Inspired by this thread, I thought a bit and got on the Internet and found a skeet range nearby and headed over with my most recent acquisition, a Meriden damascus 12ga circa 1907 double hammer gun and a bunch of shells.
I met up with a group of highly competitive (read using very pricey shotguns well) fellows, who welcomed me with open arms. It had been years since I shot skeet and one could not imagine a greater contrast than me in K-Mart shorts and sandals with that old tightly choked side by side and dropping shells all over the ground; and those highly skilled and well equipped shooters.
I missed a lot, but hit more than I missed and I was given much needed and well intended advice from these shooters. They admired my old gun and I could tell they wanted to try it, so at the end of the second round I allowed them to give the old gun a try. As I handed it over to them I said, "now don't be too surprised if you miss (by the way, these guys rarely miss, they were there practicing for competition)--- this old gun is tightly choked, it has a real slow lock time and I am shooting low pressure 7/8 oz loads out of respect for the gun's age and the damascus barrels. Each shooter took the old gun, smiled and missed. Both of them exclaimed, "this is like shooting history!"
Another shooter showed up to join what was my 3rd and last round of skeet. Ignoring the tens of thousands of dollars worth of hardware on the gun rack, he stood back, eyed my double gun like it was a snake about to bite and asked, "are those damascus barrels?" I said, "yes the are." I know where this is going...he then said, "Ever hear of those things blowing up?" I said, "Yes I have- usually the result of bore obstructions, this old gun (handing it to him), is in a very good state of preservation and repair- with 98 per-cent of its original case color, very tight and clean bores." I let him look it over, check the mirror bores and try to find any slop in the action. Then I told him I was shooting low pressure, 5000psi 7/8oz loads and then together we shot my last round. Not totally convinced he remarked “that gun, belongs in a museum.” At the last few stations, he ended up standing beside me and giving me the best advice on lead and where I was shooting. I met a great group of guys and I had a blast. Thanks for the idea.
My Meriden and some of the +300 rounds I have fired with it so far. After some experimentation, I added the pitch spacer and recoil pad to allow me a pitch closer to my Fox, a 14 3/4" LOP and more comfortable shooting with the factory 3" drop at heel. Worked like a charm!
