The Interchangeable F. Duomulin Shotgun

[John Wesley Hardin]

I recently acquired a F. Duomulin 12 ga. outside hammer shotgun with the words The Interchangeable on the right side of the receiver. Does anybody know what this means? Also, has anybody ever heard of any of the old guns being manufactured with a chamber shorter than 2 3/4"?? I would appreciate your comments.. John Wesley Hardin

 

[Jubjub]

It's spelled Dumoulin, not to be overly fussy, just to help with Google. Not sure what the significance of Interchangeable is. Lots of chamber lengths in older shotguns. The standard chamber for 16 gauge was 2 9/16" until sometime in the '20s, and many lightweight 12 gauge doubles were chambered for 2 1/2" or shorter.

In this case, chamber length is pretty irrelevant. Your gun almost certainly has Damascus barrels, and is not safe to fire with smokeless powder.

 

[John Wesley Hardin]

Thank you for your reply.. Seems I learn something every day. I didn't realize that there were different chamber lengths on the old time black powder shotguns. This particular gun has twist steel barrels, which is similar, but not Damascus. I still would not shoot smokeless powder shells, but had plannedd on shooting black powder shells reloaded with a Lee Loader. Thanks again.. John Wesley Hardin