I saved this story from a previous DGS post about Reilly's from a few years past...re Damascus and shooting duck loads...from a story by Terry Weiland:
Six months later, I got a call. It was Edy: "Next time you're in town, I've got a gun you need to see."
It was another old English masterpiece, of a type I had heard about but never seen. A George Gibbs of Bristol, with the strange "Gibbs & Pitt's Patent" boxlock (circa 1873), a tumbler-block safety and a snap underlever. Damascus barrels, 28 inches long, and a total weight of six pounds, eight ounces. Lively as a puppy, with a French walnut stock that is eminently drool-worthy.
"Where on Earth did you find this?"
"The owner read about the Reilly and remembered he had this. He wants it refurbished."
The story of the Gibbs was simple, but with a twist. Its owner wanted it both refurbished and nitro-proofed, which would require sending it to England. It has lovely Damascus barrels, and the action is tight as it can be, even after 130 years. So Edy asked about its history. Seems the man's uncle gave him the gun when he was a teenager, 40-some years ago.
Did he ever shoot it? "Oh, yes," he'd replied. "I hunted ducks with it for years."
As the full import of that statement dawned, Edy asked, "Ducks? What with?"
To which the owner shrugged, "Canucks and Imperials, mostly."
Gulp!
For decades the ancient Gibbs with its Damascus barrels and 2 1/2-inch chambers had steadfastly digested a diet of the notorious CIL high-brass, 2 3/4-inch full-throttle duck loads, with nary a hitch. And it's still tight, tight, tight.
"What did you tell him?"
"I said, 'Forget nitro-proofing. This gun has nothing left to prove, to anyone.'"
To prove his point, Edy took it to the skeet range and shot a couple of rounds and reported that it is "lively; my Lord, it's lively.
