Just a little bit of a warning, "low brass lead" and "low pressure" are not synonymous. Modern low brass shells are loaded to top pressures to operate modern semi-autos. Feeding of a fine OLD sxs means low pressure shells to protect 50-100 year old wood. Companies like RST and Vintagers shells(Polywad) make good performing low pressure shells and there is plenty of load data for low pressure shot shell reloading. I miss the passing of B&P High Pheasant 2 1/2" factory loads.

Most of the pre-war Euro sxs's will have 2 1/2" chambers usually marked with the gauge and chamber length such as 12-65 for 2 1/2", 12-70 for 2 3/4" guns with out a chamber length will most likely be of the shorter length as they were built before 2 3/4 became available.

I grew up shooting a fine old 16ga Damascus sxs being young and dumb long before the internet and in some place even a telephone was a rarity. I shot factory 2 3/4" shell through it and is as loose as a goose today and is nothing but a wall hanger now.

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Older SKB's are fine shotgun, I shot a pair of SKB 100's 12ga for waterfowl and a 20ga for upland. I sold them and went back to a two trigger gun.

I'm pretty partial to drillings and have the in 16ga/16ga/6.5x58R Sauer, 16ga/16ga/7x57R and 16ga/16ga/9.3x72R. I hunt coyotes with the 6.5 and big game with the 7x57R, still working up a load for the 9.3. The 9.3 and 6.5 have 65mm 2 1/2" 16ga chambers and the 7x57R is a post war Sauer with 70mm 2 3/4" chambers

Last edited by erich; 01/19/19.
After the first shot the rest are just noise.

Make mine a Minaska

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