ALL US commercial ammunition should be assumed to be loaded to SAAMI maximum, about 11500psi
Ted, this is correct but some (not all) US ammunition has been submitted to CIP for testing and meets CIP standards. Among the ammunition in my storage area are the following that have CIP approval marks on the boxes:
Remington 16 gauge 1 ounce 1200 fps - Munich CIP mark
Winchester Super Target 20 gauge 7/8 ounce 1200 fps - Liege CIP mark
Winchester Super Target 12 gauge 1 ounce 1180 fps - Birmingham and London CIP marks
Winchester Super Target 12 gauge 1 1/8 ounce 1200 fps - Liege CIP mark
Fiocchi 16 gauge and 28 gauge do not have CIP marks on the boxes. These are assembled in the USA of foreign components.
The USA made Herters 12 gauge 1 ounce 1180 fps do not have CIP marks on the boxes but are believed to be the same as the Super Target 1 ounce 1180 fps cartridges
Obviously all of the European cartridges we have (Monarch, Challenger, RC, Italian made Herter's, etc.) are CIP approved.
For the "modern" guns my wife and I shoot (my 3 Beretta O/U's, my 2 AyA No 2's, our 2 Ugartechea SxS's and her Grulla SLE) we use any standard for gauge US or foreign cartridge - 12 gauge = 1 1/8 at 1200 fps, 16 gauge = 1 ounce at 1200 fps, 20 gauge = 7/8 ounce at 1200/1210 fps and 28 gauge = 3/4 ounce at 1200 fps. I'm comfortable that these are safe and will not damage the guns even with a significant amount of shooting. I stay away from heavy US loadings as much for my shoulder as my gun; my wife and I do not like heavy recoil.
I have 2 damascus barreled guns, a Joseph Lang completed in 1866 and rebarreled by James Woodward about 1872 and a Parker built in 1891. In these two guns I only shoot CIP 2 1/2 inch cartridges, RST 2 1/2 inch or 2 1/2 inch reloads (tested by Tom Armbrust) loaded to equivalent pressures.
