Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/554642
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 4 6 on crossing shots. With light, sub one- ounce loads, recoil is extremely mild. Most of the original case-coloring remains, and its sparse, English-style scroll engraving is as crisp as the day it left Birmingham. The barrels ring like chimes, and there is very little sign of use. It may not be new, but it's awfully close. With those specs, it will make a fabulous grouse gun, easily the equal of a DHE Parker, but without the weight or price. I ended up paying about $3,000 for the gun. When you consider that some semi-autos fetch more than half that at retail nowadays, the price ain't half bad. This fall, when I take to the woods for quail or grouse, or any other upland game, I'll be well equipped with a classic double gun that handles and shoots like the very best. If you save up for a little while and shop carefully, you can do the same. Just be sure to check out the lesser lights of the English trade. All that will be missing is the fancy name on the barrels and the heart-stopping price. almost bit on both of those lovely guns, but I was bargain shopping, and I really got caught up in seeing just how good a gun I could get within my admittedly arbitrary limits. The real bargains to be found were boxlocks, most of them variations on the Anson and Deeley design. They give up nothing to sidelocks in terms of reliability, and the good ones give up very little aesthetically. I n the end, I decided to go with a beautiful 12-gauge Greener boxlock ejector gun that I bought from Bill Hadfield at Robin Hollow Outfitters. It has 28-inch barrels, original 2¾-inch chambers, and weighs a scant 6 pounds, 6 ounces. At that weight, it is essentially a 12 gauge built to 20-gauge specs. It has a top safety, which is uncommon on a Greener, and a straight English-style grip. Both barrels are choked IC, and it balances perfectly on the leading edge of the hinge pin. As a result, it is quite quick, but still swings smoothly turned up over 800 for sale. I had owned many such guns and knew that some of the lesser known makers built pretty good firearms. Actually, some of their "lights" shone pretty brightly, too. They were simply eclipsed by the likes of Purdey, Holland, and Boss. T he good news is that there are more good old English makers than you can list within the confines of one column, and some of the guns made by the likes of Stephen Grant, Joseph Lang, John Wilkes, Westley Richards, Henry Atkin, and a host of others are pretty darned good and can be bought pretty reasonably. There are, of course, many other names, some that neither you nor I have ever heard of. As always, you have to be careful, but some guns in this class are great bargains. There are actually some pretty good sidelock guns that crowd my price limitation pretty hard. I was sorely tempted by a sidelock H.J. Hussey and a Henry Atkin sidelock that just barely missed my price line. I