doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pre Hunter Arms L C Smith 8 gauge

David I did some additional measuring and there is a full 3/32nds distance between the rib extension and rim cut. This should leave a clearance of about 1/16th of an inch between the rim of an 8 gauge shell and the rib extension. Now to find some 8 gauge chamber and barrel measurements. I'm not saying that I'm going to do this but it could be an interesting project.

I believe I read in the LC book that only 30 guns were made in 8 gauge, making them a big find for collectors. I've never seen one. A friend has a 12ga with 16 ga bores, that looks good, but most probably is a re-chamber job.

TwiceBarrel, I did find that an 8 ga. bore is .835. I'm guessing that .035 would be close to full choke and would leave .800 at muzzle end. This is what Bill (eightbore) is talking about, and I'm sure your gun would have that.
10 ga. bore .775, take bore back 3", past taper leading to choke, difference is .060 total diameter, or half that reading on wall thickness and I'm still sure yours has more than .030 wall thickness.
I did see in an old catalog of 1889, the loads for 10 ga. field load were 5 drams of powder and 1 1/4 oz of shot. I don't have any data on 8 ga. loads, but I think it is not much more than that. Chambers were 2 7/8" and I could be wrong but I think the 8 ga. was 3".
If you go to this site, maybe you can get some information from Mr. Liberati on chamber size and chokes.
http://www.10gauge.com/home.html

RJM, if your friend's gun is a Syracuse 12 ga, with 16 ga bores, I think it is the one that has been rebarreled for 16 ga. Syracuse never offered a 16 ga. and the Hunter Bros. came out with a 16 in 1898.

Local guy had a Lefever hammerless 8 bore with 36" barrels. He wanted 1500 for it and when I called him he said to wait until he was done with the roofing job he was doing. I waited and waited only to find out he was electrocuted on the roof of the house he was doing.His father still has the gun as far as I know but did not want to sell it as it had belonged to his late son. Very sad story as he was a very young man.Always wondered how many Lefever made as I have seen 2 and no Parkers or Smiths.

Dave thanks for the assistance. I really appreciate your time and trouble.

My two loading for my 10 gauge are: 1 1/4 ounce shot, muzzle velocity 1140 fps with a chamber pressure of only 4066 psi loaded in Winchester Super X paper hulls trimmed to 2 7/8th inches and roll crimped. Second load is 1 1/4 ounce shot with a muzzle velocity of 1175 fps with a chamber pressure of 4866 psi loaded in Federal plastic hulls trimmed to 2 7/8th and roll crimped. When Tom Armbrust tested them he recommended increasing the powder charge by 2 grains for the first load and 1 grain for the second load and using Federal 209A primer for more reliable cold weather performance.

I'll keep this project in mind durring the hunting season. I'm not quite sure what I would do with an 8 bore but then again I don't do much with a 10 gauge that weighs almost 10 1/2 lbs.