Head to a couple of gun shows and picke up a box of nitro 2 7/8 inch loads and use them to proof it. If you can't find any then there are a few of us that could send you a couple for proofing. If there are no major flaws with the bbls then the vintage or RST shells are just the ticket. There is a sherman bell loading manual floating around and there is short 10ga manual that Gunnerman Books sells.......all the loads use IMR 7625 in that manual Gunnerman manual. There are several of us using sherman bell loads. I think I am using his #75 load for target... it is a 1 1/8oz load at about 5500 psi and crushes the clays. I shot a deer several years ago with an old 2 7/8" Remington Express 0 Buck. Used a 3 frame Parker DH 10. The old Remington shells seem to shoot consistently but I have had problems with some of the old Winchesters. The primer doesn't seem to crush and may just have gone bad.
Good luck and enjoy......it is a lot of fun (and satisfying) shooting turkeys with the old guns.
Kurt
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