Will my gun fire alphamax ?

SmartinMartin

Hi folks,
Looking for a bit of advice. My spanish u/o 12 barrel is marked 1000 kp/cm. I have a few eley alphamax SG shells left over from years ago and I'm trying to work out if I can fire them. The gun has the CH mark on it, which means Re-inforced smokeless proof for shotgun barrels with proof pressure of 12.801 lbs psi. After that I'm lost. Any experts on gun markings?

meathstevie

SmartinMartin wrote: »

Hi folks,
Looking for a bit of advice. My spanish u/o 12 barrel is marked 1000 kp/cm. I have a few eley alphamax SG shells left over from years ago and I'm trying to work out if I can fire them. The gun has the CH mark on it, which means Re-inforced smokeless proof for shotgun barrels with proof pressure of 12.801 lbs psi. After that I'm lost. Any experts on gun markings?

Make sure your chamber and cartridge length match. After that check for cartridge weight. If it's an extremely heavy load for the chamber length you might need to double check.

GADWALL

As above .
What make is the gun ?, how old is the gun ?. Do you have a photo of the Chamber length and markings stamped on the barrel ?.

A lot of the older Spanish guns can be 2.5 inch length cartridges only , Alphamax need a 76 mm 3 in chamber .

The best thing to do is not use them and call into your local gun dealer with the gun and speak to him about it .

SmartinMartin

Thanks for the replies. Here are the markings on the barrels. The cartridges are 2 3/4", or 70mm, and fit the gun no problem. It's the pressure I'm more worried about.

GADWALL

I understand its the pressure that's the issue . Alphamax come in 2 flavours , 70 and 76 mm obviously the larger one will create more pressure .

Not being smart , but while the cart may fit into the gun , that does not mean it can be fired by it .

From your photos it is obvious that the gun is an older model .

This is what I would do if I were you , Restrict myself to 2.5 inch light - medium loads and have your gun assessed by a professional .
Under no circumstances would I be firing either size of alphamax cartridge in that gun .

A person could do PHD on shotgun Proof markings current and old and still not understand each stamped marking , see sample att.

SmartinMartin

It's pretty much what I've been thinking myself. Anyone recommend a good professional in the Dublin area?

Found a great link for Spanish proofs;
http://www.shotguns.se/html/spain.html

bluezulu49

The length of the chambers should be stamped on the flats of the barrels, in the format 12 - 65, 12 - 70 or 12 - 76, being 2 1/2", 2 3/4" and 3" respectively. The 1000 indicates that it is proofed for 2 3/4" loads.

What is the make of the gun?. The proof marks you have shown indicate that it was proofed in Eibar, Spain sometime since 1931. Any chance of photos of the remaining proof marks?

GADWALL

This chart says you are covered , but at your own judgement .

Remember , we are now gone from PSI to BAR and now onto Mega paschals of pressure , all the maths will be of double importance when dealing with a future change over to High pressure steel shot loads . that will be when the NPWS and Government get the finger out .

http://www.shotgunlife.com/shotguns/tom-roster/important-information-about-shotshell-pressures.html

SmartinMartin

bluezulu49 wrote: »

The length of the chambers should be stamped on the flats of the barrels, in the format 12 - 65, 12 - 70 or 12 - 76, being 2 1/2", 2 3/4" and 3" respectively. The 1000 indicates that it is proofed for 2 3/4" loads.

What is the make of the gun?. The proof marks you have shown indicate that it was proofed in Eibar, Spain sometime since 1931. Any chance of photos of the remaining proof marks?

Thanks for that blue. It's marked 12-70, so fit for 2 3/4 shells. It's an F. Sarriugarte from Elgoibar. The other markings on the barrels are ;
1360 gmos
18.4 (3 stars above this)
G*2 (it could be 6*2)

SmartinMartin

Googling gives me 1360 gmos as the weight in grammes of the barrels and 18.4mm as the bore diameter.