Ithaca NID Magnum 10 double barrel shotgun

Here in America, bigger is better. 72″ big screen TVs? Awesome. Ford F350s? Love ‘em. King Kong burgers? Yes, please! For shotgun shooters, magnum loads are right in line with this obsession. And when it comes to magnums, the 3 1/2″ 10 gauge is king.

The Western Cartridge Co. introduced the mag 10 in 1932. It was stuffed with 2 ounces of shot and it generated a brain-bruising amount of kick. To handle it, Ithaca developed the NID Magnum-Ten side by sides. These doubles came standard with 32″ bbls and they weighed 10-11 lbs+ plus. The first one was serial number 500,000. From 1932 -1942, Ithaca made 887 of them in all. Here’s a bit about them from Michael McIntosh’s book Best Guns:

From Michael McIntosh's book Best Guns

Today, you can usually find a few Ithaca NID Magnum 10s on the market. They're usually expensive, but that's how it goes. Nice things are never cheap.

ITHACA, NID, GRADE 2, 10 GAUGE - $3950

3 1/2" MAGNUM, 32" BARRELS, FULL AND FULL, EXCELLENT BLUE, MIRROR BORES.  AUTOMATIC EJECTORS, NICELY ENGRAVED WITH GAME BIRDS, SCROLL, BORDERS AND STIPPLEWORK, SOME CASE COLOR, TOP LEVER TO THE RIGHT.  MOST OF THE ORIGINAL BLUE ON TRIGGER GUARD.  PISTOL GRIP STOCK, SPLINTER FOREARM, HIGHLY FIGURED WOOD WITH EXCELLENT CHECKERING AND FINISH.  1 1/2" X 2 1/2" X 14", PACHMAYER PAD WITH SPACER, 11 POUNDS.  SERIAL NUMBER OVER 500,000.  ONLY 164 PRODUCED.  CIRCA MID 1930'S.  SCARCE GUN.

Lefevers are my favorite American shotguns and E-grades are my favorite Lefevers. With 6 grades above it and 4 below it, the E was sort of Lefever’s middle-grade side by side.

12 gauge Lefever EE grade double barrel shotgun

This E grade is a nice, clean example of a 12 gauge. The price – $2950 – is pretty fair, too. For comparison, here’s another Lefever EE in 12 gauge.

With just a bit more finish than the F grade, and less detailing than upper grades like this B, Lefever’s E grade is where the styling is just right. In 1904 it cost $100 without ejectors, $115 with – expensive, but $300 cheaper than Lefever’s top gun – the Optimus.

BTW: If you have a 16 gauge Lefevers for sale, contact me right away. I’m interested in purchasing it.

Check it out. This short video shows male sharptail grouse having it out over some females. Pretty amazing footage.

Alexander Martin 2" 12 gauge double barrel shotgun

Two-inch twelve gauge shotguns have never been very popular. Designed to be full bodied substitutes for small bores, the two-inchers give you the light weight of a 20 gauge on the large sized frame of a twelve. The result is a sub six-pound side-by-side that fits better in a adult shooter’s hands.

While it sounds like a great idea, it’s not one that really took off. Today, for every 200 hundred standard British boxlocks you see, you may come across a single 2″ example. Usually, these loners are pretty worn, and they often have 26″ barrels and short stocks. That’s why this Alex Martin caught my eye.

Check out the pics and specs below and you’ll see a near-new, original gun with great dimensions. Best of all, it’s price is very fair: just  £2995.

From the Kelbrook’s Shooting School’s site:

Slovakian Rough-Haired Pointer, from Craig Koshyk's Pointing Dog blog

In the world of bird-dogs, the Slovakian Rough-Haired Pointer is still just a pup. With less than 60 years under its collar as a recognized line of Continental hunting dogs, it’s a pointer that’s still evolving and being defined.

The Slovakian Rough-Haired Pointer’s main ancestors are the Weimaraner, the German Wirehaired Pointer and the Cesky Fousek, and you don’t have to look closely to see the forefather’s stamp on the progeny. With it’s dun-coat, old-man beard, and intelligent face, it’s easy to see where the Slovakian Rough-Haired Pointer came from. What remains to be seen is if this dog will have enough appeal in the future to survive as a distinct breed.

You can find out more about the Slovakian Rough-Haired Pointer in Craig Koshyk’s book Pointing Dogs: Part One, the Continentals. It’s a great read and well worth the money.

Slovakian Rough-Haired Pointer, from Craig Koshyk's Pointing Dog blog

A.H. Fox 20g CE grade double barrel shotgun

Here’s a quick alert on a couple double barrel shotguns I just came across. These guns are at Gunrunner Online Auctions and there are a few other nice side-by-side and over-unders there, too.

-An A.H. Fox CE Grade, 20 ga. side by side shotgun with 26″ steel barrels, . Serial #201055, mfg. 1918.

-Winchester Model 21 “Tournament Skeet”, 20 ga. side by side, 26″, mfg. 1936. Straight grip checkered stock with checkered butt. Single selective trigger. Ejectors.

UPDATE:  The Fox brought $7580, the M21 $6990.

Winchester Model 21 Tournament Skeet grade double barrel shotgu

Woodcock, by A.J. Hand

“Once upon a time,” the story is told, a covey of grey partridge roamed the plains of Zair. Among them a small, pitiful individual feebly vegetated while her powerful brothers and sisters ridiculed her, keeping the best grain and insects for themselves. To survive, the little partridge was reduced to seeking minute morsels of food in the fissures of rocks and hard-to-get-at places. Unfortunately, her short beak did not always allow her to reach her food, and she grew weaker.

The Virgin Mary, witnessing her misery from paradise, was saddened and called her to heaven. The partridge curled up in her hand and listened as the Virgin said, “Little bird, I am going to transform you, so that you may know the joys of life. Thrown out by your kind, you will now live alone in the serenity of the forests, where along with silence you will also find an abundance of food. You will be the elegant hostess of the underbrush and will generate the admiration of those who love nature. Your capricious flight and your intelligent defenses will allow you to escape your pursuers. I will protect you.”

The Virgin laid three fingers on the little bird’s head, leaving three brown transversal imprints now called the “Virgin’s fingers.” Her beak lengthened, her plumage took on a golden hue, and she flew back to earth as guardian of the forests.

So was born the woodcock, also called “Our Lady of the Woods.”

-Guy De La Valdene’s Making Game: An Essay in Woodcock, pages 95-96. Photo by A.J. Hand.

A.H. Fox 20 gauge CE grade double barrel shotgun

Here’s a side-by-side you don’t see every day. It’s a 20 gauge A.H. Fox CE double barrel shotgun and it’s being auctioned off at Little John’s on Wednesday, May 23. The C grade was Fox’s mid-grade gun. From one of their catalogs: “This is the grade that has made good everywhere. In every respect it is a high grade. It’s beauty in looks and finish. No gun will stand up better to hard work. Its every detail is perfect. And at the price it is in a class absolutely by itself.”

Fox introduced 16 & 20 gauge guns around 1911-1912 and the company called their new smallbores “The most perfectly proportioned small-gauge gun ever built.” A lot of Fox collectors would agree with this statement, and because Fox made so few graded 20 gauges, this CE is sure to attract a ton of interest. Add in it’s condition and the presence of the original hang tag and this side-by-side could each go for $10,000+.

Winchester M21 double barrel shotgun

I don’t know a thing about Winchester Model 21s. Let me rephrase that. I know just enough about Winchester M21 to wonder if this 16 gauge with double triggers, 28″ barrels, and a straight grip is the real thing. I’ve seen all these features on other M21 double barrel shotguns, but I’ve never seen them all together on a sixteen.

The oddest looking this on this side-by-side is the stock. Even though the gun has a long triggerguard, I just can’t convince myself that the stock is original. So what do you think? If there are any M21 experts out there, let us know. Is this gun the real deal, or just another franken double trying to pass itself off as an American classic?

W.J. Jeffrey Boxlock Ejector Shotgun

Ninety percent of the double barrel British shotguns we come across are standard UK 12 gauges. They weigh 6 1/2 – 6 3/4lbs, they have 2 1/2″ chambers, and they’re proofed for 1 1/8 ounces of shot.

That’s what makes this double barrel special. With original 2 3/4″ chambers and being proofed for 1 1/4″oz of shot, it’s  was built for heavier loads. Think of it as a British light-magnum, and at 7.5lbs it weighs about as much as regular American 12g like a Fox Sterlingworth.

A shotgun like this Jeffrey was probably made for shooting wood pigeons and smaller wildfowl. Today, it would be a great gun on wild pheasants or sporting clays.