doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How do you define a best gun?

This ties into my post about when to restore and when not to. If I am going to spend money on a restoration, I'd rather restore a "best gun" rather then a lesser grade.

For the makers that made guns of different levels of quality, how do you define a "best gun"? Are there little things that you only seen on a maker's best gun?

On edit: While my interest right now is English (including Scotland) hammerguns, learning more about other makes and other types is still of interest. One never knows when a bargain might come along and it would be nice to be able to recognize it when it happens.

This is a wide open question with varying answers depending upon time of manufacture among other things. Do you have a specific type of gun in mind? The reason I ask is your tag on your posts.

a best gun is the best the maker can make

maybe not the fanciest - but the best- with the most care and craftsmanship

It all depends on the individual. I have paid to have damascus guns restored that certainly aren't considered best guns. But they aren't bottom end guns either. I had them restored because they needed it and I look at them as guns from another era where things were hand crafted and today are considered to be almost a lost "art form". Whatever their value is down the line is not really important to me and was not the reason or a concern when I had them done. In fact, they will likely be passed down to family members if anyone is interested in them. Now if resale value down the line is a big concern, then yes one had better look long and hard at what kind or type of gun money will be spent on. It all depends on the reason that motivates you to have a gun restored. Of the guns I have had done, I know I will never see my money back. But they are a thing of beauty, at least to me. And as mentioned, a best gun can mean different things depending on the time period or type of gun. It may even mean different things to different people.

I would say "Best" guns are considered to be London made guns.
Boss, Purdey, Woodward and Holland are considered all Best guns.
Occasional you will see some boxlocks described as Best quality and indeed they look fantastic. Purdey and Holland made lower quality grade guns as well but Boss and Woodward never did.
But it all comes back to the fantastic four I have mentioned.
One would say that it has to be stocked to the fences and without any barrel lumps protruding through the bottom of the receiver to qualify as Best.
But Boss made guns not stocked to the fences and they were considered a Best gun.

Best guns were described to me as guns with intercepting sears. So that leaves out all American guns.

To this day cannot understand why intercepting sears are such a big deal, the Europeans that shoot them are never moving anyway, unless they fall over backwards. If the American gun builders thought it was such a good idea they would have added them.

Not really, I fully expect to stick with English hammered shotguns for the foreseable future, but I might change my mind.

Mostly I'm looking for visible signs to look for on a gun, both toward possible restoring a gun and for any future purchases as well.

Hammer guns will not have the same clues to work with as a hammerless gun such as stocked to the fences, intercepting sears, or lack of a through lump. You really need to know a bit about guns from the time period, patents and the use of them in the British trade as well as a good eye. There are no simple answers. By sticking to well known makers you can certainly keep the odds in your favor but ultimately most every manufacturer, with the exception of Boss made a variety of quality levels. If you are unsure you can still contacts many British makers and see if they still have the order books. Many charge for the service of looking a gun up while others, such as H&H will read it to you no charge but only charge you if you want a copy of the ledger and a letter.
Steve

Depends on if you are the seller or the buyer !

If it is mine, it is a Best Gun.

If it is yours, it can be a Best Gun if you give it to me

Simple, right?

Mike