Very similar situation with the 24" 28 ga. Damascus DHE I pictured above. The gun was made with 28" barrels in 1908 and sat in inventory until 1912 when the order came in for a 24" gun. In fact, the stock book entry shows it as a TI3 but the order book shows it as a Dam3.
I suspect the Titanic 28" 28 ga. barrels were saved and a set of Damascus 28" barrels were cut and fitted to fill the order. The open chokes (4" cut off effectively removes all choke) would not have been a handicap as the gun was ordered for Jessie A. Bishop who would sometimes accompany her husband Henry A. Bishop of Bridgeport, CT on grouse and woodcock hunts at their camps in Maine. The Bishops were quite wealthy and were very well known and admired in Bridgeport and NYC high society. Henry A. Bishop had a very special Parker 28/20 two-barrel set made for himself. I'm working on an article about the Bishops and their Parkers.
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