Parents came to visit this week, and as part of the visit, I have now officially inherited my great-grandfather’s shotgun. It’s marked Wilmot Gun Company, which as I understand was a name used by Henri Pieper in Liege for “trade guns” to be exported to the US. Anyway, it’s in nice shape, though the wood is dry (I will have to refinish it to ensure it doesn’t crack on firing), but am a bit confused by the marks on the barrel flats.
Not shown, there is the Belgian “tower” proof mark for black powder proofing. The confusion comes from my understanding that Wilmot Guns stopped being produced by that name around 1900, but the barrels have the post-1924 “12-65” size marking inside an omega, and nothing otherwise indicating nitro proofing or BP proofing, and would seem to be 25 years newer than the locks. Any insights?
I plan on loading it with some low-pressure loads in 2-1/2” shells that should be ok even for BP (~5k psi max). I’d also note that the barrels are “fake Damascus” in that they have Damascus patterns on the surface, but they were printed or acid-etched on very lightly. Some sanding and wear not done by me has revealed they are actually cast or drawn steel and not twist steel.