doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hellis Pair

Not mine

(but I’m on good terms with 26” barrels and would promise to provide them a good home). 😉

https://www.lelandlittle.com/items/...s-12-ga-sidelock-shotgun-pair-with-case/

For a sequential pair, they seem to have significant differences in stock pitch, while cast, DAH, and DAC appears to be pretty similar.

Some of the bidders have been battling it out for nearly two weeks, which makes zero sense to me if I wish to buy. I've always felt that giving the competition lots of time to think is stupid. But it's great for the seller and the Auction House.

WOW! What a wonderful pair

I wonder why the stock dimensions are so far off, for a pair?

Yes. Bidding was spread across the full period with 47 bids registered among the 8 potential buyers The pair sold for $7500.

Very high. Looks like the guns that did sell were high. The McPherson 2" double sold at $2500. Ok price.

The auction for the subject pair of Hellis SLE's with 26 1/6 inch barrels (odd size) makes for a discussion of gun auctions and the quality of guns one might find at these auctions. It also demonstrates to me that buyers here in the USA currently do not understand the value difference between buying a British shotgun for sale now in the UK and buying a British gun for sale here in the USA. Just now one of the most respected gun merchants in the UK has a superb Charles Hellis SLE of 1910 with 28 inch barrels which demonstrates the bargain prices of guns now in the UK. When one examines the photos and the specs of this Hellis SLE and compares what you can see from the photos of the Charles Hellis guns that just sold at the auction; it is clear that the difference is "head & shoulders" different.

It is evident that the Charles Hellis SLE for sale in the UK will not require any work to it, while the Charles Hellis pair sold here in the USA needs much work to bring them up to the standard of the one in the UK--"pitting of the barrels under the fore-end" may be more than slight. Even an amateur can see the difference. Not to mention that short barrel guns sell for less.

In regard to price differences. The Charles Hellis pair is reported to have sold for $7500.00 and I suspect that there may be a 25% adder buyers premium which makes the price $9375.00 or $4697.50 each. The single Charles Hellis is priced at $4725.00 and it will cost about $800.00 adder to ship it to a FFL in the USA (I know this from personal very recent experience) bring the total price to about $5525.00.

https://www.gmackinlay.com/product/12g-sidelock-ejector-by-charles-hellis-sons-28-x-2-1-2-barrels/

Many British shotguns now in the USA were bought in the prime high price years of 20-30 years ago and they first lost value in the 2008 world wide financial collapse, and now that the lead shot debacle has hit the UK you can buy the same gun you bought 25 years ago for 50% less in many cases. The British hammergun market here in the USA is the prime example.

The normal auction house pitch - fill the description box with superfluous fluff, leaving no space for any description of the bore condition whatsoever.