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I have a 16 gauge Crescent / Peerless Hammerless SXS that has been rechambered for 12 gauge 2 3/4 shells. Has anyone ever seen this "conversion" attempted and with what results? I have never fired this gun, it was aquired with the ambitions of CAS. Best Regards, Mike

Me personally, I wouldn't fire it. The chambers would have to be opened up to accomadate the 12 ga. shells, therefore, the steel is thinner around the area that needs the most strength. Have the barrels been changed?
Unless the barrels have been bored out, I can't imagine the pressures that would be generated by a 12 ga. wad an load going down a 16 ga. barrel.


Noway, nohow, would I shoot it. But that just me.

Reply to DON - It is a 16 gauge that has been _RECHAMBERED_ to accept 12 gauge, 2 3/4 shells. I did not make the conversion and have not fired the gun....I'm asking for input from those who have seen such a and/or similar conversion and what were the results. Best Regards - Mike

You are asking for some pretty high pressures when that 12 gauge load trys to fit into your 16 gauge bores. I don't know whether the Crescent shotgun had a 16 gauge frame or just put 16 gauge barrels on a 12 gauge frame (as is often the case with inexpensive shotguns). If your gun is built on a 12 gauge frame, I have no doubt that your chambers are adequate to pass proof, but if the bores have not been opened to 12 gauge (and this would only be possible if they are thick enough), I wouldn't recommend shooting it. Remember, the Crescent was a pretty weak shotgun to start out; now, it's even weaker.

That"s an accident just waiting for a chance to happen.. Bushrod

You have an interesting piece but not one I would care to shoot. It might be safe, but you have no guarantee.

Some forty years ago my uncle Geoff bought a SxS Cogswell and Harrison that had two sets of barrels. One was the original 16 bore tubes rechambered for 12 guage, the other a completely new set in 12 guage made by Rowland Watson. With these it made a lovely "snakey" gun for driven and rough shooting (it was a 16 bore frameI think).

Both barrel sets had passed Birmingham Proof; so from a strict safety point of view they were OK. That was in the days of fibre wads of course; I wouldn't fancy it with a plaswad. Maybe the Proofmaster wouldn't be too keen nowadays.

I recall Watson himself saying they had just put the rechambered barrels into Proof for a laugh, not as a real practical proposition. Geoff never shot them himself so I can't comment on the shooting experience, but I guess they'd have very strange patterns and a lot of recoil.

Fun, but not a safe proposition without a very strict examination by a top smith IMHO. Even then I doubt the utility.

Regards
Eug

Thank You all for your input...Eug from the UK, your input was just what I was looking for...someone with firsthand or near to it, knowledge of some "quirky" concept from the past...again Thank You all...I got _VERY_ different replies to my question over at Numrich's (gunpartscorp) gunsmithing forum....again, Best Regards - Mike Baldwin PS - the ol'crescent will be hung on the wall!

Wise move. It'll look better on the wall than scattered all over gods creation.

....just received an email from a gunsmith (name withheld upon request) with decades of experience. Bottom line, I have a Crescent/Peerless 30" EXTRA FULL CHOKE Goose gun. After double checking his measurements committed from memory everything checks out accordingly. EG- with the right calipers I was able to establish a bore diameter of .744" just past the forcing cone and before the chocking cone, which is about 2 1/2" long, ending in a muzzel diameter of .668". Well thanks for all f the input and Best Regards Always - Mike Baldwin