doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What's the least expensive "best gun"?

992B,
CZ has it correct, "best repair" is expensive. Have you considered a best quality boxlock from an english maker that made them?
I just scored a prewar 1911 Churchill best quality boxlock from Santa.
Karl

I saw a nice pair of sideplated Cogswell and Harrison Avant Tout guns going by recently. They needed a sympathetic refinish of stocks and blacking, but very affordable.
Perhaps not a best pair, but pretty fine potential indeed.

I cannot see by what engineering or gunmaking criteria a V sprung sidelock or boxlock can compare to a coil sprung Beretta 626 which is owner serviceable, has parts that drop in without handfitting. A 626 even has intercepting bents on its hammers, something few boxlocks have.

With a budget of 5000 USD you can get a fine used 626, restock it to personal dimensions, remove the bottom rib to lighten it, (if you really need that kind of lightness), and never worry about its strength and ability to digest modern loads. When the time comes to rebarrel its monobloc barrels can be renewed and reblacked in a couple of weeks at a reasonable cost.

Get real.
No one comes up to you and asks if they might touch your 626.

They do with "Best" guns.
It's primarily a statement of, "You've arrived".

When a world renowned magazine photographs the pair of Purdey .410's that you shoot Red grouse with, well, you're there.

It is what it is.

I have worked part-time around a number of true "best guns" for over a decade now and while they don't affect me as strongly as they once did, I am still very-much in awe of them. I don't own one and it's unlikely now that I ever will (my blue-collar roots are still holding me back, I fear). My loss, I'm sure.

There are an unlimited number of reasons to own one. And an equal number to not.
It has to work within your life.
If an ejector spring broke, would you have to use a home equity LOC to get it fixed? Prolly not a good idea in that case.

It's all relative. At different times in a life, we enjoy different things.

Look at getting a best gun from a lower tier maker. The different tiers of makers and the prices they command have been discussed here in the past. For example-
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=436963#Post436963

Anyway, I always wanted one London gun, and 2 years ago I bought this 1907 HJ Hussey Imperial Ejector for under 6K. Its a definite lower tier make but a very fine gun nonetheless.

HJH3 by FGP1154, on Flickr
HJH1 by FGP1154, on Flickr
HJH2 by FGP1154, on Flickr

Concur with Canvasback and Mark. Continental doubles can be had at a substantial discount versus the Brit guns and can be every bit as good.

You must judge each gun as an individual, rather than by brand name.

My entry into best guns came through a $6k Jules Bury made Louis Christophe. I found it locally in Kansas City on gunbroker went over to see it, mounted it once and it ws right. It supplanted my Fox Sterlingworth and started me toward a set of 20, 20, 12, 16, and double rifle JB Christophe guns. All but one below $10k and two were sub $2k project guns. Only after those and more than a decade of shooting and collecting did I get a project Purdey and recently a pair of Alex Martins.

I like my Purdey alot, but I know the reality is the quality in the make is not better than the Jules Bury guns and in fact is less engraving quality wise. The Martins are beatiful Celtic guns, but my Belgian guns are simply better quality guns than the Martins.

I recommend you look at Belgian gun by off name makers from the 1920�s to 1940�s. They convienently come with date stamps. You must develop the knowledge to properly inspect.

In the meantime shooting a decent boxlock and learning through trial and error what works best for you in terms of gun weight, balance, fit, choke is important too, before you put big money into a gun. I got lucky on my first SLE that is is right for me, but I have been through quite a few SXS guns over the years that were not right both before and after the one that is. The gun buying bug is dangerous and involved alot of unwise lust for me at least.

Lastly inspite of having now seven supposed best guns and two boxlocks, I find I use one or two exclusively and the rest sit to be loved. So you probably need fewer guns than you think unless you shoot a wider variety of birds than I do.

A post script on finding a bargain British best, it can be done, but without real knowledge and a little luck it will be harder to do thana old Belgian best.

Very simple answer, well certainly this side of the Atlantic - the AyA No2 - built in Spain on the style and form of an H&H. And you can get a very serviceable one that is 20 or 30 years old for �600 upwards. If you are happy with the boxlock call it �500 for the No4 (with ejectors) of �250 for a No3 - BLNE.

Gr8day's HJ Hussey looks plenty like a best gun to me.