doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com SxS Article In Field And Stream

Hi all, there's an article in the recent issue of F&S magazine, in which the shotgun editor describes his restoration/makeover of a 12ga German SxS. He goes on to describe what he did to make this gun "updated". The gun from what I can see is a pretty plain basic BLNE gun, nothing fancy. In all he sunk about $1975.00 in it for the things he had done to it. He must have got a heck of a deal when he bought it.

Anyone else see this article? If so what did you think about his makeover?

Best,

Greg

If the amount he spent on restoring/making over his gun scares off potential buyers and thereby keeps prices on such guns lower, I'm all for it.

The re-coloring was not needed. He got a good price on the bluing. He could have had the chokes opened, or choke tubes installed, by Mike Orlen for a lot less. Likewise opening the chambers (and maybe lengthening the forcing cones). I dunno whether Mike has a dent raiser but I suspect he does; $125 for a small dent strikes me as a little bit high, but not by much. I paid a local smith $100 to have a dent raised and a thorough disassemble-and-inspect on an old hammergun. He probably could have polished and opened the bores a bit by himself with a power drill and steel wool.

But, he went the retail, name-brand route and it's his money.

Gun writers are a pretty cheap bunch. He likely got it all for free for mentioning names. When I was selling a lot of gunstocks, I averaged a call a week by a writer wanting one for free for mentioning my name.

It was a ridiculous article, par for the course in cast and blast magazines. Only Sports Afield has anything left to say/

I agree Bill - what the heck was his point anyhow?

Oh, I get it... he had to fill up some space in the magazine because his editor was getting antsy that the shotgun editor hadn't sent anything in yet, so he slapped that together.

I stopped reading Field & Stream, even off the rack at Barnes and Noble before deciding whether to buy a particular copy, after one of the shooting editors, Petzel?, wrote a really nasty article about Jack O'Connor. It sounds as if I am not missing anything.
I am a regular subscriber to Sports Afield, Shooting Sportsman, Gray's Sporting Journal, and others. F & S is not even close to the same league.

Here's the piece:
http://www.fieldandstream.com/How-to-Restore-Vintage-Double#page-3

Certainly basic, but hardly ridiculous. Nothing wrong with an article written for the masses that might just motivate someone born after 1965 to service an old SxS and actually carry it in the field. Doubleguns need not be exclusively for curmudgeonly older gentlemen.

Yup, I'm with ninepointer on this. BTW thanks for posting the link.

Not exactly the path I would take for a restoration but I'm not his target reader. Neither is anyone else who posts on here. Most shotgunners have no idea what's possible when they see old worn SxS on the rack. I read complaints here all the time about how "young people just want those new, black plastic guns." Or how "those 3" and 3.5" semi autos walk off the racks" but SxS sit for years. Nice to see a writer try to show that having a second look at those guns may be worthwhile.

This attitude of superiority that discourages and alienates potential new enthusiasts is what will kill prices far faster than anything else. I guess rather than being congenial and welcoming, you'd rather be the big swinging dicks of the SxS world.

I doubt it's just gun writers who are cheap, Pete. More likely most writers. I can guess as to why, as well. They probably get paid like crap. How much have you been paid by for the pieces I see floating around the net? Trading for goods or services would be a reasonable perk of the job. Don't like it, don't do it. Simple.

I like that they aren't collecting welfare.

Greg, to answer your specific question, I would not have approached the makeover the same way. While he finally gets around to the "buy the barrels" adage, that should have been front and centre at the start. He made no mention of barrel wall thickness, only actual bore dimensions. And he spent little time discussing options for the stock.

I'd have covered the barrels first, and I would have only had the bores polished and perhaps the chokes opened, not installed choke tubes. Then blued. I'd have re-done the stock specifically to have it glass bedded. For the average guy, new bluing and refinished wood and the gun looks pretty damn good. I would not have redone the CCH on that specific gun.....lots of cost and little gain. And finally, I would not use Briley but a collection of smiths that offer top notch work and better value. But I think Pete is right on the reasons for the choice of a big name, high cost outfit like Briley.