Bad news for my older shotguns.....

M

merwin61

Inactive
I have been out of the loop for a while in the shotgun shooting world and recently brought my 1947 Ithaca 12 gauge and 1951 Browning A5 - 12 gauge out of the safe to do some recreational skeet shooting at my local gun club range. Come to find out at that range (in NJ) due to wetlands and such only steel shot can be used there. In my reading and research I see it is not a good idea to put steel shot through the original barrels. Now finding after market barrels for either shotgun to use for steel is proving a) hard to find and b)really expensive if you do hear a rumor of one available. I tried Hastings and Broome Firearms and neither had anything available. Anyone know any other place to try? Thanks in advance for any leads!
 
It's a little spendy, but if they require steel other non toxics should be ok too....Bistmuth, Hevi-shot, Tungsten polymer, tungsten matrix etc.
 
A *little* spendy? Compared to bargain basement skeet loads, it'll put him in the poor house if he bought the same amount.

Like I've been saying, they won't ban guns, just slowly nibble away at ammo components. Lead casting is already feeling the pinch.
 
What you may do is call Ballistic Products and talk with them.they know as much about shotgun ammo as anyone.
As you are not shooting an old double,it may be with some loads"buffered,thick shot cups" if you use a mod or looser choke,shooting some steel may not hurt anything.one recomendable modification to your shotguns would be reaming in a long forcing cone.An abrupt,as in old,forcing cone is one place steel shot can damage.
I am not the guy who can tell you.
Your Ithaca may have a little trouble with extraction on some modern shells.Case heads these days will often stick to a magnet.They are plated steel.the rims are a little smaller dia,and the steel does not spring back as well,it seems.if it happens the extractors slip over,bummer.
 
Shot options....

Yep I had been looking at the other shot type options and I was stunned at the pricing. That is why I thought it would be better in the long run to just get my hands on a steel shot capable barrel. The way things are going I would be better off buying a new shotgun! ...Well, I am not giving up the hunt yet. Hell...anyone know of a custom barrel maker???
 
You really might be better just getting a modern shotgun capable of handling steel and saving those for some nice hunting trips afield for upland - probably cheaper in the long run
 
As a reminder, replacement barrels for Ithaca model 37's with serial numbers less than 855,000 are not directly interchangeable, and I'm pretty sure the aftermarket barrel will need to be installed by a gunsmith.
 
Replacement barrels.....

to all whom contributed to my forum questions and inquiries, thank you very much. I think I have a solution and that came from this forum. Kirby Schupp who contributed to the thread has barrels available for a lot of shotguns and he tells me he can do a lot to the older barrels to help them along with moving up to steel shot. So anyone find them selves in my situation, I recommend they contact Kirby.
The Shotgun Shop
(http://theshotgunshop.net)
Gunsmithing
P.O. Box 212, Arnold MO 63010
636-282-4379
theshotgunshop@hotmail.com

Thanks again all!
 
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