I was talking with the manager of a local gunshop that specializes in collectibles and older shotguns. He says the market for older American SxS is currently very soft; and also weak for Browning A-5's. Much more so than in recent years. He Had probably two dozen (plus) Parkers, Sterlingworths, Remingtons, SxS, etc. on the racks with little movement, at what I thought were reasonable prices. And he had about 10 A-5's in various condition. In prior years, those A-5's and Sterlingworth's priced under $1k would have moved quickly.
I suspect much of this is age related. I often shoot at several sporting clay ranges. The younger guys (under 40, of which there are many) all seem to shoot O/U's or modern semi-autos with choke tubes. The only guys that I see shooting SxS's have more gray hair than I do -- or no hair at all.
Its not surprising that Spanish SxS makers, such as Ugartechea and Arrieta are going broke. These younger shooters seem unlikely to lay out $4k to $10k for a new SxS.
The times, they are a changing...
gold40
