may be some other gaps too, as Savage seems to have blocked serial numbers. Examples -- all the guns recorded to date in the 134xxx range are Fox-Sterlingworth Wildfowls and all from 134102 to 134130 with no other 134xxx serial number guns recorded. Guns recorded in the 135xxx range are all Fox-Sterlingworth Skeet & Upland Game guns and are all in the 1356xx and 1357xx range with no other 135xxx range guns recorded.

As a corollary, at the turn-of-the-century many doubles were bored cylinder and full. This is the 1900 Sears catalog, with a Folsom hammer double with Twist barrels "Bored For Nitro Powder"



By the 1908 Sears catalog, Folsom's and all the other U.S. maker's doubles (if specified) were listed as 'choke bored'



I've also had several pre-1910 U.S. doubles bored right .005- .007 and left .030 - .040