Originally Posted By: Dave Myrick
I have a question for you guys that shoot damascus and laminated barreled double guns. What do you use for ammo, store bought or hand loads? I have an AJ Aubrey with laminated barrels and I'm taking on my first ever hunt at the end of the month. I've shot 1 ounce #8 winchester target loads through it and it liked those just fine but for longer ranged shots at pheasants and chuckers I need something with a heavier punch. Any suggestions?
Dave


Welcome to the site.

I don't have a Damascus/laminated gun but I can summarize for you what I've read on this site written many times over by the experts who do: low pressure and low recoil loads are the way to go. Low pressure b/c the barrels might be thinner than you think. (You did have the barrel wall thickness checked, right?) Low recoil b/c the wood is old and should be assumed to be weaker than it was originally. If you want to buy factory loads, the first suggestion would be RST, the second Gamebore.

Low pressure/low recoil loads that you roll yourself, there are plenty of them out there.

Appropriate shot size for pheasant and chukars is a topic guaranteed to produce 100 responses every time, each and every one of them correct, but you'll have a hard time going wrong with #5 and #6. I prefer #6 in both barrels of my 16ga and one each #4 and #6 in my 12. YMMV.

An ounce of #6, on target, will stop any early-season pheasant within reasonable range - 30-35 yards. You don't need a roman candle to down a cockbird.

I'd be inclined to warn you against using factory target loads in an old gun because those are loaded close to maximum pressure and throw a good bit of recoil. They're made so the generic autoloader that gets cleaned once in a blue moon will cycle reliably. There may be low-recoil/low-pressure factory target loads out there, but they'll be marked and priced as such.

The guys who really know the answers can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I'm not.

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