ACME arms side x side

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Aaron_303

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So, i got this ACME arms co side by side 12g given to me. mass imported from Belgium the shotgun dates back to 1890-1895, ive done a lot of research on this gun. nowadays they are not worth a lot $50 - $350 depending on condition. it was basically your hardware store shotgun for farmers, still cool as hell though. before i brought it into a gunsmith i made some blank hulls with just primers, and damn does this thing ever strike the primers hard. so the firing mech still works, great. brought it into a gunsmith, the bore is still good, no pitting. just needs a clean. online a lot of people say standard shotshells should not be fired out of this gun only black powder loads only. since this gun was given to me i decided to try and shoot modern shells through it. made some shells with smokeless green dot and no 7 1/2 lead. and string fired it off a bench. after my 2 shots, gave the gun a check out and all ok. gave another 4x2 shot string, still OK. then shot some skeet with it, very nice take up on the shoulder. and lines up very well when looking down the bead. shoots a tight pattern. i believe its a full choke on the right and a modified choke on the left. after i restore this gun ill have a nice skeet/ rabbit gun.

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now ive take down the gun completely minus the lever for breaking the action open, there is a slot screw on the top of the lever which is doesnt want to come out. ive tried but dont wish to mess up the head of the screw anybody have any ideas?
 
If your gun has damascus twist barrels on it I would not fire modern shells out of it due to age and contruction even if it was new unfired.People think that if you fire a couple of shells through something and it doesn t blow up its good to go not so, it could be a ticking time bomb just waiting for that one shell too many.Also even if it doesn t have damascus barrels ,think out about it, it is a low grade turn of the century shotgun a steady diet of modern shells will soon shoot it loose and you ll end up with a wall hanger any way.
A quality double barrel differs from a low grade in metallurgy, type of bolting system and fitting of the bolting system.Guns made today are made with better steels so even a cheap gun is good with modern loads and if used for hunting will last a long time but take that same gun and put it through what a trap gun goes through you will find that they will not stand up to this of pounding.
 
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I have a couple end of 19th C. SXS's I fire them fairly regularly, but I use black powder or pyrodex in the shells. If you don't shoot it a lot, you can reload using a Lee hand loader. Another thing you will want to double-check is to make sure it is good with 2 3/4" shells. Some of the old doubles were made for 2 1/2 or 2 9/16. My 16 and my 24 are made for 2 1/2. What I do is cut the very top of the crimp off the shells (my 24 takes a 20 gauge shell). I dump out the powder and shot. In the 16, I load with black powder, replace the wad and shot, place an overshot wad, and re-crimp. With the 20-gauge shells, I use 24 ga. felt wads instead of the shot cup. It's a lot easier on the gun, and a lot of fun to shoot.
 
chasseur said:
it is a low grade turn of the century shotgun a steady diet of modern shells will soon shoot it loose and you ll end up with a wall hanger any way.
A quality double barrel differs from a low grade in metallurgy, type of bolting system and fitting of the bolting system..
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I shoot several damascus guns a moderate amount and loaded with smokeless. I use 1 oz loads and keep the pressures down around 7000 psi based on the loading tables. I think as long as you shoot your own handloads and keep the pressures down, they are relatively safe to shoot.

There were tests done to destruction in the 1890s --- I have forgotten the name of the person who did them (in Britain). He compared damascus and fluid steel barrels from good reputable makers. While there was some range in the point at which various barrels failed, there was considerable overlap between the two types and neither could be said to be better than the other based on these tests.

While I would not use modern factory loads in a damascus gun unless it was one with massively heavy barrels, I do think they can be shot with sensible handloads

cheers mooncoon
 
The problem with damascus barrels is basically since they are hand welded the quality of the barrel depends on the skill of the welder and also the age of the metal and if there has been neglect in cleaning the gun leaving corrosion in the barrel.My concern with the gun is this post is it not of top quality manufacture and the poster is feeding it factory
rounds in it thinking it good to go because it didn t blow up on the first couple.I had a friend when I was younger who use to shoot 3inch shells out of a 23/4 chamber in a cil single shot for the same reason it didn t blow up so it was good to go regardless of what anybody said.
 
I don't think there is a significant difference in the quality of the welds although I will admit to having seen a couple of guns with incomplete welds that have perforated the barrels. The vast majority of the damascus barrels that I have seen, have had good welds. What does vary considerably is the thickness of the barrels from the forcing cone forward with some barrels being down as thin as .015" or less at the muzzle. I believe that somewhere between .020 and .025" is the minimum usually required for proof in the UK. On the other hand one also sees some guns which were apparently made on much larger frames. I have a ten guage for example apparently built on a 8 guage frame and the chambers are roughly .25" thick while most chamber walls both old and new run about .15" for 12 guage guns at least.
The other fault / flaw that I see relatively commonly is badly pitted bores and while some shallow pitting is acceptable, I would be reluctant to fire guns with deep pits. Will have to concede that what constitutes deep pits is a bit of an individual judgement call

cheers mooncoon
 
chasseur said:
The problem with damascus barrels is basically since they are hand welded the quality of the barrel depends on the skill of the welder and also the age of the metal and if there has been neglect in cleaning the gun leaving corrosion in the barrel.My concern with the gun is this post is it not of top quality manufacture and the poster is feeding it factory
rounds in it thinking it good to go because it didn t blow up on the first couple.I had a friend when I was younger who use to shoot 3inch shells out of a 23/4 chamber in a cil single shot for the same reason it didn t blow up so it was good to go regardless of what anybody said.
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did you read? i dont shoot factory, i reload all my own.
 
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