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 5 I do love a nice double gun. That applies to both types, but here I'm talking about the side-by-side variety. And a lot of folks agree with me and would like to own a nice, graceful side-by but think they can't afford one. There is truth to the conception that good doubles are expensive. It's particularly true if you are looking at best-quality guns. Beautiful they are, and prices can go quickly from stratospheric to ridiculous in no time. So what's a fellow to do? I've been a fan of Best-quality guns for most of my life, certainly long before I managed to trade my way into my first one. Before that, I worked through a whole host of American, English, and European guns—most of them wonderful hunting tools. Although I regard Bests as the epitome of gunmaking and their use as the epitome of shotgunning, I'm not under the illusion that there is any necessity to own one. And I recently had occasion to look at the alternatives. After many years with my old Purdey, I came to the conclusion that I could no longer justify owning it. Health issues led me to part with the old boy and look elsewhere for my side-by fix. The truth of the matter is that when you're talking about Best- quality guns, most of the money is spent on the last 10 percent of quality. All that meticulous handwork Nope. Didn't want to spend that much. Five? I guess that I could have gone there, but I really didn't want to do that either. Not on an outdoor writer's pay! Arbitrarily, I set five grand as the absolute top figure that I would pay. Is that cheap? No, but I could pull it off if I really wanted to. Less would be better. From long experience, I knew of some Spanish guns in the $2,000 to $5,000 range. I've used them a lot and like them. The new Beretta 486 might have been a good fit if I had known about it at the time. If I went the American route, I would be limited by price to 12-gauge guns. And American 12 gauges tend to be a tad heavy for the bulk of my work. I wanted the gun primarily for quail, grouse, and doves, with the odd woodcock or pheasant thrown into the mix. That meant that I needed a gun that weighed less than the seven to eight pounds typical of most American twelve-bores. Besides, I'm more than a little spoiled to the refinement of English guns, and a lot picky, so the odds of getting an American gun that would both please me and be in my price range were pretty slim. Have you priced a good condition Parker DHE lately? I did, and that shock led me to start searching the internet for guns made by the "lesser lights" of the English trade. Again, I knew from experience there were many of them, and a quick search The author searches far and wide for the finest shotgun he can find at a bargain price. Robert Matthews h o t g u n s S eighing scant more than six pounds, the author's Greener boxlock ejector gun is essentially a 12-bore built to 20-gauge specifications. W and all that obsession with perfection costs money. Lots of it. And you can get a perfectly delightful side-by to satisfy your cravings for a lot less than you think. Would you believe less than 10 percent of the cost of a new Best gun? How about five? Would you believe even less? Let's talk about my own recent experience. When my prized old Purdey went the way of all material things, I set to work shopping the internet and calling reputable dealers I know. Since the cost of a new Purdey is well north of an eye-popping hundred grand at this point in time, I decided to set some parameters. Ten percent?