Any old shotgun(or other gun for that matter) should be checked out by a competent smith before any firing is done.
Loading and shooting w/o a check may qualify one for the Darwin Awards, and/or ruin a classic shotgun.
Even w/o Damascus/twist steel bbls, many old guns do not hold up well with modern ammo.
And, many old guns are chambered for short shells, like 2 1/2 12 gauges or the older 2 9/16" 16 ga. Putting a longer shell in one of these is tantamount to holding a grenade about 1 foot in front of your eyes and pulling the pin. Did you know that shotguns and grenades have about the same working pressure?
Lefevre shotguns,designed by "Uncle Dan" Lefevre,are one of the classics. If the smith checks out this one and OKs shooting it some, I'd stick to lighter loads like 1oz,3 dram, or 1 1/8 oz, 3 dram.
If it is Damascus, there are some lower power/pressure loads available, and also some 2 1/2 shells, but they don't come cheap.
