doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Skimmin & Wood Two Incher

Skeeterbd, quite correct; Tolley were more famous for wildfowling guns but by the time my 2" Tolley was made the firm was owned by Skimmin & Wood hence their choice of name on the gun. Most of the 2" Boxlocks were made by Skimmin & Wood and sold to the trade which accounts for the wide variety of names. Linsley's of Leeds bought many and sold them out with their name on.

Joe, if you get a 2" gun you will be smitten by it. Most of them weigh around 5 1/2 pounds. They fire what is really between a standard 20 bore and a standard 16 bore load but with the wider bore the patterns are far superior. My advice is if you can find one then get it, you won't regret it. Lagopus.....

Note both mine and Sketterbrd's are proofed for 7/8 oz loads, less than standard 16 & 20 1oz loads.

Sorry, giving English standard loads. 13/16th. ounce for 20 bore and 15/16th. ounce for 16 bore. That's the load you would find in the standard 2 1/2" cartridges here in the U.K. and what the guns were designed for. 16 bore guns are Proofed with the 1 ounce mark just to confuse but the standard ammo is usually just under that. 7/8ths. ounce is correct on 2" guns. Lagopus.....

Do they pattern as well as I think they might? I always thought the short shot string ought to really get the most out of the shot charge available for these guns.

Mike won't be able to borrow your shells mid-hunt or is it vice versa? Seems I recall he charges a lot for his shells mid-hunt. Nice thing about these guns is their uniqueness which goes hand and glove with our mindsets. There won't be another 2" gun in a 200 mile radius. I believe Adam Stinson did a show and tell (sell?) on one last year. Gil

I have 2" A&F and so noted in the A&F records. I also have an A&F catalog listing these guns for sale.
I have done considerable research on the gun.
These guns were made by jobbers, one guy or group made barrels, Sam Skimin made actions and completed guns were sold.
I askedFrank Wiseman many years ago about records and Frank said to me, "
You know, we had a War." Records gone, tooling lost, they will not be this way again. Rumor is after the barrels were proofed, they were shaved down.
Franks father worked for Sam off and on until Frank acquired the name, Skimin & Wood.
-Dick

There is absolutely no handicap using 7/8 oz loads in a 12 bore. Many of us shoot our clay games with them and also our birds. Patterns seem to be incredibly uniform. Lighter recoil is a huge plus.

Shouldn't pattern any differently out of a 2" gun than out of a 2 1/2" or 2 3/4", should it? The length of the shot column is the same, in relation to the bore diameter, regardless of the length of the shell.

I might have misunderstood the question.(?)

SRH

Wouldn't the length of the shot column be shorter due to the smaller amount of shot in the shell? I have heard that a longer shot column leads to more flyers/deformed shot.I remember reading that Curtis ordered a light 10 for upland use from Hunter Arms and he said it patterned beautifully with the 10 bore short shot column and I am wondering if the same would go for the relatively light shot load for the bore in the 2 inch guns.In other words 7/8's of an ounce would have a shorter shot column than 1 1/8 oz. and would it pattern better.Back in the day we tested patterns on a target mounted on a hay rack and pulled by a pickup. Very enlightening about hitting a bird going 30-50 miles an hour.

Yes. I thought I must have misunderstood the question. A 7/8 oz. load is much shorter than a 1 1/8 oz., in the same hull.

I thought you were asking wouldn't a 7/8 oz. load pattern better in a 2" gun than a 7/8 oz. would in a longer chambered 12 ga. My bad.

SRH