steel loads for 12 ga

[paulvallandigham]

Years ago, a friend inherited an L.C. Smith DB S X S in 12 gauge. It had exposed hammers, and Damascus barrels that had seen better days. He found a man who was willing to put new steel barrels on the gun. They cut the barrels off in front of the pivot lug, just in front of the chamber. Then the chambers were bored out to take sleeves( liners) but he turn new steel barrels down on a lathe to make the sleeve portion that fit inside those enlarged chambers. Then the barrels were glued in place with Epoxy, and he worked on regulating the two barrels before mounting the top and bottom ribs. This was very fine machine work, done by a skilled craftsman, and friend. I knew the man who did the work, and he later told me he hoped never to ever have to do that kind of work again. (He died before he weakened and offered to do the same work again for anyone!) But its doable! There is a very fine line at the the front of the chamber/lug, but unless someone actually points it out to you, you might not notice it. The back 3-4 inches of the barrels remain "damascus", but the rest of the barrels are blued. I don't recall the chokes in the barrels, but Charlie used it to shoot Pheasants, and was looking forward to using the gun to shoot waterfowl, too. I found the gun a bit heavy, but no heavier than many old Hammer guns I have handled over the years.