High End Doubles

[twomoons]

A friend of mine has taken to collecting what to me are high end double guns. These are sxs shotguns selling for $2000 and more. No, Bill not YOUR high end doubles but nice ones anyway.
Today he brought over 2 more. An AYA best grade that he bought CHEAP because of the single trigger. The gun is fully engraved with top of the line wood and is a real honey. The gun is a set gun in that it has 2 sets of barrels on one frame and it covers from i/c to full.

The other gun is a pre war German sxs with a fold up sight in the rib and the right barrel is regulated for ball. This one was cheap because of the stock being refinished. Both were under $2000. I think right now he has about 12 double guns with 3 AYA sets of multi barrels. Well I invited him duck hunting in the canoe next week and he wanted to borrow a gun as he has NOTHING he can take out and get dirty. Water Water everywhere???

[twomoons]

Well yesterday (don't let me keep you from hunting but can I come over for just a minute?) I got to play with a couple of AYA best grade double guns. Curt got 2 more !!! of them on the cheap as the previous owner had had his initials inlaid in the stock and great honkin' Pachmayer recoil pads put one. Albiet they are nice guns and still way ot of my league. I did fix up the Itye double gun I got from Bill, I had to turn a new firing pin and retainer for the left barrel as the gun had been dry fired way to much. The gun is up and running now and I have spare firing pins if they are ever necessary. This gun came with a slip on pad that made it way to long for hunitng with a coat on in a canoe. But the original plate was there so I did get to take it afield. I had some Kent T/M shells that I got from Bill and I thought I would try them. They pattern very well from the Mod and full barrels on this hammer double gun, they exploded a coot at 20 yards nicely leaving just enough meat to attract a snapping turtle, who will be decidedly better eating, Bill's coot chili none the less. I currently have a nice collection of double guns ranging from a Husky underlever to a Simson and Suhl, with a Diana damascus sawed off too. I also have a new I wan't it that Curt picked up, a German 12 bore with folding sights and the right barrel regulated for ball and the left full choke. Just the ticket to fend off tigers while bird hunting.

The hammered double I got from Bill is marked Gardonese and that didn't tell me the maker as that just ment it was a Val Trompia gun. But the watertable is signed E. Nicoli and he is a gun maker for Gamba so I assume this is one of their utility grade guns, coin finish receiver and locks and moderate engraving. The gun has a dog on one side and a wood cock ( the bird not the other) on the left lock and the engraving is interesting if not totally expert. Since the gun weighs in at 6 1/2 pounds it too will not be a 3" magnum gun and actully 2 1/2" would be more in line. I hope to get out some time this week and see if I can shoot a real duck with it, or maybe ambush a turkey.

[Bill]

That gun is a sleeper. It should of sold or would of sold 3 years ago for about $1000 but due to the economy it was a heck of a good buy. I almost bought it myself but just too many other things I need at this time but OH WELL right.
I now have my Arrietta up and running again after it needed some trigger work and so between that and my Rem 1100 I really don't need much else except I do need to get another 20ga SXS. I will just have to use the wife's Browning Citori 20 ga until I find the right one I guess.

[dovehunter]

Only a half limit of birds but taken with (at least to me) a pretty gun. This is my J.P. Sauer & Sohn 16 ga. SxS. It's probably the 2nd nicest of the doubles my father-in-law "liberated" during WW2. The nicest would probably be the W.W. Greener. I would think this Sauer should qualify for at least a "nearly high end" double. I'll post a picture of the Greener next time.

[Bill]

Nice gun DH. It appears you have found what I also found. You shoot doubles well. I actually do better with my double than I do any other gun I own.
Two Moons. "Please do not sell that hammer double of yours short" That is one awesome gun and should of sold much higher than it did. Yes it needed a bit of work but its also the reason I recommended it to you. You can clean it up and get it all up and running well and have one heck of a nice gun on the cheap due to your abilities. What you just did would of cost most people $200-$300 to have done or more even. The AYA's do not make that gun take a back seat at all. Plus you get to shoot a modern vintage style shotgun for less money that most that like that style of shotgun. Put that one in the keeper pile.

[bounce]

Gave jeff my high end .410 cresent for Sean to shoot a turkey 2-1/2" shell with #4 shot. It had the shortist reach I had to the back trigger. Told jeff to just have Sean shoot for it's head and just use the one barrel on the left.

[twomoons]

Bill... See my post in Turkeys.

This one is not only a nice gun but it fits me for my style of hunitng about as well as any gun I ever had and it will probably push the Charles Daly and the Simson and Suhl back in the pecking order. I sure won't be using any more 2 3/4 Mag loads of #4 in that gun as they pattern really tight even from the modified tube and a 1 Oz load would have done the job just as well.

[dovehunter]

Oct 29, 2009 7:38:29 GMT -5 Bill said:

Nice gun DH. It appears you have found what I also found. You shoot doubles well. I actually do better with my double than I do any other gun I own....

If I had to pick, I'd say that I probably shoot this particular SxS better than any other shotgun I have other than, believe it or not, my 20 ga. Mossberg Model 500 pump. Probably those two fit me better than any of my others. I do love my SxS doubles and seem to be able to shoot fairly well with all of them with the possible exception of the LeFauchaux 16 ga. hammer gun. I guess I still haven't as yet gotten used to seeing those hammers when I look down the barrels. Surprisingly, I have never shot that well with my one and only O/U: a 12 ga. Antonio Zoli. I like the gun and even had the original tight mod and full chokes bored out to a loose I.C. & modified but I still don't shoot it all that well.