Stuart: Hunter Arms offered damascus barrels only until about 1920. It would be irresponsible for anyone here to assess the safety of your barrels-but we might be able to recomend a doublegun specialist smith near you who could check and clean the action, check the brls for deep pits and intergrity, and measure the wall thickness. Lots of low pressure target and game loads are now commercially available including: By Federal for MidwayUSA to the following specifications 7/8 oz load Muzzle Velocity: 1200 fps Chamber Pressure: 5000 psi http://www.midwayusa.com/static.exe/getstaticpage?page=11120061_page.htm Type 'Low pressure shells' in the 'Search' function and you'll find lots of information.