doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reliability of a hand made gun

This is a question for those, who owns a hand made shotgun.
Have you had malfunctions with your gun, what kind of troubles? How many shots have been fired? What spares has been replaced, rebuilds, services? Have you regret your buy? Etc EXPERIENCES, not opinions or rumours pls.

I have a single trigger SxS Piotti, made late 80's, only abt 1.000 shots has been fired, no malfunctions. Stock has been replaced because the original stock dimensios have been changed due to unknown reason. Great gun and would buy it again.

Define "...hand made...". I think there is a huge band of definition on this point of what constitutes a 'hand made' gun. Probably a huge amount of misconception as well.

Examples:
How would someone 'hand make' a barrel (without a machine)? Would anyone want a truly 'hand made' barrel?

How would one drill a hole from one side of a reciever to the other accurately without a machine? (BTW, a drillpress, whether hand turned or powered is a "machine")

The point is: where do you draw the line on what constitutes "hand made" with specific regard to how many and what machines were used to make a gun? I believe virtually all modern high quality guns are mostly machine made with more or less hand fitting and finishing.

With only a 1000 shots fired in almost 30 years the cheapest hardware store gun would probably be able to report the same success. Get 250,000 rounds through it and report back please?

Chuck. OK, I understand the problem, but let's not be too narrowminded with the term. Shall we say "hand made" and let the readers estimate if his gun is a higher level gun.

I'm curious how common it is that a higher lewel gun is a nightmare if durability is the issue.

Jerry. I'll get back to you after 5000 years.

Along the lines of Jerry's thoughts, I have a BSS 12g that I've had about 25 yrs and fired about 15,000 rounds thru before it needed the sears restoned. No other malfunctions.

I also have approx 6000 rounds thru a 20g Browning B525 in the last 3 yrs with no malfunctions.

And specifically to what Jerry mentioned about "hardware store guns" this little .410 is a 1926 Nitro Special that cost about $15 new and available at many hardware stores. Of course, this one has been customized extensively. It has consumed about 15 flats (3750) in the few yrs that I've had it.

In my experience problems can be had with any gun if it is not cared for correctly.Or in the case that I will relate to, the tolerances of the mechanismn do not suit the application.
A very wealthy friend purchased a H&H O/U 12guage.
His business associate not to be outdone also purchased one, my friend then purchased a H&H 20 guage for his wife, who shot occassionally.
The two guys shot birds regularly during the season and it was common for them to fire 750-1000 shells a day.Both guns suffered from malfunctions of the lockwork due to the ingress of dirt,carbon,unburnt powder etc., and they had to be regularly stripped and cleaned.This was to prove too much of an inconvenience so both guns were sent packing.The 20 guage performs flawlessly occassionally and the lady loves it and would never sell 'her baby'.
The two 12guage were replaced with Browning 525's and they are faultless for the job they are being used for.
I had a 20bore H&H for coaching for a year and if I didn't clean it meticulously it played up.Replaced with a Beretta 686
Two friends have bespoke guns, one went out three times this year, then visited his gunmaker each time after his outing, on the fourth visit he had ALL his money back.The second friend in the last two years has had 3 stocks and 1 pair of barrels, currently having his gun restocked for the fourth time.
I do have to say that due to the greed factor many vintage SxS are being subjected to abuse from modern 36gram shells (and lots of them) that they were never designed for.
That of course is only my observations and opinion.
Lord de Grey will vouch for Purdey no doubt if you ask him.
Colonel Hawker swears by Manton.
Major Burrard doesn't like Birmingham guns.

My Purdey is an 1889 sidelock. In my ownership I have used it every season for game shooting and year-round for pigeon shooting and clay shoots. It must have fired upwards of 8,000 shells in that time and the only problem I have encountered was a broken rear trigger blade when I let a relative with big muscles and small brain use it - he pulled extra hard (safety on) when the gun did not fire.

I have never had an English gun fail in use. I always carry a spare gun to a shoot (and usually end up lending it to someone else when their gun fails).

In my experience a well-made gun which is cared for will function well for years of normal use. Ejectors and single triggers is where it tends to get messy.also see owners wh fial to spot a small item of wear and do not rectify it - his eventually becomes a failure. Not the gun's fault.

The time-proven designs are the safest bet. Obscure patterns and new models carry the risk. That is why sxs 'Royals' and Purdey sidelocks are so popular.

pokslok,
I'm not trying to be coy. 'jus that drawing the line is nearly impossible. Probably much easier to just specify a price catagory. But even then, some will argue. I have an old friend that has a SCO Gold Side Plate, Pgun 4bbl skeet set that has 100s of thousands of rounds thru it with no problems I can recall. Similar story for another friend with an old very high grade K32. Some will probably discount the high end target guns as not 'hand made'. On the other hand, another friend has had quite a few problems with 2 of 3 newly purchased custom, made to order, guns for game from a respected maker.

My four year old machine made K-80 has somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 rounds through it. NO problems! You fellows need to put those toys to work.
bill

I have a pair of DMcKBs made for me about 15 years ago (I think). Used for a lot of driven shooting, never a mis-fire. This year, I left them the other side of the pond between seasons and thought I'd have them stripped, cleaned and serviced, if only because it's been a while since they left the shop. Absolutely no problems, but, at least, I now have fresh oil in the innards. A propos of Dig's comment, the only problem I know of with a pair of Boss SxSs made in '29 was a need to have the single trigger on one regulated once in the last generation. I believe the gold spring had to be replaced.These guns have also seen a lot of pheasants and partridge.