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I know this has to have been discussed before. But, what can a 1914 16ga. Sterlingworth digest? I haven't yet measured the chamber length.

But, assuming its 2 3/4", what can it digest?

Also, assume it's a 2 9/16"?

Thanks all.

Peter

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

PGG,
I've got one from that era and it has the2 9/16" chambers. I feed it a steady diet of RST 2.5" shells. 6s for pheasants and 7.5s for targets. I'm planning on getting a flat or 2 of their 5s for pheasants next season.

Thanks. The gun store owner wanted to sell me a few boxes of hi brass 2 3/4" shells. He said the Sterly can digest anything.

But I would much rather defer to the experts here.

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

For all practical purposes, the guy who said a SW can digest anything was pretty much correct. I'd sure as heck avoid 1 1/4 oz Fed magnums, and probably even 3 1/4-1 1/8 oz high brass loads. American 1 ozers will recoil a lot less (because of shot weight and velocity), but may still kick you pretty hard--and are slightly above the pressures for which that gun was built. Not enough so to blow the barrels, but it might shoot loose sooner. 7/8 oz reloads, various 2 1/2" shells would be the way to go. And yes, unless someone lengthened the chambers, you've definitely got a 2 9/16" gun there!

Here's Peter's Sterly and the boy done good! Cool

Member Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 123 Location: Oregon

Peter, I wouldn't count on those bores being original. Chances are they are but you need to have them carefully measured just in front of the forcing cones all the way around the barrel and go by the thinnest measurement. Kearcher has never recommended anything to me but he has told me what his personal comfort level is. He won't shoot any shells over 10,000 psi if the wall thickness is below .080. He also told me it takes .010 out of the thickness when you extend the chambers to 2 3/4". So you would need a bare minimum of .090 before it would be safe to extend them, at least according to Kearcher.

I've shot those Federal 3 1/4 dram hunting loads in my .080 and .085 barrel SW's with no ill effects yet but have never fired more then 8 or 10 a day through the guns.

Larry

ps- Thanks again for the heads up on the Model 90!

...what a sweetheart! and ejectors?? I think you got yourself a really nice gun at a great price, with all the extras to boot! Have you weighed it yet? Or maybe you said and I missed it.....what a nice gun....

Duncan

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

Interestingly, standard "heavy field" loads for the old 2 9/16" 16's were 3 drams equivalent, 1 1/8 oz--which gives a pretty fair indication that those old American 16's were fed some fairly heavy factory stuff. I don't think anyone makes that formula nowadays in modern, 2 3/4" hulls, but it would probably deliver a velocity somewhere in the 1250 fps range.