Larry,
A run of the mill English A & D boxlock is a better gun than just about any American double.
Agree with James that the same is true of a Robust, or a Costo.
Or, an R10.
Also agree that without those tarrifs, the American trade in guns would have went to bicycles, car parts, typewriters, and chain saws, before it did.
And the world would have been better for it.
Best,
Ted
Sorry, Ted. Having owned plenty of both, can't agree with that. American doubles, in general, were built more like tools designed for hard use. Long after we'd converted to stout 2 3/4" loads in our doubles on this side of the pond, the Brits stuck with their 2 1/2" standard. If they'd tried to do what we did, the majority of their doubles would have been built like their waterfowl guns . . . but they weren't. What do you suppose would have happened to Brit doubles--or, for that matter, Robusts--if they'd been submitted to the torture test (a whole bunch of proof loads) that John Olin fed the Model 21 (and all the other classic American doubles of that period)? Our doubles, in general, were overbuilt. Theirs, by our standards, were underbuilt. Worked with their loads, but try punching the chambers on a 2 1/2" Brit 12 and then feeding it Super-X loads for the next few decades. Shouldn't have been done to short-chambered American 12's, but it has been . . . and most of them handled the overload because they were overbuilt.
In terms of handling qualities in the field, I'll take your average Brit 12 bore game gun over just about any American classic 12. But if I'm going to shoot 3 3/4 DE, 1 1/4 oz loads as a steady diet--or maybe even hotter stuff--I'll take the American gun. The fact that so many of them are still out there and still shooting reliably, when the last of them went out of production shortly after WWII, shows there's nothing really wrong with the basic designs.
Not to mention the fact that you can pick up an American classic for less money than a basic Brit A&D in similar condition. I just sold a nice, solid Ithaca NID 12ga for $700. I can't imagine being able to buy a basic Brit 12 in similar condition for that kind of money. Spanish version of the A&D from Uggie, yes . . . but they're also more in the direction of being overbuilt for heavier, modern loads.
Last edited by L. Brown; 02/11/17 09:45 AM.
