H. J. Sterling SxS "London twist" barrel shotgun.

[PhDBrewer]

Hello all,
I recently acquired a H. J. Sterling SxS "London twist" barrel shotgun. Found some info online, nothing very good. It has some type of Damascus barrel. It has been a wall hanger for years.

One site stated that the barrels weaken with age and therefore not safe to shoot. Is that correct?

Question is... is it safe to shoot?

Thanks in advance,

~William

 

[LawrenceA]

The question you ask cannot really be answered.
Yes it is possible to get the barrels magna fluxed which should show any faws that have developed in the steel. but just looking at it won't tell.

I bought a similar gun a little while back.
Tied it to a tyre. double loaded it and pulled the trigger with string. It did not blow up and I now use it.

End of the day to me the only way you will know is try it from a safe distance ith a heavy load and only then actually use light loads

 

[Feltwad]

Enclosed is some info that may help , the proof marks would be a big help My Info shows the Stirling family has provincial gun makers the first is William Stirling ,Blackburn, Lancs, 1827-34.
John Stirling Burnley , Lancs 1847, Mrs Elanor Sterling maybe his widow 1854_1886
John Stirling Skipton, Yorkshire 1854 - 57
I would say your gun is John Stirling Burnley see image

Feltwad

 

[andy52]

I couldn't answer your question without seeing the SxS but I've bought several that were sold as "Wall Hangers" that after a good cleaning shot just fine.
I use a Lead Slead when and strap the gun down for the first shot.
Most of the SxSs I've brought back to life required some honing on the bore due to minor pitting a "Flex-Hone" can be had for under 40 bucks and is a good investment if you plan on getting any more guns.

 

[TFoley]

Enclosed is some info that may help , the proof marks would be a big help My Info shows the Stirling family has provincial gun makers the first is William Stirling ,Blackburn, Lancs, 1827-34.
John Stirling Burnley , Lancs 1847, Mrs Elanor Sterling maybe his widow 1854_1886
John Stirling Skipton, Yorkshire 1854 - 57
I would say your gun is John Stirling Burnley see imageView attachment 104680
Feltwad

What a beautiful piece, Mr F - can you put it together for us so we can admire it in one piece? Graceful is not a word I use loosely when it comes to guns, but for this, I'd happily make an exception.

 

[Feltwad]

What a beautiful piece, Mr F - can you put it together for us so we can admire it in one piece? Graceful is not a word I use loosely when it comes to guns, but for this, I'd happily make an exception.

I am afraid not because I moved this gun and its case o several years ago .I my memory is correct it was either HOLTS or Southams I always keep images of guns that I restored and this was one . SORRY
Feltwad

 

[French Colonial]

Personally, I would shoot it. Damascus barrels get a bad rap in the MODERN shot gun world but I have shot some really really crappy ones and as long as you stick with the holy black I don't think you will have any problems.

If your hesitant get a $50.00 bore scope off Amazon and give it a look, as long as there are no large issues it will be fine.

 

[jlatz]

I have been using the old original percussion doubles since the 1960s, Belgian and English. One thing to notice on British guns are the barrel ribs. They used softer solder which can lose grip over time. I was using a pre-1855 double at the Friendship trap range and noted the top rib coming up. Off it went for repair. Now the gun works as well as ever. But, there was some $ involved. Ring the barrels. Take them off the stock, hold them by the wedge plate and tap them with a rubber mallet. They should "ring" nicely if the solder is holding well. Another aspect is to insure the barrels are clear trough to the breech. Insure the nipples are clear and useful as well. Can they be removed? That is a must for cleaning. even before a "proof" load snap a couple of caps on each barrel pointed at some grass to note the barrels are clear. Then put a small charge of black powder down each barrel and an over shot wad to "foof" out the barrels to insure they are dry and ready for the main charges to reliably work.

 

[PhDBrewer]

Enclosed is some info that may help , the proof marks would be a big help My Info shows the Stirling family has provincial gun makers the first is William Stirling ,Blackburn, Lancs, 1827-34.
John Stirling Burnley , Lancs 1847, Mrs Elanor Sterling maybe his widow 1854_1886
John Stirling Skipton, Yorkshire 1854 - 57
I would say your gun is John Stirling Burnley see imageView attachment 104680
Feltwad

@Feltwad your pictured item and info is for "Stirling".
The item in question is "Sterling".
I will spend some time cleaning it up, before blowing it up. What would be a double load for this? Both barrels at same time also?

 

[French Colonial]

As mentioned above, if the barrels "ring" when tapped that is a very good sign.

I wouldn't double load it personally, if its a 12ga and your planning to shoot say 1oz shot and 70 grs of powder, load it up with 1.5oz of shot and 110 grains and that should be enough.

And I would shoot one barrel at a time not both....others may differ but that's how I would do it.

 

[11Bravo]

When I am in the testing mod I always test one barrel at a time. But I cock both hammers, just to check that both hammers don't drop on a single trigger pull. Repeat for the other barrel. I perfer the tire method of testing as I was taught in the 70s. As far a proof load I would like to hear others thoughts on that, I don't look to blow up a 170 year old survivor.

 

[TFoley]

I am afraid not because I moved this gun and its case o several years ago .I my memory is correct it was either HOLTS or Southams I always keep images of guns that I restored and this was one . SORRY
Feltwad

 

[Sparkitoff]

Use a tire not a lead sled. Do you want it to be able to move real word and lift the tire. They lead sled stops the rearward movement and they caused the stock to crack. The biggest trouble would come if rust has separated layers of Damascus somehow, extremely rare. You can always have a full length sleeve inserted that is made of steel and it will reduce the bore diameter some white but it would make it fully usable and retain the Damascus externally

 

[Feltwad]

@Feltwad your pictured item and info is for "Stirling".
The item in question is "Sterling".
I will spend some time cleaning it up, before blowing it up. What would be a double load for this? Both barrels at same time also?

Sorry about that the name Sterling not in my uk gun makers directory maybe it is a Belgium export stamped London Twist , good luck with the shooting of it
Feltwad

 

[PhDBrewer]

Thanks all for the replies!
Here are images of the proof marks. Appears to be Belgium.
The barrels ring true, lovely sound!
There is a crack in the forestock. It does not extend past the barrel wedge area. How should the be repaired?
Thanks in advance!
~William

 

[cornstalk]

Beautiful gun, congrats.

 

[Feltwad]

Thanks all for the replies!
Here are images of the proof marks. Appears to be Belgium.
The barrels ring true, lovely sound!
There is a crack in the forestock. It does not extend past the barrel wedge area. How should the be repaired?
Thanks in advance!
~William

Yes it is Belgium export it was common practise to stamp them London Twist also with top UK gunmakers names so they would sell better You wil find that most of these barrel are brazed and not rib soldered has for the crack in the fore end about the only thing you can do is glue it and clamp
Feltwad

 

[PhDBrewer]

Thanks Feltwad!

 

[LawrenceA]

As mentioned above, if the barrels "ring" when tapped that is a very good sign.

I wouldn't double load it personally, if its a 12ga and your planning to shoot say 1oz shot and 70 grs of powder, load it up with 1.5oz of shot and 110 grains and that should be enough.

And I would shoot one barrel at a time not both....others may differ but that's how I would do it.

By double load I mean single load of shot and double powder and vice versa. Not double both

 

[LawrenceA]

Fr the crack.
First you need to clean out the split of grease and debris. If you can get a small wire brush in it works well. Floss can also be helpful.
Failing that a bit of solvent and compressed air but careful not to blow rubbish in or let the solvent on the outside finish.
Once it is clean then asses if it can be clamped together without to much stress.
If you can clamp and glue with a good glue. Personally I use 5 minute epoxy as it will fill voids and is a little more flexible than 24hr epoxy.
If it cannot be clamped then you are likley to need a thicker epoxy or bedding compound to fill the void yet stick like the proverbial to a blanket.
But you must be careful to mask off, use release agent etcetera otherwise you are making a small problem much much worse.
Try and clean up before the glue has set real hard as it is easier.
Looking at the crack I would clamp till the underside closed up then fill from the top.

This is just my opinion. There will be others possibly much better like Feltwad