Another lightweight 16-bore O-frame

[John Havard]

I don't know why I'm so enthralled by these tiny 16-bores but I am. This one is a damascus GH with 26" tubes. Made in 1904, this one tips the scales at a smidge over 5#9oz. 13 7/8" LOP to the front trigger with 2 3/4" of drop. Too short and too much drop but few things in life are perfect.

Having just received it yesterday I pulled out my bore gauge as well as my Hosford wall thickness gauge. My biggest fear was that the super light weight indicated barrels that were too thin. Thankfully that was not the case.

Both barrels appear to have been lightly honed inside because the right tube mikes out at 0.667 and the left at 0.665. Both bores are mirror bright. Using my Hosford the minimum amount of wall thickness I can find anywhere in either tube is 0.025", with good wall thickness through and several inches beyond the end of the chambers (which are still 2 1/2" in length).

All in all this little GH wears its 109 years quite well. There are several dents and dings in the wood, the checkering has begun to fill in with some honest wear and (probably) waxing, and the D4 damascus barrels have a few dull spots on the outside. It matches the serialization book data to a "T". Since I have decided to keep it the next order of business is to get a PGCA letter.

This little gem will be on top of Pan Ridge with me this fall in the Wrangells putting a few ptarmigan into the pot. At just over 5 1/2# it won't overload the SuperCub.