First of all, THANK YOU for letting me join this forum. Looks like I'll be spending plenty time here.
I recently was given a 1883 Colt 10g SxS shotgun with Damascus barrels . It appears the barrels were 24" but long ago someone added another 6" to the barrels. The solder ring is clearly visible. Was this done at Colt or was this done at some other point in its life? Fortunately, there was a large dent in the added section so it was removed and the barrels are back to 24"
It did not have a stock and the forend was in disrepair.
80% fitted wood was ordered from Macon Stock Works and it was fitted and finished by a local gunsmith with not so great results. But better than I would have done!
The internals of this gun appear like new. No wear is detected and all mechanicals work perfectly. It is 100% on face....
I cut down 3.5" plastic hulls to 2.75" (Impossible to find brass or paper hulls at this time)
I plan on loading with BP and #8 shot with a glued over shot card for Cowboy Action shooting....
But now I see "Little Skeeter" 10g to 12g inserts. This might be a much better way to go as I already load 12g Black Powder and have 10s of thousands of once fired 12g hulls.
I would offer that the insert might also slightly reinforce the chamber area of this shotgun. Although the chamber and barrels are much thicker than any other Damascus barrels in my collection. This gun weighs just under 10# with 24" tubes! It's a brute....
Anyone have any experience with these inserts?
Another option is to sleeve the whole barrel to 20g as I have a set of 20G side by side barrels I could take apart and install in this shotgun. I have lots of experience with lining barrels for rifles.....See here:
http://rvbprecision.com/firearms/oops-1859-sharps-barrel-liner.htmlhttp://rvbprecision.com/firearms/bring-another-one-back-dead-1885-winchester-low-wall.htmlhttp://rvbprecision.com/shooting/1873-winchester.htmlwww.rvbprecision.comAnything else you can add would be greatly appreciated.....Looking forward to seeing what others say...Thank You