Just picked up an American Gun Co. Knickerbocker 12 ga sidelock in unusually high condition, 85% bluing and case colors, bores clean and unpitted, no dents, cracks etc. Couple of screw heads a little buggered on the right lock plate, some surface freckling, wood finish gone dull on the butt, the rest is fine. 14 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 with a 2 1/2 inch down pitch, so it fits well. I have read every prior thread I could on this gun, so feel well grounded in its history, etc. My question is twofold. One, there is not a single mark on the fluid steel barrels other than the number 7 stamped on the bottom of the lug. Nothing. Second, the gun has 2 1/2 inch chambers and normal forcing cones leading into bores that mic .710 R and .712 L on my Skeets gauge all the way down to the muzzle at 29 5/8" from the breech. Pure cylinder, and a reduced cylinder at that. I know, I know, they must have been cut and the chokes cut off, but truly they dont appear to have been cut--barrels touch and keels are intact. Plus, that wouldn't explain the unusually undersized bore diameter--it's darn near a 13 gauge. A Walker gauge fits right in the chamber, as do 12 ga snap caps. Anybody have any similar experience with a twenty thousandths undersized bore? I am baffled. The only thought I had was that some Crescent barrel borer thought that since his likely customers in 1905 would get rusty pitted bores very quickly, he would leave them an extra 10 thousandths or so to ream the pits out. Or, he got tired at the end of the day and didnt want to make another pass through the borer. No, I have not measured the wall thickness with my Manson gauge, but at the muzzle they are at least .040 with no constriction. I would post pictures, but don't maintain a cloud photo site anymore, and can't post pics here directly from my hard drive. I would appreciate any thoughts you guys might have. Thanks.
Mike
If you have pics on your drive, all you need is a FREE hosting site like imgbb. It's easy...
