All:
I recently came into possession of a 1970's model 1100 from my late father in law. It is a really pretty gun, in excellent shape. He always told me it was his "go to" goose gun. However, I can only assume that was back before the steel mandates for migratory bird hunting. I have to be honest, it was really gross inside when I broke it all down so I spent a few hours cleaning it up and replaced the O-ring. The barrel has a date stamp of DX which seems to correlate to 1973, and that tracks with the gun's appearance.
The gun has a 30" barrel with a fixed full choke. We generally hunt with 3" steel BB shot. I read online horror stories of people saying you absolutely cannot shoot steel shot through the older barrels, and when you do you have to run at most modified, if you shoot steel through a full you will destroy the barrel etc. I am usually skeptical of "fudd lore" (things everyone repeats ad nauseum but cannot explain other than to say 'my buddy heard it from his buddy' and such), so yesterday I shot 4 rounds of the aforementioned 3" steel BB through it. Ran without a hitch, barrel looked perfect afterwards.
However, I would like to do some thinking on the subject to see if I really run any risks to the gun, or am going to suffer performance issues with poor patterning or the like.
1) Is it actually risky to run 3" steel BB through a fixed full choke barrel from the 70s?
2) If it is ok, will I suffer poor patterning or other issues trying to run those rounds through this gun?
3) Is there any source of barrels for this gun that would be more appropriate for steel shot, or with removable chokes (checked Ebay, didn't see anything impressive)
4) If the barrel steel is fine and I just need to open up the choke, is there any gunsmiths anyone recommends that might be able to shorten it a few inches and thread it for removable chokes?
Thanks, I would really like to use the gun for her intended purpose and carry on the father in law's legacy as a hunter, I could always go back to my trusty 870 but that just doesn't seem as fun!
Pictures, because what good is a thread without them. Oh and the bluing is perfect, it just looks a little wonky because I put a thick coat of renaissance wax on it and didn't buff it out perfectly. I like to keep all my field guns heavily waxed in case I get caught up in crappy weather.
I recently came into possession of a 1970's model 1100 from my late father in law. It is a really pretty gun, in excellent shape. He always told me it was his "go to" goose gun. However, I can only assume that was back before the steel mandates for migratory bird hunting. I have to be honest, it was really gross inside when I broke it all down so I spent a few hours cleaning it up and replaced the O-ring. The barrel has a date stamp of DX which seems to correlate to 1973, and that tracks with the gun's appearance.
The gun has a 30" barrel with a fixed full choke. We generally hunt with 3" steel BB shot. I read online horror stories of people saying you absolutely cannot shoot steel shot through the older barrels, and when you do you have to run at most modified, if you shoot steel through a full you will destroy the barrel etc. I am usually skeptical of "fudd lore" (things everyone repeats ad nauseum but cannot explain other than to say 'my buddy heard it from his buddy' and such), so yesterday I shot 4 rounds of the aforementioned 3" steel BB through it. Ran without a hitch, barrel looked perfect afterwards.
However, I would like to do some thinking on the subject to see if I really run any risks to the gun, or am going to suffer performance issues with poor patterning or the like.
1) Is it actually risky to run 3" steel BB through a fixed full choke barrel from the 70s?
2) If it is ok, will I suffer poor patterning or other issues trying to run those rounds through this gun?
3) Is there any source of barrels for this gun that would be more appropriate for steel shot, or with removable chokes (checked Ebay, didn't see anything impressive)
4) If the barrel steel is fine and I just need to open up the choke, is there any gunsmiths anyone recommends that might be able to shorten it a few inches and thread it for removable chokes?
Thanks, I would really like to use the gun for her intended purpose and carry on the father in law's legacy as a hunter, I could always go back to my trusty 870 but that just doesn't seem as fun!
Pictures, because what good is a thread without them. Oh and the bluing is perfect, it just looks a little wonky because I put a thick coat of renaissance wax on it and didn't buff it out perfectly. I like to keep all my field guns heavily waxed in case I get caught up in crappy weather.