12ga double

[irishtoo]

i have a pedersoli navy arms 12ga double percussion gun. sn5xxx. 18.3 stamped on the bottom of both barrels. right barrel measures .705 at the muzzle, the left .685. the question is.......what choke are the barrels? and....is this the Trap and Turkey gun? there are no markings about trap and turkey. any ideas? thank you irishtoo

[BPJONES]

Chokes would be modified and full if those are the measurements. 18.3 mm is 0.720, actually on the lower end for a 12 bore measurement. Subtract your measurements from .720. That gives .015 and .035 which are full and modified.
Being an Italian made gun, are there no star markings on each barrel? There may be one star on one barrel for full and 3 stars on the other for modified.

[irishtoo]

no stars. the left barrel has 3 x's , none on the right

[BPJONES]

To really know the chokes sizes for certain, you have to measure both the muzzles and the bore diameter with a bore gauge . The bores may have started out at 18.3 mm or .720 but that doesn't mean that is what they are now. They likely are close unless the gun has been shot a lot or somebody took a hone to the barrels.

[jaguarxk120]

The navy Arms shotguns had/have chrome lined barrels. I doubt the chokes are worn or honed out.
Are the barrels blued or browned? And what kind of wood is the stock made of?

[irishtoo]

i dont think the barrels are chromed. the wood appears to be a light english walnut. the checkering on the wrist is sharp without wear and the gun looks unused or at least well cared for. the barrels are blued. irishtoo

[BPJONES]

Then your chokes should be close to how they left the factory.

[jaguarxk120]

I have one of the early guns imported by Navy Arms SN 1XXX. If you shine a light down
the barrels they will have a very bright chrome color, not shiney but a satin finish.

My stock is a medium brown walnut, flat checkering and a blued steel butt plate. The locks/hammers are engraved.
The barrels are browned. The gun weight is about 5 1/2 pounds.

[Geezer in NH]

What are the BORE sizes. Measured muzzle is good but unable to tell choke unless the bore size is known. Brownells sells a scissors style measure to find the bore size about 3 inches from the muzzle.

There is many other ways to tell but a shotgun smith does not need to know black powder to tell you what they all are.

Cheaper than buying the tools.

[smoked turkey]

I would go to the pattern board and shoot at a large piece of cardboard. I believe the standard distance is 40 yard (?). You need to check me on that. You want to see how many pellets are inside a 30" circle. I can't recall the required percentages to determine how many shot are contained within the circle as compared to the amount shot. But the % will give you the actual choke of your particular barrel. I don't so much worry about that %. Rather I draw a rather crude turkey head/neck on the pattern board and shoot at the likely distance I will be shooting and see if my pattern would have done the job at that distance. I have shotguns that are 25 yard max range that I use for turkeys and I have some that will cleanly kill a turkey at 50 yards. I believe you need to pattern your shotgun anyway in order to determine if it shoots high, low, right or left for you. Then you will know for sure if it is suitable for turkey hunting in your neck of the woods.

[irishtoo]

retirement looms in about a year. i plan on making use of this gun and my other frontloaders alot more. i find myself using the blackpowder guns more and more. thanks for all the replys irishtoo

[BPJONES]

What are the BORE sizes. Measured muzzle is good but unable to tell choke unless the bore size is known. Brownells sells a scissors style measure to find the bore size about 3 inches from the muzzle.

There is many other ways to tell but a shotgun smith does not need to know black powder to tell you what they all are.

Cheaper than buying the tools.

His bore sizes are 18.3 mm on each barrel, or .720".

[DIRT Farmer]

Almost all of my M/L shotgun shooting is done with cylinder bore barrels. Your load and wads can and will change your patterns. The gun I shoot most now is a flint 28 ga trade gun. When I was working up loads I have a load that is light modified pattern. I fired a lot of loads to get the pattern I wanted.
I have a Navy Arms/Pedersoli 12 ga that I bought for one f my grandsons to shoot, The barrels were honed out it is cylinder bore and takes 13 ga wads to shoot well.

[irishtoo]

I have one of the early guns imported by Navy Arms SN 1XXX. If you shine a light down
the barrels they will have a very bright chrome color, not shiney but a satin finish.

My stock is a medium brown walnut, flat checkering and a blued steel butt plate. The locks/hammers are engraved.
The barrels are browned. The gun weight is about 5 1/2 pounds.

i havent weighed the gun but it feels very light

[jaguarxk120]

If it is that light, then lighter loadings will work very well.
Remember this is not a magnum gun and 1 1/8 ounce of shot is standard
for 12 gauge. One ounce of shot will work great in a lighter gun.

[PapaG]

12 gauge is normally .729, not .720. .720 at the muzzle would make it about imp cyl, if the true bore is .729 or .730. The .685 would be a tight full with .045 constriction. Of course the only way to tell is by patterning. Try 3 drams of ffg, two card, one fiber, 1 1/8 ounces of 7 1/2 and a thin overshot card. Shoot at 40 yards, count holes in densest 30" circular area, divide by number of pellets in the load, x100. 70% is full, 60 mod, 50 I.c.,
Good luck.

[Col4570]

file:///C:/Users/colin/Pictures/2017-05-18%20Navy%20Arms%20Shotgun/Navy%20Arms%20Shotgun%20001.JP
G.This is my Navy Arms Double Percussion Gun.It is cylinder bored and I use 2 1/2 drams of BP,1 1/4 Oz Shot a Felt Wad and an over Shot card,I use military Top hat Caps and it shoots good.