That beauty looks like it has had a L O T of shells put through it. Can't even imagine how many. And of how many birds it has brought home for the table... or market whichever it may be. Looks like the locking lug was welded up and maybe the breech end of the barrels and the breech balls peened to try to close up the "off face" gap. Someone also used a chisel to remove metal and pry the lower tang assembly from the bottom of the receiver instead of tapping it out from above. I truly wish these old guns could tell us of their travels and hunting adventures. I can just see someone doing whatever necessary to keep this thing shooting. The butt plate wear is most impressive. And some in this group think they do a lot of shooting.... Ha! Whew...
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