Ted: It isn't just the Yank doubles that are getting old here, eh?
My "newest" British double is from 1905, my oldest perfectly-functional side-by-side (also British) is from 1866. A well-made gun is almost timeless if (a big if) it receives proper care and feeding over the years of its use (I almost typed "lifetime" here). We all get fooled from time-to-time but... if you've been paying attention over the years of your own life, you'll learn a few things about what to look for in an older gun. Contrary to some strongly-held opinions here, American doubleguns from the 1890s were actually very-well made. It wasn't until economic forces (from around the world, essentially) forced the American manufacturers (& that's all of them, not just Smith) to modify their production processes to reduce the cost of the human component. The big difference today between a "fine" gun and all the others (see the above photo of the trouble-fee gun) is that rather-essential "human element". That's were the artistic part of any gunmaker's creation comes from. As the old saw goes..."beauty comes from art, art come from grace and grace comes only from God."
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