doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com "Proofing" a Damascus Husqvarna

Just received an old Model 15 in very fine shape. Bores look great in and out, and ring true. I plan to shoot it with BP handloads no heavier than 1 1/8 ounces of shot, and up to three drams of powder. But I want to put a couple of heavy BP loads through it just for insurance. Does 110 grains of FFg (about 4 drams)and 1 1/2 ounces of shot sound like a reasonable load for this purpose? I surely do admire Sherman Bell, but I wouldn't want to run Remington Nitro proof loads through this nice old Swede.

Don't do it. You will not acomplish what you are thinking. The real value of proofing is to have a VERY knowledgable person inspect/measure as necessary the various parts of the gun before and after firing a VERY carefully controlled proof load. Simply firing a heavy load only proves that the gun didn't let go that time. You may do damage that you do not see.

I'd suggest you have the gun inspected by a knowledgable 'smith. If he says it is shootable, then feed it low pressure loads. 2 3/4" nitro loads of 7/8 oz shot at 5000 - 7000 psi and 1050 - 1200 fps are in most loading manuals and use easily obtained components. Remember, low pressure for the good of the metal and low recoil for the good of the wood. BP is not necessarily low pressure or low recoil. BP is for that flat boom, fire, smoke, and smell that nothing else produces.

BP is fun and certainly has a place in modern shooting. But, it is not the answer you seek for a assured safety.

Do NOT try to become a shade tree proof house. Please! For your own safety and the safety of a future owner.

Rocketman is completely correct. Take it from another ordnance and propulsion expert. The proof houses carefully measure the metal in critical places then fire a proper load. They then measure for ANY change of dimension (plastic deformation). If there is ANY, it fails. You might just cause some (plastic deformation=damage) and not know it. There are fine smokeless loads at very low pressure (3200-4200 psi). Check out http://www.imrpowder.com

You getting very good advice.

You can send the gun to Birmingham or Liege and have them proof it for a fee. The black powder loads you are considering were considered full power hunting loads in their day.
Pictures of the old proof benches always showed a solid wall in between the guns and the testers.
Measurements are taken with instruments that have been calibrated and certified to assure accuracy. These measurements are taken before and after the proof.
Here is a thread on the subject of proofing that you may find helpful.

http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat....=&fpart=all

If you are concerned about shooting any load in this gun, send it to a knowledgable sxs gunsmith to be inspected. Until the gun is completely disassembled, you will not be sure. In addition, the barrel walls have to be measured.

I had an older gun inspected. Upon disassembly it showed a crack in the interior of the frame. I had the crack welded. This gun had fluid steel barrels. I would hate to think how many shells of any pressure it would have handled before the frame simply failed.


Pete

Pete would a Husqvarna Model 15 be worth the cost of freight and proofing in Birmingham or Liege ?

Figure about a $300-350 cost. It is only $11 pounds per barrel, but shipping and paperwork costs add up.

Off the top, I would say no.

This one is on Sarco for $300.
http://www.sarcoinc.com/husqvarnas.html


I am sure Ken B from Kebco could get one for that or less.

Here is a little history about them:
http://www.skydevaaben.com/husqvarna/model15/info.xml

Pete

I used a late model M15 (1938) for many years for quail, grouse, doves, ducks, even a few geese. 1 1/8 oz 3 dram loads are heavy loads for these 7,0 lb guns. You and the gun will be much happier with 1,0 oz loads at about 1200 fps.

If the chambers, forcing cones, bores and chokes are original, it will be a very reliable field gun with 24 to 30 grams shot at 1200 fps, out to 35-40 yards. I used loads under 10.000 psi in mine, with a Damascus barrels I would stay below 8.000 psi, probably even less.

For last few years I have used only 7/8 oz (24 grams) of shot for everything in tight choked old Husqvarnas. Chamber pressures are below about 8.000 psi for these loads.

Niklas

Niklas

Wow. Pretty conservative bunch here. I don't have strain gauges, even if I have micrometers and a chronograph. I bought the gun from Ken at Kebco for $325. I like it. I'm certainly not going to send it to Liege for more than I paid for it. Guess I will cut the load to 4cc of BP and 4 cc of shot and call it good.If I lose a finger, I'll let y'all know.

I think the proofing of a century ago in comparsion to that of today would likely be looked upon as "Shade Tree" by many. At that point in time I think no "Careful Measurements" were made before & after firing. Reading Greener on Modus Operandi of proofing he describes how a rack of plugs is used & the bbl stamped according to the largest which would enter the requisite distance, the loader then charged the bbl according to the stamped number. After firing then it seems the "View" mark meant basically what it said. A man with an "Experienced Eye" which is able to detect extremely small bulges examined the bbls & if found good stamped the proof mark upon them. If a bulge was present it was not stamped but returned to maker, who according to Greener would normally hammer the bulge down & re-submit & the bbl would normally pass on the 2nd firing. Seems the cold working increased it's resistance to bulging somewhat. I think the proof house did not determine a bore was say .721" & then stamp it 13/1 but simply the 13/1 (.719") plug would enter & the 12 (.729") plug would not. Bore was somewhere between those diameters. If a visable bulge was detected the bbl was rejected.