Most '89 12 guages have 2 5/8" chambers and are best used with 2 1/2 shells, which are manufactured by a couple of US companies. DON'T use any steel shot in this gun.
My 10 guage '89 was rechambers in antiquity (around 1903--it was my great grandfather's) for the 2 7/8" 10 guage "Old Magnum" and is marked "Magnum" on the barrel flats (the "New Magnum" 10 is our current 3 1/2" 10 guage).
I have shot it with smokeless "Old Magnum" shells and lead shot, but don't do it any more, even though it has "Armory Steel" barrels--fluid steel. Only the lowest grade of '89 had fluid steel barrels; the higher grades had twist or Damascus barrels made, I think, in Belgium, as did many other high grade American doubles of the late 19th century (Damascus was the classy barrel material until smokeless powder took hold).
Since yours has Damascus barrels, check it for a "2" grade stamping. Some '89s have a "grade" or quality of finish stamped on the barrel flats or the water table, 1 to 5. 1 is the plain finished model, or "Field Grade." Higher grades than 2 are scarce; Remingtons were regarded as "working guns"!
Last edited by Mesa; 01/07/17.
