Hi Fellas,
Ive a shooting friend who recently purchased a very nice condition Cogswell & Harrison false side-plated 12 ga. boxlock c. 1908-1909 to serve as a shooter. It is still current in proof with a 12 and nominal bore measurements of .730 and .731 respectively. It has all of its original nitro-proof stamps (1904 Rules) that includes: NITRO PROOF 1-1/8 OZ.
I was asked to fly-speck the barrels prior to his purchase, as I have the various gauges, and was surprised to find the chambers at a measured 2-3/4. The lead-ins to the forcing cones begin right at that measurement and are of the short (approx. ) length that one often sees from guns of that era. In short, everything about the gun and bores looks straight-up original right down to the level of polish within the cones themselves. The minimum wall thickness over both forcing cone lead-ins is .115, the barrels overall have MWT of .034, and weigh 3 lb. 4 oz. with their 30 tubes..which makes for a pretty stout set.
Finding the longer chamber length still has me thinking that I should be seeing the heavier nitro proof stamp of: NITRO PROOF 1-1/4 OZ. ..and Im looking for some guidance. Ive gone all through Wirnsbergers book on proof marks and am still left with the question as to whether the London House would ever put the lesser proof stamp for a 2-1/2 inch gun on one sporting 2-3/4 chambers? My suspicion is that they would not, but wouldnt mind being corrected by those more knowledgable. The owner is completely content with the longer chambers, and would use the same lower pressure loads that he now uses in his other vintage gun.
Any thoughts on this nitro-proof stamping ???
Rob Harris
