Posted by SGT on July 24, 2008, 5:46 pm, in reply to "Frame sizes?"
Featherweight (FW) frames were the same size with the exception of the breech balls, which were filed to fit the correct barrel and rib profile. Therefore it is concievable that a 12-bore FW frame could be reworked to fit a set of 16-bore barrels; however, doing so involves a lot more work by a very skilled gunsmith. A couple of other major issues one would encounter is that the firing pins on a 12-bore frame would require relocation to align with the center of the smaller 16-bore barrels. Another issue will be refitting the foreiron. Bottom line, even if this modification is possible it would be time consuming and expensive; so much so that one could easily purchase another Field Grade in good condition for less dollars than would be invested in what, when finished, would be labeled a "parts gun".