Ted, I'll remember your Darne information should I decide to buy one. Spain . . . I think there are posters here who have gone to Spain and had guns made for them, buying them for less than it would cost from an American importer.
311 quality doesn't matter much . . . "As Savage trimmed costs in the 1970's and 1980's, the Model 311 suffered. The edges were left sharp to the touch on the action bodies, parts broke routinely, the stock and forend were made of stained hardwood and trigger pulls became clunky." Don Zutz, "Grand Old Shotguns". And Zutz was actually a 311 fan . . . before the guns were cheapened. Also, the same complaint you level at the BSS (all ST/AE) can be directed at the 311 (all DT/extractors). No choices.
Ted, a Scott 701 is not a 700, any more than a Bowood is. (Your computer will also do research, in addition to posting here.) At the same time (1979) a Model 700 listed for 919 pounds in England, a 701 listed for 2359 pounds. 2 1/2 times the list price . . . nope, you're right. Sure would've been a bargain at $2,000. But the under $2,000 Model 700 selling price to which I referred isn't "my idea". Saw it happen, at the UP SxS Shoot. And since dealers list several at $2500, while under $2,000 is a good buy, it's scarcely unrealistic.
Once more you're back to apples and oranges. Buying used, one can always make more money in doubleguns (if the market cooperates) than buying new--unless you maybe get something like the Parker Repro closeout deal of a few years back. Had you bought a Parker, Fox or Elsie in 1980, you would've also made more money than buying a BSS new . . . except maybe a 20ga Sporter. But you couldn't buy them new then, and the only Brummie boxlocks you could buy new don't sell for much more now, used, than they did then, new.
BSS Sporters few and far between? Again Ted, computer not working well, except to post here? Check gunsinternational.com. Of the 40+ Miroku-made Browning sxs listed there--including a few sidelocks and Grade II's (both of which come far closer to the "few and far between" description), I find 14 Sporters. And that's just by looking at either the ad titles or the pictures. Might be more. But they're only hard to find if you don't bother looking. And unless they're NIB, they're hardly collectible. Better trigger in the Sporter? Well, it's selective versus the earlier nonselective version, but I believe all BSS made after the Sporter was introduced had the SST. You'll always find complaints about ST's on sxs. I wrote an article on Miroku-made doubles a few years back and inquired here (and on Shooting Sportsman) for opinions. Most of those on the BSS trigger were positive. Fewer complaints, as I recall, than the SKB SST when I asked about them. But I consider both to be pretty decent.
Whether a hardware store gun is a better "beginner's" double is a matter of opinion. Most have DT's, and without question, some "beginners"--assuming they're switching from a pump or auto--would sooner have a ST. And some, like the later 311's, are pretty crappy. I'd certainly take a 20ga Sporter as a field gun over any hardware store gun. And dollar for dollar, compared to a 20ga Trojan, Elsie or Ithaca Field, or Sterlingworth, they're not an unreasonable buy. And they do have the SST/AE combo, which the American classics don't have . . . unless you want to pay through the nose for a rare and collectible version.
Last edited by L. Brown; 07/30/09 11:33 AM.
