Gentlemen, I recently became the owner of a J D Dougall Lock-Fast shotgun with serial number 3154. The serial number puts it around 1875. The gun was originally made as a 12 gauge, however at some time (I believe recently), the barrels were lined/fitted with 20-gauge barrels with 2 3/4 chambers. The new barrels run inside the whole length of the original damascus barrels. The length of the barrels is 27 3/4 inches. The gun and the barrels are in very good condition and I would like to shoot it.
I am not familiar with hammer guns and I have the following questions:
1. It appears is has rebounding hammers. Can you confirm?
2. The firing pin on the left side is longer than the firing pin on the right side and it moves in and out of the frame more freely than the right one, (see pics below). Do you think it is a replacement pin?
3. Did pins of that period have sping tension or were they suppossed to be free-floating and move back and forth freely as it is in this case?
4. What is the proper way of carrying, loading and shooting a gun with hammers and locks such as this one?
The proofs are black powder from the London proof house.I have attached additional pictures of the flats and barrels. You can also see the new 20-ga barrel liners. I am also attaching a picture of the letter written by Geoffrey Boothroyd which came with the gun.
I also found an article on the Double Gun Journal (Autumn 1997) on a Dougall Howdah 16 ga pistol written by Ross Seyfried. The serial number on that pistol is 3164, 10 digits after mine (3154). The fences are different, however the engraving, quality, and markings are very similar.
I would greatly appreciate any information or advice you can provide me. Thank you in advance.
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