When it comes to collecting vintage shotgun, there are three things I focus on: condition, condition, & condition. Take a look at the hammer prices in an auction catalog and you’ll see why: original condition holds its value and sells, and I want to buy side-by-side shotguns that are going to be worth more in the future, not less.

Stephen Grant 12g Double Barrel Shotgun

With this in mind, here are a couple guns that really caught my eye last weekend at the Southern Side by Side. Both of these double barrel shotguns– a Charles Lancaster and a Stephen Grant–are awfully original (the buttstock on the Lancaster had been cut and the bbls on the Grant were rebrowned). But considering that both gun were made in the 1870s and the amount of original color, blueing, and wood finish they had, I still wanted both guns.

The Charles Lancaster is a very odd gun: a 16g with a sidelever. Charles Lancaster was actually Charles William Lancaster. His father had the same name and both of them were barrel men and gunmakers of the first order. Charles Lancaster, Sr., founded this firm of gun makers in 1826. He was located at 151 New Bond Street, London. His eldest son, Charles William Lancaster, joined him in about 1845. Both of them were well known for turning out fantastic guns and they were famous throughout England as barrel makers of the first order.

If there was one gun at the Southern that just stunk of class, the Stephen Grant was it. It is a quintessential British hammergun. This gun was made in 1877 and it has all the classic Grant features: including a sidelever and the Grant & Hodge’s Patent action. The gun also had toe and heel plates. It was fantastic.

When it comes to prices, the used-gun market is made up of dreamers, realists, and fools. Dreamers put ridiculously high prices on guns and, well, dream. Realists price right down the middle. They move stuff and their inventory turns over at a regular pace. Then there are the fools. Some of their prices too high, others are too low. Overall, you get the sense that these folks have no idea what they’re doing.

$120,000 for a 12 gauge Purdey pigeon gun?

For example, check out Kevin’s of Thomasville. Their prices are just plain wacky. So wacky, that I have to say something. Who knows? Maybe Kevin will drug test the folks who prices his used guns. I’m pretty sure they’re stuffing more than Captain Black in their pipes.

This Purdey is what I’m talking about. They want $120,000 for this gun. No, that’s not a typo – $120,000 friggin dollars! Sure it’s a nice–32″ bbls, low hammers, high stock, nice condition–and it may be pretty original (hard to say from the pics). I’m sure it crushes birds. But there’s simply no way it’s worth that kind of dough. I think half that would still be too much.

This 12g hammerless Purdey Pigeon gun at Lewis Drake is nicer. It’s overpriced ($87,500), but probably by just $20-$25,000. This 28 gauge Purdey that Drake had was $97,500. Still cheaper than Kevin’s 12g Purdey.

12 gauge Purdey at Lewis Drake

The lunacy doesn’t stop there for Kevin’s, either. Here are a few more guns with wacky prices on them.

A 12 gauge Parker DHE with 30″ barrels — $15,000.

A 10 gauge Parker PH with 36″ barrels — $15,000.

And on and on it goes. Pretty crazy.

There are a bunch of  decent, D-grade Parker double barrel shotguns on Gunbroker right now.

Parker D-grade hammergun, 10 gauge

The first one is this 10 gauge D-grade hammergun. To my eye, the gun looks cleaned up a bit. The action looks too silver to be all original. A few of the screws are buggered, so it has been monkeyed with a bit. The finish on the barrels is odd, too. The seller is offering a 3-day inspection and this is definitely a gun I would want a certified Parker expert to go over before I closed the deal.  It’s a rare gun, though.

There’s also this nice DHE 12 gauge on a #1 frame. This gun looks all original and it has it’s original butt plate. The gun weighs 7lbs, so it would be a nice shooter. I bet it won’t hit its reserve, though.

Here’s another 12 gauge DHE like the one above. It’s another nice side-by-side shotgun. This one has been on Gunbroker for a while, though, and it’s getting stale. I doubt it will sell.

Parker DHE double barrel shotgun, 12 gauge, 2-bbl set

Finally, there’s this 12g DHE two barrel set. The seller is calling it “Unique and Important.” I don’t know about that, but it is neat. It has two sets of damascus barrels–26″ and 30″. It also has sling swivels and a bunch of spare parts in their original paper envelope from Parker. According to the seller, everything on the gun letters as original. The finish on everything sure looks good. That canvas case is probably original, too. Pretty cool.

On January 1, the E.M Reilly 4 bore side-by-side hammer shotgun I posted the other day hammered down for $4,700. With the premium, that comes to $5,170.

E.M. Reilly Shotgun

I talked to the purchaser. He didn’t inspect the gun before he bid, so he’s a very brave guy. He said he has been looking for a double-barrel 4 bore shotgun for a long time. I guess they’re quite are. The buyer plans to clean the gun up as best he can. He’ll report back when he’s through.

There’s an interesting thread about the gun here. One of the posters pointed out that this Reilly was converted from a breechloading pinfire to a breechloading centerfire. Check out that thread for the details.

You can see some excellent pics of how pinfires work here.