12 ga. L.C. Smith

[JoseBob]

Need some advice from you guys. Just acquired the afore mentioned "Elsie." She is a 1913 model SXS with hammers and is Damascus Twist steel. She is in very good shape and locks up very tight. I want to put her in the woods, but am very reluctant to shoot even low dram equiv. modern shells. I figure that I need to load up some FF Black loads with about 1 oz of shot and maybe 2 1/2 dram equiv. up to 3 dram max. (70 gr to 85 gr). I have primed paper hulls and just need OP cards and fiber wads. Should I proceed or hang her on the wall?

[elk hunter]

The British still proof test older, out of proof, damascus barreled guns prior to sale. Most pass their test and go on to be used to take many birds. That said British shotshells are loaded to much lower pressures than American loads. Many older shotshell reloading manuals have lower pressure loads that will not strain a sound damascus gun. Burst barrels on damascus guns are relatively rare but have happened, generally most have been caused by rusted or badly dented barrels combined with shooting American high pressure loads. The oft repeated adage, take it to a knowledgeable gunsmith, would be good advice except in todays world most gunsmiths would know more about Damascus, Syria than about damascus barreled shotguns.

I'm not saying that it is always safe to shoot damascus barreled guns regardless of type of powder but in my experience if it is safe with black powder then it is safe with correct smokeless loads.

[HWooldridge]

I would not hesitate to shoot BP in it if the barrels appear to be sound, i.e., no obvious pitting, dents or visible damage.

[JoseBob]

There are no dents and no pitting inside or outside the barrels. She was missing a hammer screw that I found one that fit perfectly and about 3/4" of the butt plate top. The screw is still in place. I do Rendezvous so am no stranger to BP. So I think I will try her out. I guess I was just looking for approval or justification. So, I appreciate the feed back and will post on the results. May be a few days as our deer season opens this weekend. Draw a fine bead on em, Son!!! Bobby

[pietro]

.

If the barrels are sound (ring test them yourself) and the action "on face" (with no cracks/etc) it should be safe to shoot with special/low-pressure ammo from the likes of RST (google).

I've been using RST ammo in both my 28ga 1914 Ithaca Flues SxS & my 20 ga hammergun, w/o issues.

(both have fluid steel barrels, though)

[MKII]

All LC's were proofed for Nitro powder. Without seeing the barrels and doing some measuring of wall thickness and bore diameter I can't say your barrels are safe, I have shot several LC Damascus guns a lot with low pressure smokeless shells.

[rkrcpa]

Head over to the LC Smith Collectors site. Lots of good info and helpful people.

https://lcsmith.coffeecup.com/index.html