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Sidelock
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Sidelock
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Yes, there is such a thing as a best work gun. Yes, a boxlock can be of best work.

We in the USA live(d) in a socioeconomic system that promoted mass produced goods of a somewhat narrow range of quality whereas the Brits live(d) in a socioeconomic system that promoted handmade goods varying widely in quality.

All Brit vendors of guns could get out a best work gun. Because the gun trade supported many makers/workers (outworkers) to the trade. Price for services rendered determined quality of work.

Best work guns were and remain fearsomely expensive. The upper levels of Brit culture were fearsomely wealthy. Best work guns were only one of many best work goods available and needed to maintain place in society.

Brit guns are for the most part true to the grade they were built for. That is, they have grade harmony of wood quality, engraving quality, fit and finish, design, and materials. You rarely see, say, high grade wood on a pedestrian grade gun.

A London style sidelock of best work is both a quality statement and a fashion statement. On the other hand, a boxlock of best work is a quality statement only.

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Rocketman,
That is a very good explanation of it.
Karl

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Originally Posted By: Karl Graebner
Rocketman,
That is a very good explanation of it.
Karl

I agree as well

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Sidelock
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A Dickson round action is a fashion statement if ever I saw one.


"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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Sidelock
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"Best work guns were and remain fearsomely expensive."

In the 1920s a best London sidelock retailed for 100 pounds. At that time a Royal Navy captain earned about 450 pounds annually. Ordering a London best was not beyond the ability of the non wealthy.

Today the same gun costs twice the annual salary of a Royal Navy captain. There are other factors at work here.

And a personal experience. In the early 1960s a H&H Royal cost about 1500 pounds. It was about the same price as a regular small English car. Our local butcher bought one. He could afford it. Then came the 1970s and the inflation era, followed by the 1980s engraving madness and the scene changed drastically.

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A best gun is the best gun made by a gunmaker . There are some makers who make very expensive guns that would be considers "best ". There are cheaply made guns that have shot thousands of rounds without any problem .There are watches that cost thousands yet my Ł45.00 watch I bought nearly 20 years ago works well and keeps excellent time . My small car is great in the town and on narrow country lanes so a best Rolls or Bugatti would be less good for my needs .
Basically you can talk as much as you like as to which is best but it all come down to what you like , what you can afford and what you use it for and what you dream about .

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Gunman, a Rolls, with all that highly skilled hand work going into the hand polished facia and the leather seats etc, costs 150 dollars per kilo.

A London best goes for about 40 000 dollars per kilo.

No way I will accept that are are more valuable materials or more skilled handwork in a shotgun than in a Rolls, or Ferrari.

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Originally Posted By: Shotgunlover
Gunman, a Rolls, with all that highly skilled hand work going into the hand polished facia and the leather seats etc, costs 150 dollars per kilo.

A London best goes for about 40 000 dollars per kilo.

No way I will accept that are are more valuable materials or more skilled handwork in a shotgun than in a Rolls, or Ferrari.


False analogy. Comparative weight is immaterial. It is hours spent to craft the item and the cost of materials used.

Last edited by canvasback; 07/12/20 08:41 AM.

The world cries out for such: he is needed & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia
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I don’t think it matters much what a ‘Best’ gun costs today. The so called golden age of gun making corresponded with the golden age of the British empire. The market for sporting guns was probably much more vigorous, and the class system might have made best features a requirement to various degrees and not a luxury.

I think there can be subjective thoughts of best guns and features, but there seems to be enough understood qualities in common that British best guns can universally discussed.

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"False analogy. Comparative weight is immaterial. It is hours spent to craft the item and the cost of materials used. "

Well, I have watched skilled car mechanics assemble V12 engines single handed. I would rate the cost of the materials pretty high, higher than the lock parts of a sidelock anyway, and the skill at least equal to that of an actioner. And it takes a long time to assemble a blue printed V12. I would venture that it takes longer than regulating a lock. Yet replacing a lock on a London best costs more than a brand new V12 engine.


We refuse to accept the obvious: guns are a passion and some people are milking this passion to the full.

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