Posted by Vince Larson on June 9, 2008, 5:04 pm, in reply to " load pressure"
Hi Peter,
First welcome to the site. First, how do you feel about shooting damascus?
I can't tell condition of your gun even if the link worked for me, sorry. IF your gun is in "great condition", My advice to you would be to have the gun checked out by a gunsmith who is a side by side specialist. Do a new post and give your home state, someone on this site can give you a gunsmith's name in that area. He'll be looking for cracks in the wrist area of the stock, oil saturation under the locks etc. Have him professionally clean it too, she could probably use it. I would also have the stock glass bedded to strengthen that area so you could shoot it.
I would also take the barrel to have it magna-fluxed. I had a 10 bore done for $10 bucks at local auto performance shop. That will tell you if there are any cracks in the barrel, peace of mind. I didn't have this done on my 1902 that has mirror bores! I have learned!
Once the gun gets a clean bill of health and is ok to shoot, the general consensus is 12 bore loads of 8,000 psi or lower. Get yourself a IMR catalog from Hogdon for low pressure smokeless load ideas. Most guys here shoot smokeless. You'll probably end up using 7/8oz or one oz loads about 1150 to 1200fps and maybe 4 or 5,000 psi. If you just plan on shooting trap occasionally with the gun you'll probably settle on the light loads anyway. Federal also makes a Vintager load with 5,000 psi. Ironically, they recommend not using that load in damascus or twist barrels. I used to shoot my 1902 F grade with twist barrels with blackpowder loads.
When my gunsmith, mine hates damascus/twist barrels, re-blued the barrels he discovered a crack in the ritht tube. If it were my gun and it checked out I'd shoot it. Keep in mind though it would not be the gun I shoot hundreds of rounds out of every weekend. Ultimately, whether you choose to shoot her with blackpowder or low pressure smokeless powder is your choice. Enjoy!
I hope this helps, Good luck with your Elsie, get her out to the range where she belongs!