Larry,
If your 20 has 3" chambers, and the two pinwheels under PSF, what is left to "explain" about it's level of proof?
It was proofed at 17,637, instead of the 12,000 a Snipe would have been proofed at. It would NOT have left the proof house with 3" chambers, destined for the American market, any other way.
Period.
I don't have to "sell" the Webley as a higher quality gun than a NID. It just is. I have plenty of 12 gauge guns of all stripes, so, I don't need the Webley, but, level of proof isn't something I spend a lot of time pondering, as a week or two of practice with the correct ammunition for the gun would yield better results than buying heavier loads for most people.
Anyone who believes they "need" a higher level of proof for a pheasant gun, likely just needs some practice.
The extra pound or so of weight the NID comes with, would look far better in your gunsafe, at the end of a ten hour day in the Dakotas, hunting pheasants, than it would look in in mine.
Give me the Webley, thank you very much.
Best,
Ted
Ted--Indeed, a gun with 3" chambers would have a magnum/superior proof. What you seem to be overlooking is the fact that a gun DOES NOT HAVE TO BE 3" IN ORDER TO HAVE A MAGNUM/SUPERIOR PROOF. That's because--starting with the Super X loads and going forward--we had much heavier and faster 2 3/4" loads in this country than they did in Europe. The reason the NID was subjected to heavier proof than a Webley is because it evolved simultaneously with the Super-X loads. Which were heavier and faster than what was available on the other side of the pond--especially as far back as the mid-20's, when the NID's first appeared. Whether one thinks one NEEDS those loads for pheasants is immaterial. The fact is, they pretty much became the standard for both pheasant and duck hunters, and likely outsold any other 12ga hunting loads. So if you wish, you could go with the Super Pigeon load, which although also 1 1/4 oz was about 100 fps slower. But then, just as now, American ammo makers pushed the heavier and faster stuff . . . because, obviously, that's the best stuff.
And again, no doubt the Webley is a better gun . . . as reflected by the fact that it costs 3X as much. But it's not a stronger gun. Whether you think the NID needs to be that strong or I do is immaterial. It's a fact. Not even an alternative one.
