After the help with figuring out the Damascus pattern on my barrels in another post here, now I can post the rest of the story.
This 16 ga George Gibbs hammer gun came into our possession (my son's and mine) about a year ago. It was pretty rough as you can see from the pictures below. The checkering was only a memory, the dropper points just a shadow of their former selves. The barrels were so dark that unless you held the gun in the light just right, the Damascus patter was very hard to see. Black powder proof only, but remarkable, the barrels hadn't been touched from what we could tell. They were pitted inside, and looked pretty bad. Wood was black as you can see from the picture. Barrel flats were stamped "Not for Ball" so we knew what we had on the "newest end" of the spectrum. Off to Kirk Merrington in Kerrville, Tx for a better inspection. Yes the gun was off face, but the Stanton and Co locks were still in perfect shape when they were taken off for inspection. Both barrels had .050 wall thicknesses, both chokes were .050, Full and Full again, and the 2 1/2" chambers were unmolested. The verdict was the gun could be brought back to use with some judicious work. OK - re-jointed, forcing cones lengthened slightly, and the chokes opened to IC/M after the barrels were honed/lapped. Chokes and forcing cones were done in the sake of reducing pressure on Kirk's recommendation. Once honed, the barrels were .035 wall thickness, and only one small pit was visible in the choke area of the right barrel....of no consequence according to Kirk. Verdict - the gun would pass nitro proof is resubmitted, but was certainly safe to shoot with 2 1/2 low pressure shells. Several boxes of Kent 8s were obtained and blessed, and off to opening day she went. I cheated on day 1 and shot 28 ga inserts....what a hoot! Added a new Beretta opaque sticky comb pad and a leather boot to get the dimensions right. After 2 birds, it was "what hammers?" Limit of 15 White Wings was taken. Only fly in the ointment was a small chip appeared behind the left lock. Such is life. Day 2, went to the 16 ga ammo, and another limit fell; chip got bigger. I was hooked....now what to do about the overall condition and the chip.....
