In summary:
1. The "standard" U.S. turn-of-the-century 16 gauge load was 2 1/2 dram Bulk Smokeless with 1 oz. shot; "standard" British was 2 3/4 dram.
2. Service Pressure for 16g 1 oz. 2 1/2 Dr. Eq. (1165 fps) BULK Smokeless was about 7000 psi; 2 3/4 Dr. Eq. (1220 fps) Bulk Smokeless about 8500 psi. The gun was likely PROVED at 13,000 - 14,500 psi.
3. Only in the last few years did shell makers provide fps rather than expecting the shooter to translate Dr. Eq.
4. Few shell makers willingly provide the pressure of the load.
5. It was easier for clubhouse experts to simply say "use low pressure loads in your vintage double".
6. Desiring lower RECOIL is reasonable with 100 year old wood and lock up. And lower shot weight and lower fps = lower recoil and
usually also = lower pressure.
7. With adequate wall thickness (and we now have no excuse for not knowing the wall thickness from breech to muzzle) there is no rationale for advocating "low pressure" loads; we should suggest
"loads for which the gun was designed".8. I shot 2 rounds of low gun recreational skeet at Ben Avery this morning with my 1906 16g Damascus OE. I know the right barrel wall thickness to be borderline. I therefore chose to use 2 1/2" RST 3/4 oz. at 1100 fps loads with a pressure of 4,600 psi, and have a steel and leather hand guard at the thin area. I also know the barrels previously survived 250 2 1/2” 7/8 oz. Polywad Spred-R shells and 100 2 1/2” 7/8 oz. at 1145 fps. (about 8000 psi) loads without dimensional change, so I'm not too worried.
BTW with the winter rains the desert is a riot of yellow and gold
