Re: Pre-1913 determination, No. 0 Archived Message
Posted by John Liles on January 1, 2008, 6:27 am, in reply to "Pre-1913 determination, No. 0"
Hello Brian,
So sorry to hear about your wife, and we'll keep her in our prayers. The information you seek is likely right here at this website. If you go to the home page, click on shotguns, then years of manufacture, you can enter the serial # of your gun under the pre-1913 section and it will generate the production completion date. On a more general scale, if your gun is an O grade, then it is pre-1913, as the O grade guns became Ideal Grade guns after that date and were embossed with sort of a leaf pattern engraving in the reciever.
You're definately on the right track with your ammunition questions, as the furniture on these old guns was built with the ammunition of the period in mind. If you check out the FAQ section of this site, you will get some good insight as to proper pressures and sources for safe shells. Probably the most important thing you can do is have the gun looked over by a competent vintage double gunsmith. The smith will be able to determine barrel thickness, whether or not the barrels are damascus or fluid steel, interior stock condition, etc. and let you know if there's any reason you should not shoot the gun. If you post where you are from, someone from this forum will likely chime in with a tried and trusted gunsmith close to you.
Best of luck with the shotgun, and hopefully you'll get some good news on your wifes condition soon.
John
|
|