Hello WAID,
It looks like that old gun has a cracked stock right behind the action as pictured in the close up of the right side of the gun. That alone should cause you to consider passing on this one. As for modern loads - most off the shelf 12 gauge loads will produce enough recoil to finish off that crack in a box or two... but the rule in old doubles is low pressure & low recoil which is managed by many loading variables. You will not be able to measure the chokes without a proper bore gauge.
Some other things to check for in any old double gun :
- Condition of bores - should be free of pitting and shiny
- Intact bottom and top barrel ribs - any separation in ribs is bad and can cause big problems
- Cracks in buttstock and forend wood
- Action and barrels tight, or "on face" - there should be no free play where barrels and action meet and parts should align with each other.
- barrels should be solid on the hing - not wiggle around when action is broken (as when loading and unloading)
There's much more but this list should be covered completely..
Hope this helps,
jmc
Last edited by jmc; 02/15/07 10:12 PM.
