doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Need info on Henry hammer SxS

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

Thanks. I will try to get photos taken over the next day or two and posted of the proof marks. Like I said before, I do intend to have the barrels magna-fluxed to check for microscopic separation or weakness.

I do have access to a reloading press for 12 gauge shotgun shells so I can reload to whatever PSI I want for either smokeless or blackpowder. I will look into the details of the load data needed to achieve the right PSI after I have the gun inspected thoroughly.

RST has a 2 1/2" 7/8 oz 12 ga load that is 1150 fps and 6700 psi (falcon lite) and a 2 3/4" falcon lite that is 7/8oz, 1100 fps and 6200psi. The 2 1/2" is 80 bucks a flat and the 2 3/4" is 65 buck, plus shipping. No I don't work for them.

Before you run out and spend the money on Magna-fluxing you might want to take a peek at the FAQ:

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...660df792#UNREAD

This was one of those rare occasions when Dave ( our host ) felt the need to post his observations.

Pete

Good Lord! I just read the article thread you mentioned above on testing of Damascus barrels. I have a Masters Degree in Business and have coordinated UL testing of firestop products as part of a previous product management job.

I have to say I felt like a real dumb-a$$ trying to read this stuff. Apparently, I need an engineering degree or something to even be able to follow this conversation with some level of sanity. That's several pages of technical discussion to finally say "we don't have any good way of testing Damascus barrels with any certainty".

I think the best statement I read through the entire thing is that shooting Damascus is about like skydiving or bungee jumping - you always run the chance that your equipment will fail with varying degrees of bodily harm.

Ok, now, how about a bit more. Some of the recent discussions about Damascus and Steel barrels. Plenty of pictures and explanations...

Damascus explained. Warning this is very very long, but worth reading, many fine contributions from a lot of the members here:
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...8e33647660df792

About Steel barrels. Includes some early test results for strength comparing Steel vs Damascus:
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...df792#Post55572

Any time you shoot any firearm there is an element of risk. The guns that interest many here have seen many years of use. It is possible to make an educated guess as to how shootable a gun may be. Still there are those who simply choose not to shoot a damascus barreled gun. If you want to shoot any older shotgun regardless of the barrel composition, then you should have it examined and measured before you shoot it. Then, if you determine the gun is a shooter, you should match the pressures of the ammunition to the age and era of the gun.

Pete

Inola Cowboy,

Were almost neighbors. I live East of Catoosa so.....if you decide you want to give that Henry a whirl,my buddies and I shoot every Wednesday night at Oil Capital Rod & Gun Club near Coweta.I've got some low pressure rounds that your welcome to try if you like. We shoot trap and skeet and all sorts of weird stuff that we make up as we go. The atmosphere is relaxed to say the least.

Ken Nelson

Ken,

Thanks for the invite. I would love to take you up on that offer. Send me a direct email to Scott_Roy_Tulsa@yahoo.com with your contact information and we can discuss.

I also have a Remington 12 gauge pump outfitted for duck and turkey that I would like to get some more practice with also.

I have been to the Coweta range before for a Cowboy Action Shoot but that was about a year ago. Pretty easy to find off the turnpike.

I look forward to talking to you more.

Scott
Inola Cowboy