I have only seen one repeater that had it's barrel truly swaged out by steel shot. Mind you, it was a combination of all the worst possible scenarios. A situation where a very early Model 12 in full choke was used with some of the first steel shotshells (the early steel shells didn't use the now heavy-walled shot cups). I have also been present in a gun shop when a fellow handed a fairly recent Remington 870 to the smith with it's choke tube missing and the barrel cracked. You can likely guess the combination that caused that disaster. Even fairly modern and robust firearms cannot survive the combination of extra full (a turkey choke!) and steel shot.
Where single barrel guns might tolerate the use of steel shot, a lighter double will most likely not. You have ribs to consider, and a second barrel that isn't undergoing the expansions and contractions required to propel a non-compressing load of ejecta.
There are exceptions, however. Really heavy-barreled doubles seem to be able to survive a limited diet of steel. While it can't be good for them, I have done it now for several years with a 1960s era, Belgium-made 10-bore (a Double Wing variant) that I have used for waterfowl. Much like the L.C. Smith previously mentioned, it shows no obvious signs of the abuse it has suffered (mind you, I opened the chokes to slightly less than Modified first).
Last edited by Lloyd3; 05/23/15 01:04 PM.
