doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Question on First Fox Purchase

I will follow the popular advice and wait until I receive a factory letter before having anything done. How long does it typically take to receive the letter? Like many have mentioned, the world of SxS's is ceertainly addicting. I am already on the lookout for the next addition to the collection.
Cheers,
Patrick.

6 to 8 weeks.

Patrick,

There's an Auction company in Ontario, I can't remember the name, that always seems to have a nice selection of doubles that usually go for very reasonable prices. They list on Proxybid. I haven't bought anything from them because of the importation hassel. To me, it appears that the prices are lower than down here, and there's usually some nice English doubles available.

Regards

Ken

There are two auctions that I know of in Ontario. The first is Landsborough Auctions. They have an auction coming up on May 30th.

http://www.landsboroughauctions.com/

The other is Switzers:

https://www.switzersauction.com/

Those are the two I've seen, they usually have desirable guns. Even the American guns they sell seem to go at lower prices than down here as well. One thing I've noticed is that the Brit guns usually have identifiable Maker's names on them, rather than the "Trade Names" often found down here.

Regards
Ken

I had a Fox Pin gun and it worked perfect, every bit as good a gun as a like Parker that cost twice as much.

Cheap open job from the local gunsmith has a good chance of ruining the gun. Look at Midways utube on opening a Parker to learn how to ruin one. Proper open job from a qualified gunsmith cost about the same as buying a 2nd Fox with shorter barrels and open chokes.

Spreaders are a viable option. I opt for the Spreaders in most cases. Own one 26 inch barrel factory open choke gun, half a dozen or more tight choked SxS's Dedicated open choked gun is useful but no real improvement in performance over the spreader loads in longer barrel better swinging guns.

Opinion only others may see it different.

Boats

From my limited experience and knowledge, prices for SxS's in Canada are lower, but availability and selection are also much more limited. I will let canvasback and gunsaholic comment as they have a lot more knowledge in this area.

In my humble opinion, Spreaders are the way to go. "Opening Up" an older gun is unnecessary. The inserts are cheap if you reload, the shells are more expensive, but if you're only using them for hunting you won't shoot that many anyways.

For the new folks, what Spreaders do is disperse the shot out throughout the pattern earlier, rather than actually widen the pattern itself. If hunting larger birds in open country, I usually only put the spreader in the right (more open) barrel as well.

Regards
Ken

Yes, in the majority of cases one will find the values of vintage doubles in Canada is probably at least 25% lower than what may be realized in the US. That is for a gun of comparable options and condition. However, there are many sellers in Canada that do not understand or want to accept that fact They also don't realize it is a very small market here until they find they get zero interest in their listings when the price does not reflect typical selling prices for the market here. Same scenario applies to many other types of used guns as well. Quoting US prices out of the "blue book" most of the time means nothing when selling guns here. But of course there are times when a seller may get lucky if a buyer doesn't know the market as it only takes one buyer!

I suppose the lower acquisition cost should be an benefit. However the same holds true when it's time to sell, so it's a bit moot. What I find frustrating is the vastly more limited market.

So in the U.S., while it may take a while to find the perfect version of what one might be looking for, in Canada, the problem is often finding any version.