I was given an old LC Smith 16 ga.
According to the serial no. it was the last gun made in 1895.
Damascus of course, very, very tight action.
Would it be safe to shoot with something like the Vintager low pressure 2 1/2" shells?
Certainly is a nice handling shotgun, would hate to think it's just a wall hanger.

Should be fine with the 2 1/2" loads, assuming no heavy rust pits on the barrels. Have fun!

Do you think I need to worry about how tight the chokes are, raising pressure?
The right barrel is .620 and the left .610. Pretty darn tightly choked for a 16 ga.
The barrels are perfect inside and out, and rather thick walled. Perhaps polishing them out a little would be a good thing?

Shot passing through a choke has no real bearing on the operating pressure of the shot shell. The peak pressure is developed before the shot reaches the choke area.

Mart

Something to consider:

Damascus barrel construction - strips of metal heated and pounded together 119 YEARS AGO (1895 year of manufacture).

Is there some hidden rust between those 119 year old strips of metal?

Visit The L C Smith Collectors Association web site. There are many discussions on to shoot or not shoot Damascus barrels; there does not seem to be a consensus one way or another.

boltshooter, thanks for the heads up, I'll check them out.

There is nothing wrong with Damascus. That said you should have the gun inspected by a gunsmith familiar with them to determine if they can be fired.

Dont let the damascus issue intimidate too much. Use proper loads (what does it say on the watermark?) and go accordingly. For your own piece of mind, have a competant gunsmith check it over, but if there are no rust-marks or bad pitting in the barrel, I would not personally be afraid to try it out. Chances are that it was designed for black-powder loads, which while messy, can be a lot of fun, and offer a whole new challenge to shooting.
Aproximately a year ago, I found a beautiful old sxs hammer gun with outstanding wood, crisp checkering, and buffalo horn trim. The seller listed it at the gunshow as being a "wallhanger" only, because of the damscus barrels, and also due to it being a 14 gauge(?)!
I got it for the right price, and thought that if I only had it for show, it was a nice piece. It was killing me having that beautiful gun on the wall and not being able to shoot it, so I googled up the proper components, and tried it out. I have about 500.00 into the whole gun and kit costs, and last year I got easily a thousand dollars of enjoyment using that old girl chasing pheasants and sharptails with it.
If you're anything like me, you just cant stand to have 'em and not be able to use 'em!!
Do some research, get the gun checked over, and have a blast!

jimmy j
I feel the same way, this is just a nice feeling/handling tight shotgun. It feels like it wants to go shooting.
I can look out my window and see 80-100 pigeons sitting on the barn roof right now, they are great fun to practice wing shooting on.
The barrel wall thickness is .070 at the muzzle, and have no visable pitting inside or out.

The only problem you will probably have is tight chokes. Pattern the gun, because old shotshells did not have the plastic sleeves to protect the shot, and were choked about .015" or more tighter than modern barrels for the same patterns. Might have to ream out the muzzles a bit, or you could try some 150 grit wrapped around a dowel, to DIY. Takes lots of sanding to take out .015" of steel, but measure with an inside caliper at the muzzle to check progress. Sanding can also be used to move a pattern to point of aim. This is a shotgun, not a Swiss watch!

I have opened several coke using a hand drill and emery paper polish shoot polish shoot until it is where you what it.