Woodward Over & Under shotguns make me crazy. They are one of the most elegant double barrel shotguns every made — without a doubt — and the ones I’ve handled have been some of the finest shotguns I’ve ever seen.

Pair of 20 gauge Woodward Over Under Shotguns

James Woodward & Sons introduced their Over & Under in 1913 (Boss’s came out in 1909). I’m not how many they made before being bought by James Purdey & Sons in 1949 — but I would guess it was fewer than 300 O/Us all together.

Most of these were 12 gauges, with some 16 gauges and a handful of 20 gauges. Woodward also made at least one O/U in .410 and maybe some in 10 gauge and 28 gauge (I’ve never seen or heard of 10g or 28g Woodward O/U, but that doesn’t mean much).

With such small production numbers, decent Woodward O/Us are hard to find today. Pairs of them rarely come on the market. Pairs of 20 gauge Woodward O/Us are practically unknown. That’s why these guns that Lewis Drake has are so stunning. They’re a true pair of 20gs, made in the 1930s for King Michael of Romania. It’s good to be the king.

Pic courtesy Lewis Drake. All rights reserved.

The hammer dropped today at Julias on this stunning Boss O/U. When the action stopped, one hand was up and the bid was $165,000! With the 15% premium, that means the new owner of this spectacular double barrel shotgun will write a check for about $190,000.

Stunning Boss O/U 20g shotgun, circa 1938

I saw this over-and-under shotgun at Julia’s preview on Saturday. I was fortunate to run into a friend there. My friend has been chasing fine guns since the ’60s. He has the knowledge, skills, and background to know fine doubles. When I asked him about this Boss, he told me it was one of the best, and maybe the finest, British double he has ever seen. It did have it all – quality, condition, vintage, and rarity time two (a rare Boss single, selective trigger, and an even rarer rising-bite-style Boss action) – and it’s a gun that couldn’t be duplicated today at any price.

Stunning Boss O/U 20g shotgun, circa 1938

Stunning Boss O/U 20g shotgun, circa 1938

Stunning Boss O/U 20g shotgun, circa 1938

Here’s a rare American double barrel shotgun for you to check out. It’s a 20g A.H. Fox Sterlingworth Skeet & Upland game.

Skeet & Upland Games were a subset of Fox’s Sterlingworth line. Introduced in 1935, they were offered in 12, 16 & 20 gauge, and with 26″ & 28″ barrels. You can read more about them here.

I’ve had one of these Foxes for a little while and I just listed it for sale on Gunbroker.com. Below are some more pics of it. The finish is all original, so what you’re seeing is all factory.

This a nice little G-grade Lefever 20g shotgun going off tomorrow at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, TX.

20 gauge Lefever, G grade

The double barrel looks like it has a lot of original finish and color. In 20 gauge, and with 28″ barrels, it’s a hard gun to find. Too bad about all that drop in the stock, though. Unless you’re built like giraffe, or you have a fondness for missing, I don’t see how you would ever be happy with it.

Rock Island Auctions

Rock Island Auctions has a few rare A.H. Fox double barrel shotguns coming up at their regional auction this weekend.

One is this 20 gauge SP. A.H. Fox made introduced the SP grade in 1935. You can read all about them here.

This 12 gauge Skeet & Upland Game is the other rare Fox. This is another grade that A.H. Fox introduced in 1935. You can read more about it here.

There are also a bunch of Sterlingworths at this auction, like this 20 gauge and this one in 16. There’s also this real clean looking 16 gauge in A grade.

How much is a Boss 20 gauge, round-body with 17″ barrels worth? How about  $40,000! At least that is one brought a few weeks ago at Bonhams’ July 18th action.

20 gauge Boss #7788 with 17" barrels

Here’s its description from the catalog:

A fine and highly unusual 20-bore (3in) single-trigger assisted-opening round-bodied sidelock ejector gun by Boss & Co., no. 7788

This gun was one of a trio of 17″ Boss 20 gauges made for beer magnate A.E. Guinness. Round body, Boss twenty gauge side-by-sides are pretty rare, especially with original 3″ chambers. I bet the made fewer than 10.

I have no idea why A.E. Guinness. wanted such short barrels. You have to wonder how they handle. Mr Guiness must have used them for driven game. I can’t think of any other reason for ordering a trio.

The description in Bonham’s catalog does say that the stock was originally about 13 3/4″ inches long. Perhaps Mr Guiness was a small man? Or maybe he was tipsy on the family’s product when he placed the order?

The rest of the sale seemed pretty soft, with a lot of guns not selling. You can see the entire catalog online here.

Guys call me all the time about shotguns.

L.C. Smith double barrel, side-by-side shotgun, No. 2 grade, pre-1913

Most of the side-by-sides they mention are every day doubles — Nitro Specials, Sterlingworths, no-name Euro shotguns from WW2. The callers are nice folks; I’m happy to help them out. They ask questions, I throw out values and usually say no thanks when buying is mentioned.

But every now and then something nice pops up and makes it all worthwhile.

Last March a gentleman from Maryland called me about a double barrel. In less than twelve weeks, this shotgun would change hand three times and almost double in price.

“YOU   THE   FELLA   INTERESTED   IN   L.C.   SMITHs?” he hollered at me over the phone. He spoke slowly, with an accent that sounded just south of the Mason Dixon line.

“Yeah, that’s me,” I said.

“I’ve got one – a 20 gauge No. 2. Twenty-eight inch barrels, ejectors, two triggers…”

He gave me the run down.  “What kind of stock?” I asked, scrambling to find a pen and paper for notes.

“Straight.”

I looked harder for a pen and paper.

“What about condition?” I said, expecting bad news.

“Ninety-nine percent” he said matter of factly.

“You mean 99% refinished?”

“No – I mean 99% ALL ORIGINAL,” he said, hollering again. “I DOUBT ITS HAD A BOX OF SHELLS THROUGH IT.”

Well now, I thought, a 20 gauge No. 2, 99% ALL ORIGINAL. That’s a gun.

Minty 2E 20 gauge L.C. Smith side-by-side shotgun

Twenty gauge, pre-1913 LCs are hard to find. The Hunter Arms Company didn’t start making them until 1907. In the next six years they turned 5,198 twenties, fewer than 5% of all the guns they made from 1889 to 1913.

They made just 404 twenties in No. 2 grade. Probably fewer than 10% had straight grips, or 40-50 guns. And this caller had one that was almost new, meaning it could be the finest in existence.

“Let me get this straight,” I said, slowing down the conversation to gather my thoughts. “Your Smith is a 20g No. 2 grade, two triggers, ejectors, 28″ bbls, a splinter forend, straight grip, 14 1/4″ to a buttplate, and just about all its original condition. Is that right?”

“Yes sir. And it’s in its original case.”

I hesitated, thinking wow.

“So what are you looking to get for it?”

“$7,500″

“$7,500?” I replied, pausing for affect. “That’s a lot.”

English stock on the 20 gauge L.C. Smith double barrel shotgun

“It’s a lot of gun,” he stated without hesitation. He was right – if the gun really was in near-new condition.

“Well, how about you send me some photos and we’ll see what we can do.”

He agreed. We hung up and all I could think was how am I going to scrounge up $7,500?

Nice guns have always been expensive. Even though Hunter Arms considered No. 2s to be lower- to middle-grade shotguns “…just right for rough usage…” they still cost a lot of money.

In 1907, a 20g No. 2E L.C. Smith was $95. At that time, most guys in America earned $300 a year. This means $95 shotgun was 31% of their annual salary. Today, the average American male makes $44,000.  Thirty-one percent of that equals $14,000 – a lot of money for a gun (just ask your wife). So was $7,500 was actually a bargain price for this LC? Perhaps.

After several weeks of waiting, pictures of the 20g L.C. arrived. They weren’t the best, but the gun looked right. The only problem: I still hadn’t found $7,500. In the end, I had to pass on the gun.

But instead of letting it get away, I forwarded the pics to a friend. A few weeks later he brought the gun home with him in the trunk of his car. The final price: $7,200.

LC Smith 2E 20 gauge shotgun, all original

My friend is a crazy for vintage American guns. When he saw this LC Smith he had to have it. “You just don’t walk away from condition like that,” he told me afterwards as we rehashed the deal.

But even though this LC was almost new, my friend soon traded it to a dealer. A week later this dealer had the little Elsie 20g on the open market for $9,995.

My friend and I were both surprised. Ten grand for a LC Smith No. 2 grade? While they’re nice, they’re not that nice – at least not to us. That kind of money lifts you into another league of double barrel shotguns.

But what did we know? Within a few weeks the gun sold to a second dealer. When it appeared on his website, the asking price had jumped – to $12,995!

L.C. Smith 2E 20 gauge side by side shotgun

In just a few months this 20 gauge LC Smith had gone from $7,200 to $12,995. That’s an 80% jump in value.

I wish my 401(k) would perform just as well.

Thanks to a friend of mine for the color images.

First image is from the L.C. Smith Collector’s Organization web site.