doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com "Entry Level" SxS's - Your Opinion

"Entry level" perhaps means the gun purchased to satisfy ones curiousity of the two barrel gun. It is the gun used as a benchmark to compare as one learns what makes a "Fine gun" or "Best Gun". It may also be called "the rainy day gun" or the "truck gun" or the "barn gun" etc. It may also be the gun that is handed down to an entry level hunter with hope he will learn the virtues of double barrels. As said it could be a Baikal or a SKB, a L.C. Smith or a Fox. I think it is probably the first step in really learning about shotguns. Until a person starts thinking two barrels they really know little about shotguns.

My 2 cents,
Kurt

gjw were you talking old, new, antique...hammer gun, sidelock, box lock ?
Shooters, wall hangers or closet Queens ?

See a SxS you like don't be afraid to ask questions on here before you buy. Someone on here will know the ins and outs of it. ....might save you in the long run.

Brand name vintage entry level guns, that are in top form will wear out your ATM card in no time flat.

I'd like to give this one a look see...sounds too nice to be true....A rebrown job on those Damascus barrels.


http://www.gunsinternational.com/detail.cfm?id=100016559&string=cid=289

There you go, one man's entry level is another's Holy Grail!

For me an entry level SxS was a Nitro Special or field grade NID with good dimensions.

Agreed. Mine was (is) a 16ga Stevens Springfield 5100 for which I paid $200. Now it backs up my Sterlingworth 16, which is an entry level gun to some folks!

I would focus on the ones from true game gun category with nice handling. Here is the ones I'm familiar with: Birmingham-made BLNE like GE Lewis, BSA, ........ Jap Sakaba 'Royal' (copy of W & S 700), Sakaba 100, IG Modelo 30, pre-WWII German guns like the Sauers in field grade, post-WWII VEB-made BLNE guns,.....
Let's face it, it should come close to or best 12 GAUGE Franchi 48AL semi-auto. I just don't think entry level one can best or equal the 20ga version!

I have a clear route I usually stick to when someone is toying with the idea of a side-by-side on alimited budget. for under £500 it is still possible to find decent and sound Birmingham made (retailed by many Birmingham and provincial makers) boxlock non-ejectors in 12-bore.

These give good service, are well made, uncomplicated and offer good value for money.

Entry-level certainly suggests "starter" package. On the field of education and experience, might mean otherwise. As a young man, my Dad's 20 ga. single shot was my introduction to hunting, gun safety. A Brum boxlock 12 allowed me entry to a different way of thinking about gunwgt, handling, payloads. A used AyA #2 was a relatively inexpensive 3-D aid for examining the Brett's Peerage experience. An old Ithaca 37 Deerslayer is still my home security and FPF goto and the price was certainly entry-level for anything that will shoot. I "entered" the world of high-grade guns with a salt-suspect Diana Super and a couple of Ithaca 4Es Certainly "entry level" pricing by the standards of collectors. While engaged in target sports, I'm not surprised one fellow's Stoeger Condor has outlasted another's Beretta. Even the cheaply made ones are surprisingly capable of volume shooting without breakdown. If your money won't squeeze thru the back entrance, you can take it around front where the portals are wider. You seldom get twice the gun for twice the price. Uggie m30s and 221s were and maybe still are a true bargain.

jack

And with that said, I'm more interested in what a person can do with a gun than what gun they do it with.

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