Modern side by side doubles

[Rastoff]

Here, check this one out: Gun Library: A. H. Fox Sterllingworth 12 Ga Philadelphia Gun : Cabela's

Yes, it's old and yes, it's well used. Even so, it'll be better than any new SxS you can buy for less than $2K today. AND, if you don't like it, refinish the stock and sell it for $1K and pocket $200 for yourself.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I own an SKB Model 200E in 20 gauge, a 1916 A.H. Fox Sterlingworth in 12 gauge, and a CZ in 12 gauge. I think if I had to pick just one, I'd probably go with the SKB. All are excellent guns, but that little SKB seems to fit just right for some reason.

My last double was the SKB 150 in 20-gauge, modified and full chokes. Great gun! Light, easy to carry, perfect fit for me. One of my sons must have agreed because it now lives at his house.

 

[Old Corp]

I've had a CZ Bobwhite in 28 for several years now. It has been my 'go-to' gun for a couple of South Dakota pheasant trips. Using handloaded nickel #5 1/2's, she is an absolute death ray.
Great Turk-gun for the money......

 

[pownal55]

Here, check this one out: Gun Library: A. H. Fox Sterllingworth 12 Ga Philadelphia Gun : Cabela's

Yes, it's old and yes, it's well used. Even so, it'll be better than any new SxS you can buy for less than $2K today. AND, if you don't like it, refinish the stock and sell it for $1K and pocket $200 for yourself.

I bet Turnbull Restorations could turn that into a real gem.

 

[Cooter Brown]

I've seen a number of wonderful restorations of Sterlingworths, particularly 16 ga. guns. Just fantastic stuff.

Understand that a lot of the older American doubles, the Philadelphia Foxes included, have very low stock dimensions, like 2 3/4-2 7/8 DAH, which would be hard for most people to shoot well.

So those restorations include new stocks, and then you're getting into money. The late Philly guns and most of the Utica guns have modern dimensions.

Edit to say that SDH (his real name is easy to ferret out) of this forum has done some Sterlingworth "restorations". I have his book on shotguns and his personal Sterlingworth is beyond spectacular.

 

[jtcarm]

A local pawn shop has had a 16 gauge on the rack for close to a year now, priced about $750,

I've never asked to see it. I'd fall in love and buy the damn thing when I have no use for it. Then I'd have something else to reload. Then I'd have to get another bird dog, cuz what else are you gonna do with a 16 SXS? And it's probably Mod & Full, so I'd have to get the barrels opened up.


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[Bill Bates]

A local pawn shop has had a 16 gauge on the rack for close to a year now, priced about $750,

I've never asked to see it. I'd fall in love and buy the damn thing when I have no use for it. Then I'd have something else to reload. Then I'd have to get another bird dog, cuz what else are you gonna do with a 16 SXS? And it's probably Mod & Full, so I'd have to get the barrels opened up.


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You said that like it was a bad thing.

Merry Christmas from someone that has had to open chokes and can't imagine life without a bird dog or two.

 

[buck460XVR]

I have an Fox Model B 16 ga. that was my grandpa's first gun he bought when he returned from France after WWI. He gave to me in '66 when I was 12 and I have used it for everything from woodcock to Wild Turkeys since. Nuttin' fancy but it fits me and still shoots very well. When my youngest began to walk behind me and the bird dog a few years back, he too wanted a SxS, unlike his older brother who inherited my Ithaca 37. Back then finding a SxS anywhere was nearly impossible. One day while at one of his youth hockey tournaments in a nearby town we chanced across a Baikal(at that time imported by EAA) in a takedown case with several chokes for a price we could afford. I knew t was not a heirloom, but a good entry level Shotgun for a beginner. He's had it for a decade. Soon after we bought it Remington began to import them and put their name on 'em. None of the Remmies I've seen had the fit and finish of the EAA gun. He still gets flak at the sporting clays range, but consistently outshoots those that scoff him. Folks make fun of him in the pheasant field because of the "cheap POC double" he uses, but he is the one that usually has the fullest game bag and the most amount of shells left at the end of the day. I've spent 4 times the amount I gave for the Baikal for firearms that have not been 1/4th as dependable. Maybe we got a lucky and got a good one. But the proof has been in the game bag, not the price tag. A gun is a tool and the one that uses that tool will never be any better than the tool they use. Most folks never find the limits of their tools, but like to think they do.

 

[jtcarm]

You said that like it was a bad thing.

Merry Christmas from someone that has had to open chokes and can't imagine life without a bird dog or two.

It would be a great thing if I didn't have kids at home, live in the burbs, and quail hadn't disappeared from my part of the Texas Cross Timbers.

Back in the 90s, I hit the brush every weekend of quail season, which lasted about 4 months, with my trusty Brit and SKB 500.

I guess I could use a 16 for doves, but I don't like to eat them. I've never been much of a waterfowler and don't even know what non-toxic options are these days, and if an old A. H. Fox could handle them. I suppose there's always clays.

Wow, what an ol grouch I've turned into Bah humbug!!

I guess on the plus side, with a 16, no one will bum ammo or try to steal your empty hulls.

Merry Christmas to you and those pretty Setters. Wish I was in that pic.

 

[jfp357]

Hey BuckXVR, I got an Ithaca 37 12ga, I picked tobacco for a summer to pay for it. I got another after my father passed a 16 ga, what a difference in quality, so deep blue. Now I got a Fox Savage model B. Like you said not collectors stuff, but damn good scatter guns.

 

[jtcarm]

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.


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.

I had the pleasure of spending a good bit of time with the late Dick Eades, a long-time gun writer, but shotguns were his thing. He was a good friend of my parents.

His collection was mind-numbing, well over 500 guns. He owned many much more expensive guns, but when he hit the game or skeet field, it was with an SKB O/U. That's what he recommended when I decided I had to have an O/U. I found a Model 500 skeet imported buy Mitsui & Sons (probably after Ithaca.) I had Clearview choke tubes put on it, but never bothered to get anything other than IC.

Yes, the Weatherby doubles were made by SKB. I haven't checked in a long time, but someone else was importing them back in the 90s, dunno if that's still the case.

SKB has the Kersten-style crossbolt and is basically a Merkel clone.

Another great read is "Shotgunning: The Art and Science" by the late Bob Brister.

 

[jtcarm]

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.


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.

I had the pleasure of spending a good bit of time with the late Dick Eades, a long-time gun writer, but shotguns were his thing. He was a good friend of my parents.

His collection was mind-numbing, well over 500 guns. He owned many much more expensive guns, but when he hit the game or skeet field, it was with an SKB O/U. That's what he recommended when I decided I had to have an O/U. I found a Model 500 skeet imported buy Mitsui & Sons (probably after Ithaca.) I had Clearview choke tubes put on it, but never bothered to get anything other than IC.

Yes, the Weatherby doubles were made by SKB. I haven't checked in a long time, but someone else was importing them back in the 90s, dunno if that's still the case.

SKB has the Kersten-style crossbolt and is basically a Merkel clone.

Another great read is "Shotgunning: The Art and Science" by the late Bob Brister.