Modern side by side doubles

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pownal55

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As a young guy I did a lot of hunting with an uncle who loaned me his 16 ga Fox Sterlingworth double. Even as a young teen I immediately sensed the quality of the gun in my hands. As the years passed the price of such guns in nice condition went up and I never did get the classic American shotgun I wanted but settled on a Browning 20 ga BSS Sporter. I have been very pleased with the quality and handling characteristics of this gun.
Just curious, what modern double barrel shotgun would you buy today at under 2000.00?
 
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For less than $2k you're pretty much limited to something from Fausti's bottom end or a Dickerson, a turk-made gun which used to me sold under the S&W name.
 
Real doublegunners pooh-pooh the BSS but that is OK with me. I'll buy any one I come across at a decent price.

I had a 12 ga model that had great metal (NOT refinished) and the stock was quite literally beaten to death. I had it restocked in a semi-English style and was fairly fond of it until I determined I really could not shoot an English stock all that well. I sold it and changed to a pistol grip model, which, owing to the HUGE forearm, was just intolerably clubby. Someday I would like to restock it in a "compromise" pattern - a Prince of Wales stock and a much smaller forearm.

SKB made some nice little doubles that you can sometimes pick up for a fair price. I have one that belonged to a late friend. 20 ga, 25-inch barrels, quite a bit trimmer than the Browning - but I have the feeling the Browning is a slightly better gun (mechanically and workmanship). The Beretta 470 wasn't a terrible gun. I have seen a few that seemed pretty darned nice for the money but they were a bit over $2000. Can't comment on the inexpensive Eastern European guns, though I have looked at a few and wondered.

Generally you get what you pay for with doubles, and you have to pay pretty dearly. If you have a good Browning and just can't abide the stock - consider having someone who knows what they are doing restock it, or possibly alter its original stock to suit you. But be sure you will be OK with the weight (and likely balance) of the finished product. Brownings are not thin, whispy little guns. If that doesn't appeal, I'd look for one of the better versions of the Beretta. The last one I saw in 20 ga still rather hurts me that I could not justify buying it. :(
 
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NEW SXS SHOTGUNS

I have had a long love affair with the 28-- When at one point shells were so hard to find and were over $20 a box, I decided to start loading my own shotgun shells. I went with PW presses and have three. 28. both 20's and 12 ga. Even have several hundred Remington new hulls so I can roll crimp some special loads. When I got Sarah, I decided to get her, her own gun. Being old, I didn't want to spend several grand, which I didn't have so I came up with this. It does just find.
Shells have it seems come down a bit, believe it or not, but I still would rather load my own. Factory choices are quite limited, and there are NONE using nickel shot that I know of. :) Here is Sarah pointing her first Quail early on.

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I own this BSS 12 ga but have only tested it out once. I cant claim experience as I bought it NIB probley around 1977. Its a safe queen. I only mention it as I have looked at prices on the net and see there are some fine looking ones for under your $2,000s. No, they arent made today but used/new are out there.
 
Double barrelled shotguns are luxury items for rich men.

If I had to have one under $2,000, I'd hunt a good SKB. I think the Weatherbys are from SKB, but probably cost more.

The Brownings made by Miroku are probably good guns. Not sure about spare parts or service for either brand.

In the UK, where doubles are the custom, Beretta seems to be the brand now most sought by those who cannot afford a London-made "Best" gun. I have a British correspondent who has a pair of Purdeys from her father, but who usually shoots game with a Beretta. Her usual quarry is pheasants and woodcock. She also rides to the hounds after foxes, which probably says something about her financial and social status!

However, the better Berettas considerably exceed $2,000. If you can find one of their simpler guns once sold here as the BL series, those may be under that sum. Jack O' Connor once mentioned giving one to his white hunter as a tip. He said it was a very nice gun for the money, but hardly equal to his favorite Berettas, which were in the SO series. It is worth noting that O'Connor also observed that SKB guns were designed by someone "who had had a good look" at Beretta's boxlock guns. That was Jack's wry phrasing. (Some Japanese- made rifles appear to owe Sako a design debt, too...)

Frankly, I don't think you should be looking at buying a double gun if you have to ask this question. They are not for poor men and they are not for men who don't know that market very well. They are also likely to be costly to repair, if you can even find a local gunsmith who'll do the work. Most so-called "gunsmiths" today aren't worthy of the name.

That said, I'd look for a SKB or Ithaca (made by SKB) that has seen little or no use. I wish you good fortune. A mystery author I know who owns a Browning BSS likes it a lot, but she isn't really a "gun person." Guns like hers were imported for only a short time, and I think were really made in S. Korea, maybe by a Miroku subsidiary. Her gun is either a true sidelock or has false sideplates. I think they may have been real sidelock guns. Browning can tell you more.

Start by finding and buying the second edition of the late Don Zutz's book, "The Double Shotgun." For most people, it's the best item of its type.
 
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I'm not sure why Feral and I always seem to own the same guns. I have a BSS I bought in 1974 and still like it. Its my hunting gun and I seem to shoot it pretty well (for me.) It was well within the price range since I paid $274.00 for it back then. Because I own one I always look at them when I see one offered for sale. The current price range seems to be around $1400-1500. If I saw a 20 for less, I'd be tempted. I just like the way it fits and shoots for me.

A year or so I gave in to my lust for a Winchester M21. I've wanted one for years, but they always seem to cost around $10,000. Or up. So when I found one for a lot less that was prewar and had sk1 and sk2 chokes, I just spent the money (not really, I invested. My estate can recover it.)

Feral's case is probably worth $500 these days!
 
J. R. WEEMS said:
I have had a long love affair with the 28-- When at one point shells were so hard to find and were over $20 a box, I decided to start loading my own shotgun shells. I went with PW presses and have three. 28. both 20's and 12 ga. Even have several hundred Remington new hulls so I can roll crimp some special loads. When I got Sarah, I decided to get her, her own gun. Being old, I didn't want to spend several grand, which I didn't have so I came up with this. It does just find.
Shells have it seems come down a bit, believe it or not, but I still would rather load my own. Factory choices are quite limited, and there are NONE using nickel shot that I know of. :) Here is Sarah pointing her first Quail early on.





Click to expand...


Are you gonna tell us what the gun is?
 
I don't know the modern SxS's at all but a couple of the guys I shoot with every week have CZ's. They love them and they have had no problems with them at all. They shoot sporting clays everyweek as well as some skeet so they do run some ammo thru them.
I couldn't tell you models or prices but they weren't top-o-the line things w/bling all over them. Just nice handling, nice looking hunting type shotguns.

The BSS holds up well if you go used but a fairly recent gun. Some people say the stocks are to hefty, but can't please everyone. At least they can be trimmed down.

Just from the amount of work I get in fixing single selective triggers on both old and new guns,,I'd stay away from them. Sooner or later if they double or balk,,you'll never trust it again but some people just can't seem to pick up the double trigger thing.
I must say I've never had a BSS single trigger problem brought to me.
Everything from the Parkers, LC Smith and Foxes to Spanish graded guns, Miller single trigger conversions, new Ruger Gold Labels and lots of Winchester 21's with problems.
At least on a double trigger gun you can pull both triggers at once if you really want that particular experience,,or not.

Older guns are more likely to be the results of someone 'adjusting' things inside. But even new mfg guns have problems sometimes and factory repair is not always that great when the factory is in Turkey and the US importer is just that,,an importer. Some are a lot better than others at after the sale service.

I'd still buy a nice the nicest condition Ithaca NID or Fox Sterlingworth for that price,,or a Belgian/Austrian/German made pre-WW2 gun,,but that's just me.
Nothing fancy, extractors and double triggers.
Even the postwar E.German made SxS's are a good value in the plainer grades. Merkel, Simson, Sauer all built in E Germany for export are good buys. Most probably all made at the Thalmann (sp?) plant in Suhl anyway.
Exports were usually marked Q1 for the better quality. Q2 and Q3 ect from there on down
 
I believe the Brownings have a pretty high-quality mechanical trigger and are not prone to doubling. At least I have never heard of anyone having trouble with one doubling. I really like them, but it is a bit hard to think of spending $1500 +/- for one these days when you bought your first one for about one-third of that or less. :)

The little 28 shown above appears to be a Huglu. Not finely made but seem to be very serviceable little guns.
 
I have a CZ Bobwhite SXS in 16 Gauge. It is not as pretty as some e other guns mentioned in this thread, but looks pretty good to me.

It shoots well enough for me, and for the price, it is excellent. I think my wife paid about $800.00 for it a few years ago.

I think CZ no longer makes it, but there are almost always one or two for sale on AL or GB for about what mine cost.
 
Aloha,

You might look at Estate gun sales.

I picked up a nice Beretta O/U 686(I think) in 20 ga for the Wife

for under a $1,ooo. Right now it's a safe queen.
 
Texas Star said:
Double barrelled shotguns are luxury items for rich men.

If I had to have one under $2,000, I'd hunt a good SKB. I think the Weatherbys are from SKB, but probably cost more.

The Brownings made by Miroku are probably good guns. Not sure about spare parts or service for either brand.

In the UK, where doubles are the custom, Beretta seems to be the brand now most sought by those who cannot afford a London-made "Best" gun. I have a British correspondent who has a pair of Purdeys from her father, but who usually shoots game with a Beretta. Her usual quarry is pheasants and woodcock. She also rides to the hounds after foxes, which probably says something about her financial and social status!

However, the better Berettas considerably exceed $2,000. If you can find one of their simpler guns once sold here as the BL series, those may be under that sum. Jack O' Connor once mentioned giving one to his white hunter as a tip. He said it was a very nice gun for the money, but hardly equal to his favorite Berettas, which were in the SO series. It is worth noting that O'Connor also observed that SKB guns were designed by someone "who had had a good look" at Beretta's boxlock guns. That was Jack's wry phrasing. (Some Japanese- made rifles appear to owe Sako a design debt, too...)

Frankly, I don't think you should be looking at buying a double gun if you have to ask this question. They are not for poor men and they are not for men who don't know that market very well. They are also likely to be costly to repair, if you can even find a local gunsmith who'll do the work. Most so-called "gunsmiths" today aren't worthy of the name.

That said, I'd look for a SKB or Ithaca (made by SKB) that has seen little or no use. I wish you good fortune. A mystery author I know who owns a Browning BSS likes it a lot, but she isn't really a "gun person." Guns like hers were imported for only a short time, and I think were really made in S. Korea, maybe by a Miroku subsidiary. Her gun is either a true sidelock or has false sideplates. I think they may have been real sidelock guns. Browning can tell you more.

Start by finding and buying the second edition of the late Don Zutz's book, "The Double Shotgun." For most people, it's the best item of its type.
Click to expand...

Had a BSS, 20ga, but gave it to a friend as a birthday present. Have a nice, but used SKB 200E that I haven't used in years, 20g a it is. PM me if interested. :)
 
Wrench6 said:
I have a CZ Bobwhite SXS in 16 Gauge. It is not as pretty as some e other guns mentioned in this thread, but looks pretty good to me.

It shoots well enough for me, and for the price, it is excellent. I think my wife paid about $800.00 for it a few years ago.

I think CZ no longer makes it, but there are almost always one or two for sale on AL or GB for about what mine cost.
Click to expand...

Came close to getting one in 16 gauge, but I don't load for it, or a 410-- Still, nice guns for what they are, and you don't have to be afraid to use them. :)
 
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