Hi Colin
Your reminiscences brought back a couple of connected memories to me. After my father (Capt. James M. Kirk) retired from the USAAF to England in 1963 he called in at the Rod & Gun Club halfway between Lakenheath and Mildenhall AFB in Suffolk, England and bought for me a brand new Habicht 12 bore/ gauge side by side non-ejector shotgun for the huge sum of $155, tax free. It came in a cheap dismal carboard box, where it lived for many years as a penniless student under my bed. Its chokes were 3/4 and full, which I had opened out to 1/4 and 1/2 many years back. With 2 3/4 " chambers it is now useful for steel loadings.
I now know that it was made in Spain in 1964 for the Austrian retailer Habicht. It has 27 1/2" barrels, pistol grip, sling swivels and a cheek piece, so nothing like a classic English game gun. However what it did do was to keep alive my interest in shooting, so I started pistol shooting in 1980, then rifles in 1996 and game shooting proper in 2014, mostly with my Webley 600.
Thanks Dad - a great Christmas present for a 17 year old!
HB
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