Inola Cowboy:
Welcome to our merry band.
The proof marks will provide a means to date the gun. If you will post pics of every proof mark, we can do that in short order.
Guns of the type you describe have no "model number"... that is a modern American manufacturing concept, and, as you have noted, the name Henry is a marketing thing, likely nothing more.
As for the steel - I will bet dollars to doughnuts that if the gun says "Belgium" anywhere, there is very little English steel in it, like, say, none. I suspect it is typical, run of the mill, functional but cheap, Belgian.
Please also understand that damascus, twist, laminate, all these may be blued in the same manner as fluid steel tubes, and the metal finish winds up looking about the same. The fact that it soes not LOOK like twist or whatever, does not mean it is not.
Now... please note:
1) Black Powder shells can deliver pressures as HIGH as modern smokeless. Black does not necessarily mean "low pressure". You can beat up a gun with black powder, too.
2) Smokeless does not necessarily mean HIGH pressure , either, BUT if they are modern American SAAMI standard shells, they are allowed to have a MAX AVERAGE pressure of 11,500 psi.
Common European ( CIP Standard) pressures run in the 9200-9600 psi range, depending on the proof and manufacture era. I could speculate that that is likely what your gun was intended for, but I wont, as I do not have enough info at this point.
3) If your gun is sound, you can easily buy 2-3/4" shells made to CIP standard which run below 9000 psi ( Rio Top Skeet is one brand which comes readily to mind).
4) You can load your own, either 2-1/2" shells or 2-3/4" shells, in the appropriate pressure ranges. It is easy to load shells in the low 7000's psi with the appropriate smokeless powders. Please understand that test after test after test has shown there is NO problem using 2-3/4" shells in 2-1/2" chambers ... here is the IF... please notice I say IF...
IF the shells are in the correct pressure range for which the gun was designed.
5) You can also load black powder to get in the 8000 psi range. Black powder tends to kick more than smokeless, as the mass of the ejecta is, of course, greater.
Hope this is of value. We look forward to seeing the proof marks to help you further.
Regards
GKT
