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Auction Alert- Winchester, L.C. Smith and more…

Mar 29th, 2012 by

South Bay Auctions in East Moriches, LI, is having this Antiques, Fine art & Sporting Auction this Saturday, March 31st, 2012. The preview starts at 10:00am and auction begins at noon. There are a handful of nice double barrel shotguns, plus pumps and bolt rifles there, along with some nice sporting art and decoys.

Winchester Model 21 12 gauge at South Bay Auctions

Winchester Model 21 12 gauge at South Bay Auctions

Here are a few of the highlights. All these guns look clean and very original:

12 gauge Winchester Model 21 with 21-2 Engraving 12g

16 gauge L.C. Smith Field Grade

12 gauge Winchester Model 12 Heavy Duck Gun

An as new Winchester Model 12 -20ga. Pump shotgun, 28″ plain barrel

A&F Zanotti 28g. 26″ bbls, ejectors, single trigger, straight grip

Roy Vail Custom Sporting Rifle in .270

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Shooting with the King…

Mar 29th, 2012 by

The British double barrel shotguns that we revere today, the vintage Purdeys, Bosses, and Holland & Holland Royals, came about in a world of extreme privilege. Kings, Dukes, and other Lords dictated tastes. The few others who could afford it, followed.

Here’s are a couple fascinating looks into that world. This first one is a PDF titled “Shooting with the King at Sandringham”. It’s an account from a “ONE-TIME GUEST” of what to expect if King Edward the VII of England had you out to his place for a couple days of game shooting.

This video shows the same King doing the same thing: shooting at Sandringham.

KING EDWARD VII AT SANDRINGHAM

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Field Trial this weekend in Mass…

Mar 28th, 2012 by

Meat dog vs. Field Trial Dog. It’s a debate you hear all the time. Of course, the first step to an informed opinion on the subject is to see an actual field trial.

Field Trial

Field Trial

So if you live in the eastern Massachusetts area, here’s the listing for the Setter Club of New England’s trial this weekend. It’s being held at the FA Crane Management Area, Falmouth, MA.

This trial is open to setter, pointers, and to any other breed of pointing dog. It’s being run on liberated quail and native woodcock.

FYI: Dog entered in Saturday’s Classic and Sunday’s Amateur Shooting Dog stake needs to rock steady to wing and shot.

SETTER CLUB OF NEW ENGLAND ANNUAL SPRING WALKING FIELD TRIAL
March 31-April 1, 2012. Starts 7 a.m. daily

SATURDAY, MARCH 31
7 a.m. – PHIL FOGG CLASSIC (45 min.)
7 a.m. – OPEN PUPPY (20 min.)
FLORENCE HARWARTH OPEN DERBY (30 min.) — Follows OPEN PUPPY

SUNDAY, APRIL 1
AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG (30 min). Starts at completion of Classic, but not before Sunday at 7 a.m.
7 a.m. AMATEUR PUPPY (20 min.)
AMATEUR DERBY (30 min.) follow sAmateur Puppy)

GROUNDS: FA Crane Management Area, Falmouth, MA. From Bourne Bridge, take Route 28 South to Route 151 East and follow signs. Lunch served daily. Use of tracking collars and scouting on horseback is permitted. However, handlers must provide collar and make own scouting arrangements.

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Traveling with a travel gun…

Mar 27th, 2012 by

Traveling with a nice double barrel is an uncomfortable experience, especially when commercial airlines are involved. I’ve heard too many horror stories about favorite guns being damaged or stolen to rest peacefully when my side-by-sides are in the sky.

Worry about the landing, not about your guns

Worry about the landing, not about your guns

A couple of years ago I eliminated some of this anxiety by buying a travel shotgun. I picked a 20 gauge Beretta 686 Onyx with 28″ barrels. It’s an all around over & under that handles everything I hunt and all the ammo I need to stuff into it (including steel).

Most importantly, it’s not collectible and easy to replace. So if I lose it, or if it ends up severely damaged, I won’t cry because a valuable, hard to find side-by-side has been ruined.

Here are a couple quality double barrel shotguns that I think would make great travel guns. They’re nice guns, too, and I would be proud to carry either one in the field.

An affordable, meat-and-potatoes option: 12g Beretta Bl-3 O/U, 28″ barrels

If you run with a fancier crowd, this one’s more upscale and traditional: 12g Beretta 470 SxS, 28″ barrels

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A couple fun woodcock videos..

Mar 27th, 2012 by

I’ve posted this first video before. It’s gives you such a good look at the mating rituals of the American Woodcock that I want to share it again.

This second one is new and well worth a look. Enjoy.

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Another Charles Daly, this one a Diamond Grade…

Mar 27th, 2012 by

I wrote about this 24 gauge Charles Daly Regent Diamond grade A couple weeks ago. Today, lets look at a much earlier Daly double barrel.

Charles Daly Diamond Grade double barrel shotgun

Charles Daly Diamond Grade double barrel shotgun

This is a 12 gauge Diamond grade, one step down from the Regent Diamond, but in many ways a much more beautiful side by side. This gun was made in the 19th century, probably around 1892. Back then, Daly’s Diamond grade was their best shotgun, and Lindner went out of his way to make sure these were exceptional guns. You can see this quality in how well the action is sculpted and the stock is formed. The engraving is also fantastic.

The other thing I like about this gun i how no one thing steals the show. Instead, the wood, the engraving, the Extra Fine Damascus barrels, and the entire gun come together in one stunning impression.

Instead saying “Look at that wood” or “Wow, what fancy engraving,” I looked at this Daly and thought “Look at that ‘friggin gun!” To me, that’s what makes a a side-by-side a Best quality gun.

 

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W. & C. Scott Premier on Gunbroker.com….

Mar 26th, 2012 by

From about 1870 to the late 1880s, “The Premier Gun” was W. & C. Scott’s finest double barrel shotgun. Offered first as a hammer gun, and then in hammerless models, The Premier Gun was made right up until World War II.

12 gauge W. & C. Scott The Premier Gun double barrel shotgun

12 gauge W. & C. Scott The Premier Gun double barrel shotgun

Today, these side-by-side shotguns pop up on the market on a regular basis. This Premier was just on Gunbroker.com. I’m surprised by how much this one brought. While it’ looking pretty original, it does look like it as cracked through the hand at one time. But I guess at least a couple guys didn’t consider this a problem.

This Scott did come with some interesting accessories – including a mainspring compressor (pic #15) and a replacement set of mainsprings (pic #16). The paper shells an custom case were pretty cool, too.

BTW: I’m interested in purchasing any W. & C. Scott shotguns. If you have one for sale, please let me know.

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Guy De La Valdene on spring…

Mar 23rd, 2012 by

Bursts like this one where Valdene rifts on spring lift Making Game from reportage and into the world of art.

Russell Chatham - Spring Pond

Russell Chatham - Spring Pond

“Spring probes the imagination by tacking from gloom to color, from apathy to the naivete of revery, and by insinuating an inkling of clairty into the dull haze of hibernation. Her promise of life, of revelry, of natural beauty is deliberate, sometimes palpable, other times so faint as to be mistaken for passing fancy. Her curtain may loiter in midstream, only to reopen momentarily on the breast of a goldfinch or descend under the weight of a grey rain, all the time uprooting and tempting, taunting and promising the inevitable, until one morning, for no apparent reason, dawn sighs and a flushed breath of air warms the earth. Spring is the breakfast of the year.” pg.  29-30

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Auction Alert: Winchester M21, minty looking A grade A.H. Fox

Mar 23rd, 2012 by

Fusco Auctions in Willoughby, OH, has this handful of  shotguns going off tonight, starting at 5:30pm. Here are a couple that caught my eye:

 

Fusco Auctions

Fusco Auctions

Winchester M21 20g

Marholdt Over Under .375 Double Rifle, 12 gauge Shotgun 2 barrel set

A new-looking, 16g Fox A grade (it’s not a Sterly, the auctioneer has it wrong)

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From Guy De La Valdene’s Making Game…

Mar 20th, 2012 by

I’ve read Guy De La Valdene’s book Making Game last week and I’m going to share a few quotes here of the next few days. If you enjoy them, I suggest reading the  entire book. It’s well worth it.

Descent Through the Alders - American Woodcock painting. A by Patrick R. Godin.

Descent Through the Alders - American Woodcock painting. A by Patrick R. Godin.

“The Seneca Indians believed that the Creator made the woodcock from the leftover parts of every other bird. If that is true, his heart must be that of an eagle, for it is big and filled with the unique courage required to wander in solitude through the mysterious forests of his continent.” pg. 29

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