Check out this quick little video of some folks hunting for grouse and woodcock in Maine. It’s pretty well done. (FYI – turn you audio down before it gets going. The music is a bit much.)

BTW: Do you think he popped that first grouse out of that pine tree?

Parkers double barrel shotguns are probably the most popular, and most collectible, of the vintage America side by sides. Here’s a good look at one of the earliest Parker designs – the Under Lifter hammergun. I handled a number of under-lifter Parkers. They’re surprisingly easy to open/close.

Amoskeag’s 11/19 auction has a bunch of good double barrel shotguns coming up in it. Here a couple that would be ideal in the uplands.

20g Browning Superlight - of all the classic “America” shotguns, the Belgian Brownings are the most shootable. With modern dimensions and chambers, they’re very handy guns. Most of them are heavy, though. The Superlights are the exception. In 20g, they make great upland guns.

20g Browning Superlight Shotgun

20g Parker DHE - This is a nice, later Parker (1937) with a straight grip, 14 1/2″ LOP and 2 1/2″ of drop. That’s a combination you see in very few vintage American doubles, and it makes this Parker very desirable. The only drawback is that I’m sure a lot of people will be after it.

20g Parker DHE Double Barrel Shotgun

Work!  It really gets in the way. If I didn’t need the money, I wouldn’t go. It’s been a busy couple of weeks at the office, so I’ve had little time for being here (or in the field). BUT tomorrow is October 1 — the best time of the year –and I’ll be out  bright and early, gun in hand, head full of hopes.

The weather is supposed to be wet, so it looks like ducks in the AM and maybe some grouse later on. I’ll be carrying a 12g Fox HE for the ducks and I’m anxious to see how I do. I’ve never hunted waterfowland I’m psyched to see it happen. My girl HATES rain, so we’ll see how things go on grouse.

There are two big auctions coming up. James Julia and Poulin’s Antiques, right to each other in Fairfield, ME, are having their annual fall firearms auctions. Poulin’s is on Saturday and Julia’s starts on Monday. Here are some highlights:

Poulin’s

Webley & Scott 28g, 26" bbls, looks new

Carl Funk O/U Combo Rifle, 12 Ga. / 7 X 57R

Julia’s

20g Boss O/U, 26" bbls

Parker BHE, 20

The fall gun-auction season is here. It kicks off on Friday with Rock Island Auctions and runs through the weekend with Redding’s Auction Service having a nice sale on Sunday.

16 gauge Holland & Holland Royal @ Rock Island Auctions

-9/9, 9/10 & 9/11 @ Rock Island Auctions, Rock Island, IL

There are lots of good guns here, including almost 50 double barrel shotguns. This very early 16g H&H Royal caught my eye, as did this massive  8 gauge Westley Richards side by side shotgun. There are also other nice guns like Brownings Over & Unders and this A.H. Fox and this Winchester Model 21.

To see all the doubles in this sale, go here and run a search for doubles.

-9/11 Heritage Auctions/Greg Martin Auctions, Dallas, TX

These guys have 162 shotguns, including Parkers and some English stuff like these Purdeys and these doubles by Boss.

-9/11 @ Redding’s Auction Services, Gettysburg, PA

There are lots of nice doubles at this sale, too, including a bunch of L.C. Smiths. You can see the complete listing of guns here.

Here are a few guns in the sale that caught my eye. You’ll have to go to the sight to see pics (I know, PITA).

Lot 14.  Baltimore Arms – – 20ga. Double Barrel Shotgun, w/26” Barrels, Pistol Grip

Lot 15.  L.C. Smith – Model Field Grade – 16ga. Double Barrel Shotgun, 28” Barrels, Pistol Grip

Lot 20. L.C. Smith – Model Ideal Grade – 20ga. Double Barrel Shotgun, 28” Barrels, Pistol Grip

Lot 21.  Husqvarna – Model 350 – 12ga. Double Barrel Hammerless Shotgun, 27 ½” Barrels, Double Triggers, Pistol Grip

Lot 25. Merkel – Model 61E – 28ga. Double Barrel Shotgun, 28” Modified & IC Choked Barrels, Double Triggers, Ejectors, Highly Engraved, English Wood Stock w/Highly Engraved Dog & Duck Scenes, w/Original Box.

Lot 44. Army & Navy – Model CSL D London – 12ga. Double Barrel Shotgun, 30” Barrels, 2 ¾”  Boxlock Ejector, Double Trigger, European Straight Stock, Very Nice Engraved Case Hardened Frame, LOP 14 5/8”, DOC 1 ½”, DOH 2 3/8”.

Lot 45.  Cased Set of Cogswell & Harrison 12ga. Hammerless Boxlock Ejector Double Barrel Shotguns, Models Known As REX, Both Guns Have The Avant Tout (Assisted Self Openers),  30” Barrels, Double Triggers, Both have English Butt Stock Extensions

Live Bird Gun — if you collect double-barrel shotguns, those three words can cost you plenty. There seems to be something special about doubles made for pigeon shooting–something that collectors like and sellers love. That’s why true pigeon guns command premium prices. It’s also why dealers are quick to label any side-by-side or over/under with certain features a Live Bird Gun.

To see what I mean, check out this 20 gauge Parker DHE. It’s a nice 20g–with no safety. A missing safety is supposed to be a rubber stamp that certifies a double as a “Live Bird Gun.” But while plenty of pigeon guns lack safeties, not all of them do, and a missing safety does not mean a double was made for pigeons. So in this Parker’s case, are we looking at a true pigeon gun? I doubt it.

My first objection is to the gauge  - 20. Live pigeon shooting is a competitive sport. It’s expensive to participate in. To succeed, you must down your bird in a set area (the ring). To do this effectively, you would want to put as much lead as possible on your target (shooters are limited to 1 1/4 oz. loads). While there are handicapped advantages for 14 & 16 gauges, there are none for 20s. So there’s no benefit to shooting live pigeons with a 20g. In a game where money rides on every pull of the trigger, zero advantage equals zero reason.

Also, this Parker is a light gun (it’s on an O frame) with a longish stock (14 3/8″ LOP) and 28″ barrels. Whoever ordered it  was not a small person (DH-grade Parkers were custom guns). Instead, this shooter were probably a bit bigger than average and they wanted a light-weight gun. But if you were shooting pigeons with a 20g, you would push the heaviest load possible through the gun–probably an ounce. To make the double comfortable to shoot, the gun would have to be much heavier than this one.

Finally, there’s the single trigger. Back when single triggers were less than 100% reliable, pigeon shooters tended to avoid them. Misfires and malfunctions count as balks–or missed birds–in the pigeon ring. And when a missed bird can cost you $1000+, you do everything possible to avoid them. That’s why pigeon shooters used to insist upon double triggers.

So why is this gun missing a safety? Not everyone liked them, that’s why. Charles Askins and Nash Buckingham had shotgun made without them (Bo Whoop didn’t have a safety), as did many other shooters. I’ve seen enough safety-less 20 gauge guns to think that it was common for people to order them without it.

My guess it that this Parker was made as a gentleman’s quail gun. The owner probably  shot on plantations over pointers and the gun spend most of its time in a case or scabbard. It would have been removed when the dogs were on point and loaded after it’s owner was ready to shoot and waiting for the flush. Whatever the case, I doubt it saw any time in a pigeon ring.

Sorry for the late notice, but I just stumbles across this auction. It’s being held tomorrow, 8/13, in Montrose, GA, at Montrose Auctions.

20g A.H. Fox shotgun at Montrose Auctions

It features over 850 firearms, including nice looking doubles like this sharp 12 gauge Francotte and this clean 20 gauge Fox A grade. The sale also includes a bunch of Parkers and Brownings, and other nice guns.

If you go here and run a search for shotguns, you see a complete list of all the doubles in the sale. So if you’re in the area, or if you’re feeling lucky enough to bid online without viewing the guns, go for it. You might get yourself a good deal and a nice double.

Clean, original American double barrel shotgun are hard to find. That’s why these two side by sides caught my eye. They’re both up at Auctionarms.com and ending at the end of next week.

A. H. Fox - BE Grade 12ga

The first is this Parker 12 gauge GHE on a #1 frame. It’s a 1919 gun with a pretty standard configuration: 28″ bbls, double triggers, pistol-grip stock, splinter forend. While it doesn’t have a lot of finish, what’s their looks pretty original (there may be something on the buttstock — check it closely). Because the gun is on a #1 frame, it’s about as light as Parker 12 gauges get.

The next side by side is this Fox BE 12 gauge. This one has 30″ bbls and it was made around 1920. It has a nice looking round-knob grip (buttstock probably refinished), double triggers, and a splinter forend. Overall it’s a very clean, very original gun, and there’s even a little color & blueing left.

OK, sorry for the late notice, but I just found out about this auction. Gaudreau’s Auction Company in Dayville , CT, is auctioning off two Parkers double barrel shotguns tomorrow.

Parker Shotguns in CT

It looks like they’re both VH grades, one in 12g and the other in 20g. Other than that, I don’t know a thing about them. They do look like pretty clean side-by-sides, though.

Spotting a refinish is an important skill to have if you start collecting old double barrels. A lot of the vintage side-by-side shotguns out there are 70+ years old and most of them have had some work done on them. Because collectors place such a premium of original condition, it pays to know what it looks like (and it can cost you a lot if you don’t). To that end, lets check out this 12g DH grade Parker shotgun:

First, take a look at the action. There’s a lot of color there, but are they Parker colors?  And take a look at the wood, especially at the horizontal edge against the edge. Does it look a little rounded?

Parker DH grade double barrel shotgun

Next up, check out the stock. The wood’s fairly light. And where are the dings and scrapes? Would you expect to see some on a gun this old?

Parker DH grade double barrel shotgun

Finally, take a look at the checkering. What do you think? Is that really Parker checkering?

Parker DH grade double barrel shotgun

Well, if you haven’t figured it out already, this Parker is totally redone – wood, metalwork, and barrels. The works pretty good, but it wasn’t done in Meriden, CT. You can see more pics of the gun and buy it here.