Not necessarily Charlie , ive read that Winchester would load a prime case and pour powder down the bore filling the barrel half way up then loading a bullet on top of it. Now this was with one of their rifles but its possible they proofed the shotgun barrel the same. just a thought

milt a 2 3/4 inch 12 ga hull will not hold 9 1/2 drams of powder and 2 1/2 ounce of shot is what i m really saying... charlie

Another try of the ad scan
 

Kiffe ad.

Thanks Gary, If you read that carefully, there is no confusion. It is what it is. And I am not surprised at that proof testing.

Oh I know that lol no way that would fit Hard enough doing that with 3.5" 10 ga . What im saying is you could load a empty hull with a primer then load the rest of it like a muzzle loader. would be very dangerous I bet pour that much shot and powder in a 12 bore . :shock:

Most likely an advertisement ploy. Not unusual back then. Most companys were interested in selling their product and they didn't care how they did it.

I proof tested a Winchester Model 1901 ten gauge cannon with as much powder as the shell would hold (eight drams of black) and more powder up the barrel with a wad in front. I made the mistake of firing it while the cannon was on top of a wood pile instead of on the ground. The cannon did a back flip and landed on the asphalt of my driveway. I guess it was a soft surface, because the cast iron carriage of the cannon was not damaged. This is probably how Winchester did the 9 dram test. Of course, there was no shot in front of my cannon load.

woulda loved to seen that bill...charlie

Bruce, do you know how many 97's were made with damascus?

I don't know.

But here is the one pound test.