First I'll apologize in advance for asking a question abount a slide action shotgun on a double gun site. But I know of no better place to go - I have a Winchester 1893 12 bore slide action (John Browning's first gun patent) in Riot configuration, 1st year production (Cody Museum confirmed) It came from the Old Ohio Penitentiary where they Nickel? plated the entire gun and Gold? plated the trigger and hammer. (I've read that they did that to make them look scarier to the prisoners) Anyway, I know that they recalled them because the action wouldn't hold up to the new smokless loads that were catching on in 1893-4-5. Also read where they offered anyone that owned an 1893 a brand new shiny improved 1897 if they brought the 1893 back in for trade. I would imagine that most people took them up on their offer, because there don't seem to be many of them around. This also means that I can't find much info on these guns. My question is can I still shoot black powder loads through this gun? I know of an article on the web about a guy in england that shoots his (It's serial # is 6, so he claims to be using the oldest slide action shotgun in the world) The gun is in perfect condition and has been inspected by a gunsmith (not an expert in this type of gun). The people from Winchester say don't shoot. (but I'm sure that's a lawyer CYA answer). Any thoughts from the experts?
