Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction What did you do at your pond today?

Good going! Do you usually take your Aussie with you when bird hunting? Do you have any pictures of the drilling? You could email them to [email protected] if you don't want to post them. What's the rifle caliber? (curiosity is all) Here's to some good luck to you guys this morning!

I hadn't shot since October or November, and it seems that my right eye is getting a wee bit blurry so I can see glasses in my future, plus stations 4-8 were shot looking towards or directly at the sun. We should be shooting the course about 3 hours later in the day, but the guy that schedules this (it's a monthly shoot we do) schedules the start time for 8:30 am. I sucked and that's my excuse(s) that I'm sticking with. I only shot an 83.

I have a 16ga SxS that I have to send out to have refinished and a new stock made for. It possibly could have been made by a great, or great, great grandfather in Suhl, Germany. Chris V. Schilling Damascus barrels, sidelock construction, gold inlays over the chambers in the barrels, exposed hammers, etc. It was listed as a percussion 20 ga, but it's a cartridge gun with a splinter forend. When I got it home I dropped a 20 ga hull in the chamber and it slid down the barrel about 3".

It has seen better days, and I knew that when I won it at an auction. The stock is cracked, it looks like someone tried to pry the skeleton buttplate off the wood stock without taking the screws out. One firing pin spring needs replacement. There are two loops for your fingers in the piece that is behind the trigger guard, and one loop is broken. I thought it was made from brass because it's a yellowish color. I found out later that the particular piece is made from horn and I was told that when horn is 100+ years old it starts turning a yellowish color. I'm planning on sending it to Doug Turnbull to get all the metal work refinished. It's never been apart, or a master gunsmith took it apart and put it back together. All the engraving on the screw heads perfectly line up with the engraving that is on the side plates and skeleton buttplate, and none of the slots in the screws are boogered up. The bores are in excellent condition, no pitting or rust. No rust on the outside of it either. Some corrosion on the side plates, and I was told that maybe the side plates had gold inlaid in them but it was picked out. The president of the German Gun Collectors Club of Ohio said he thinks it was made 1860-1880. It DOES have a serial number and I wish I could figure out a way to get more info on it. The same guy said the Damascus barrels on it were stronger than teh fluid steel barrels of the same time frame, so shooting low pressure modern smokeless loads would be OK.

I did purchase 125 brass 16 ga MagTech hulls and found a 16 ga shell holder so I can insert the large pistol primers. I have some recipes and components for loads in the 7800 - 8400 psi range using modern powder, but I need to do more research to see what I can and can't safely do. If you have any advice I'm all ears.