I favor heavy fowlers and am thus a 20 bore virgin in need of a basic education – please be gentle.

About 15 years ago, I bought my daughter a Smallwood 20 bore at auction and had it sent to her in NY, along with a case of RST shells (getting her shotgun license in NYC turned out to be a months-long ordeal). She shot it a few times, developed a flinch, and it has sat in its case ever since, until we got it out yesterday and took it to a local sporting clays range where I burnt up her last box of RST’s. The action is tight, the barrels are excellent, and her husband hopes to start using it.

If I read the barrel flats correctly, it was made 1904-25 for a 7/8 oz. load; I was not able to measure the chamber length. As the gun is in NY and I am usually in California, reloading for it isn’t a convenient option. My first question: once we establish the chamber length, are there any commercially available loads other than RST which would be suitable for a gun of this vintage?

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


Many thanks.