How It's Made Holland & Holland SxS Guns

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

Watched an interesting segment of that show last night about collectable guns. It was all about the custom double shotguns made by Holland & Holland. They said over 1000 hours of labor to produce one and delivery more than a year from the date the order is placed. I wished it had been longer and included the big bore double rifles, but overall it was informative and displayed mucho eye candy, some superb looking side by sides.

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[wetdog]

Saw that too and had your same thoughts.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Years ago in one of the gun rags there was an article about someone making a side by side .30-30 out of a Browning BSS in 20 gauge. Absolutely fascinating project-would love to read that again.

 

[ol' geeser]

I have recently seen ads in the various gun mags about a company that is marketing a DVD on that project, Caj......

 

[Tyrod]

Saw that too and had your same thoughts.

ditto........

 

[tops]

There is no way that I could afford one but I was looking at one and the price was 65000 pounds. At that time a pound was $1.70. My wife wanted to know what made it cost so much and I told her it was perfect inside and outside and no matter how hard you looked you couldn't find anything wrong with it. See said I understand that but what makes it cost so much. I don't think she appreciates London Best guns. Larry

 

[2152hq]

Years ago in one of the gun rags there was an article about someone making a side by side .30-30 out of a Browning BSS in 20 gauge. Absolutely fascinating project-would love to read that again.

There's quite a following of gunsmiths and hobbyists that convert SxS shotguns to double rifles. Some of the more talented of the bunch even make their own actions.
Here's a link to a board that's dedicated to such building. Lots of info and quite a few long running threads w/photos of the in progress work.

Everything from 22rf to 2 bore

I've gotten into my 30-30WCF conversion on a Parker 20ga a ways. But never seem to be able to finish it up.
I thought 30-40Krag might be a bit much for the single lug lockup and small action.

Forums.NitroExpress.com
'Building Double Rifles & Gunsmithing'




Moderator please delete if the link violates the Forum policy & rules.

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

Here's one of mine.

This is my .357 Maximum double rifle. It was made/converted from a 12 Ga. Ithaca BP SxS and is an absolute bell ringer.

The damascus barrels have been lined and regulated. In addition to iron sights, it is drilled and tapped for optics. It will accurately fire .38 Special, .357 Magnum and .357 Maximum. It pales in comparison to an H&H, but she's mine and I love her! Taken plenty of small to medium game with this one.

A few years back, a fellow was telling me that a gunsmith was doing a conversion for him, from a Ruger Red Label shotgun to a 30.06, thought it was an interesting conversation, but never saw the completed gun. I found out the following year at the same gunshow that he had died. I still wonder if he lived long enough to see his "dream project" completed.

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[Texas Star]

Beretta makes some nice doubles that you can sometimes buy over the counter. I handled a .470 at their Dallas gallery. I wanted it, but I wouldn't have had enough money left for lunch, and I was hungry...

 

[Andy Griffith]

I know they pale in comparison to H&H, but I saw where CSMC was making a .22LR double rifle. I want one of those so terribly...but not for what they want for it.

That is one nice .357 Max double rifle- a most practical and fun caliber!!!

 

[Kelly Green]

That was one of their better programs but I would like to have seen more on the manufacturing process not just the highlights. I recently saw an H&H for sale on one of gun sites, $110k. A fella could buy a whole lot of S&W’s for that amount.

 

[2152hq]

I know they pale in comparison to H&H, but I saw where CSMC was making a .22LR double rifle. I want one of those so terribly...but not for what they want for it.

I engraved a couple of the 22 Double Rifles for CSMCo.
The are amazing little rifles. They were the ones built on the Fox action taken down to scale. They've made some on a very small Win21 frame also.
They all sold very quickly. Several at the LasVegas & SCI Show(s) a couple years running.
An NFL player bought two of them off the table one year. Of course I can't remember his name,,I'm not in to football,

A gunsmith (Austrian) in their shop actually made the first one from scratch in his free time,,just for something different to do.
The idea caught the eye & interest of Tony and they decided to make a small run of them.
Originally they were to be a bit smaller, but scaling down that far left them with spring problems. Too weak to be reliable (misfires and ejector problems). So they settled on a very slightly larger scale,,but still small if you've held one.

I didn't get to keep any!,,but I have a Rigby 500 x3inch BPE,,a German boxlock 9.3x72R, a German full sidelock 9.3x74R, an English Tooley 470N/E (needs a new stock badly!) and that Parker 20 partially converted to 30-30 that keeps me busy.

 

[Lee Barner]

lefty, back in 83/84 i worked at the navy hq for europe in london. we were caddycorned to the us embassy and only two blocks from purdy, half mile from H&H and also found j ridby and sons out walking one day. got to know a guy in the "store front" part of purdy and he took me thru a couple of times. they have/had three generations of some families working there. got to see the wood/ivory storage areas once. WOW. actually got to hold some. an experience i'll never forget. lee

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

lefty, back in 83/84 i worked at the navy hq for europe in london. we were caddycorned to the us embassy and only two blocks from purdy, half mile from H&H and also found j ridby and sons out walking one day. got to know a guy in the "store front" part of purdy and he took me thru a couple of times. they have/had three generations of some families working there. got to see the wood/ivory storage areas once. WOW. actually got to hold some. an experience i'll never forget. lee

Lee;

My friend, the late Chic Gaylord had a Rigby (it was stolen in NYC mid 1970's) that I believe was a .460 on a Mauser style action. It had one of the finest English walnut stocks I have ever seen. I was told it was purchased from or by, Jack O'Connor. Another one lost in the same burglary was a .500 Nitro Express H&H, which came to Chic as a gift from the Shah Of Iran. It was believed to have been used by the Shah on safari somewhere in East Africa during the 50's. The list of fine guns stolen in that burglary, particularly S&W revolvers and Colt revolvers gifted to Chic by the company's executives is incredible. As an aside, another pile of S&W's were left to a gun writer for safe keeping when Chic became ill, and were supposedly "surrendered" by that jackass to the NYSP and presumbably, destroyed.

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[jag312]

WARNING! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU CRY EASILY.

Many years ago I was shown a Holland & Holland SXS shotgun that had been recovered by Oakland PD. The shotgun had been stolen, and either the thief or some other idiot didn't know the value of the firearm and had cut down the barrels and the stock to make a sawed-off shotgun. t still makes me sick to think about it.

 

[gjamison]

didn't see this,what was the name of the show?

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

HOW IT'S MADE

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[ol' geeser]

Visited my younger son in NYC a couple of years ago. He took me to the H&H show room there. They were doing a photo shoot of one the 700's when we arrived.

I explained to a sales guy that I had no intention of purchasing anything, but had been an admirer of their work all my life and this was as close as I was ever gonna be and I would like to look, but if we would be in the way we would return later. He insisted that we stay and make ourselves at home...Can't say enough good things about the folks there that day...a morning I'll remember always.

 

[bushmaster1313]

There is no way that I could afford one but I was looking at one and the price was 65000 pounds. At that time a pound was $1.70. My wife wanted to know what made it cost so much and I told her it was perfect inside and outside and no matter how hard you looked you couldn't find anything wrong with it. See said I understand that but what makes it cost so much. I don't think she appreciates London Best guns. Larry

Your wife was just doing the math.
She knows she is perfect with nothing wrong, and she was wondering if you would trade her for one of those fancy guns.

 

[LazyKB]

My last working assignment was in Manhattan. Talk about a duck out of water, a WV hillbilly in Manhattan? It was a long six months. Like ol' geeser, I found my way to the H&H showroom. What hospitality! One gentlemen went out of his way showing me every firearm and relating the company's history, even after I assured him I was only a looker. The doubles were gorgeous but my eye and hands kept coming back to the magazine rifles, elegant, silky smooth, and what wood! I thought they might make me buy a $30 handkerchief just to wipe the drool.