I tried to buy a third level H&H single 20 gauge boxlock a couple of weeks ago. Very plain and didn 't look nearly as well finished as a second level H&H double I own. It went for around $4000 which I thought was ridiculous.
Singles seem to be dirt cheap in England but are really hard to find in the US. If there were some method, it would be nice to accumulate a good size collection in England and make a bulk import.
I have an 1872 Scott 8 gauge Light Wildfowl in next to Best grade, a 10 gauge Galand 34" hammer market gun, a nice 12 gauge Birmingham hammer single, Manufrance Model 36 16 gauge Simplex and this Bonehill. These singles are some of the smoothest working shotguns I have owned (except the Simplex). The Bonehill has barrels that are .040 min at the front and really sturdy at the rear. That puts the weight at 5# 7oz which will be a joy to carry arond the farm. An oddity is that I am not sure if the barrel has been sleeved or that it was originally a monoblock design via a patent that Bonehill secured. I am leaning toward a barrel cleanup and reproof. The front half of the barrel is a typical 16 gauge size with a choke of around 20 thou. However the rear half of the barrel has been seriously opened up and is around .677-.680 in front of the chambers but tapers to .660 at the mid-barrel. It appears to be a true taper. The proof marks show a 17/1 original barrel, but reproof seems to have been in 1950 with a .677 bore, which is still the number 9" down. It is marked Sleeved. This doesn't seem likely with a new tube being used. Also the joint is visible and the top engraving is perfect across the joint and looks evenly used/worn across the joint. I believe the barrel was pitted and a gunsmith cleaned up the inside of the barrel and had it reproved. My guess is that the proof house marked it sleeved because of the visible joint. The relative size of the chamber area vs the barrel itself also makes me believe it was originally a monoblock. Whatever the journey, the barrel is still quite a bit thicker at all distances than the barrels of any other English 16 I own.
One nice touch on the Bonehill is the forend checkering. In the listing attached, there is no closeup but you can see what looks to be a crack or stain crossing the rear checkering area of the forend on both sides. This is actually a very thin ribbon that crosses the checkering area in a whimsical wandering pattern. The ribbon is convoluted and not much more than 1/8" wide, but the checkering is perfectly executed right up to the line along its whole length.
