I had a 10 gauge Manton about 10 years ago. I used to fire 12 gauge loads through it (3 drams BP and 1-1/8 oz shot) and used the gun on pen-raised pheasants that were released at the nearby state-run pheasant hunting concession. To safety test the gun when I first used it:
I removed the barrels and loaded each barrel with a double powder charge of 6 drams and 1-1/8 oz shot (the kind of mistake thats easy to make in the field).
I next took the old beat-up percussion nipples (that Id replaced) and drilled out the centers enough to stick a Black Cat firecracker fuse in and then I screwed them back into the guns breeches.
I finally strapped the barrels tightly to a sawhorse and fired them individually with the firecracker fuses while I stood safely behind a tree (stick the fuses in individually so that sparks from one dont light the other).
Both barrels came through the test just fine.
Steve
PS when you load your first barrel with the standard load that you plan to use slide the ramroad down the barrel to the top of the load and mark the ramroad with a marking pen so that you can view it every time you reload.
