The BSS, at home, in it’s case. Period directions, and two Miroku produced spare sidelock parts, an opening lever spring, and a striker with spring, that came off a couple different sites. Buying those parts as spares virtually assures the originals will never give me an issue. The furry snap caps were a gunshow gift from a friend, who, liked them, but says he doesn’t own a gun nice enough to put them in.
Looking forward to warm weather and recovery of my eye, practicing shouldering on the right hand if the left eye doesn’t come back.

Best,
Ted

Looks nice Ted. Glad that gun found a good home. Make up the season you missed this year with a great one next Fall.
Best Wishes...Geo

I have a spare bretelle Darne in 12 gauge, I suppose I could have it fitted to the Browning.

Maybe not.


Best,
Ted

Probably not...Geo

Great looking gun Ted! Good for you.

Thanks, Lloyd. My avoidance of Muslim guns continues, unabated.

Best,
Ted

I got gun envy Ted

Ted,
Glad to see that you got your BSS-sidelock, shoot it in good health. I love mine in 12 & 20 and am sure that it will become one of your favorites as well. They have been my main bird guns and have been used for years without issue or problems. Problem is that new Churchill has now become my favorite bird gun, and so it goes.
Karl

The blood pressure of King and his little brother Larry just shot up to dangerous levels.

Beautiful shotgun!!

May i ask what happened to your eye?

TM

eYe popped him in it...

Detached retina. Had the band procedure to repair. Have vision, but not near what it was as of yet.
Hoping it improves.

Best,
Ted

Good luck Ted.

Best of luck, Ted!

Ted,
Best wishes for your recovery. Having worked in an ophthalmic surgical practice, I've seen many good results. I assume that you are myopic (near sighted), so be careful of the recoil.
Karl

Nice wood on your Sidelock Ted.
From what I've seen on most BSS SL's, yours is pretty close to exhibition quality.

Good looking outfit Ted. I have an exact duplicate of what you show minus the spare parts you mentioned and the fuzzy snap caps. Mine is a 12. If you haven't shot it I am betting you will love it when you do.

Many Thanks for all the well wishes. jOe, are you OK? Expected the usual.

I got to shoot the BSS about three rounds of skeet before I noticed I couldn’t see with my left (shooting) eye. I am also cross eye dominant, and this will perhaps be the straw that breaks the camels back, and forces me to shoot from the right shoulder.

Mr. Cash, you have pointed out something that was a pleasant surprise. The wood is far better than typical BSS on this copy. Geo said he sent me the nicer of the two he owned, and I have no reason to doubt him. That said, this copy, with 26” barrels weights just a touch under 6 1/2 lbs. My 20 gauge Prandelli & Gasperini weighs a bit more.

I shoot 26” tubes just fine, in fact, prefer them for upland, and 28s are the bomb for clays in my world. The BSS sidelock is one of those guns that hits all the right notes, chopper lump barrels, intercepting sears, 2 2/4” chambers, and new enough to be unconcerned with it’s feeding. To be sure, it has only seen 1 oz loads, but, I don’t worry about that, and if I need a load from Pamida, I can use it in a pinch. Nice.

Happy New Year to all you guys.

Best,
Ted

That is some gorgeous wood, Ted. I hope you always shoot it as well as it looks, and that perfect vision in your eye completely restored ................. better than before.

Best, SRH

Stan, the wood is pretty, indeed. But, although I didn’t tell Geo this, I was hoping the gun was a bit nicked up, used, because my guns all seem to collect use marks, and I didn’t want to leave the gun home, rather than use it.
It was just used enough. I’m really happy to have a Holland pattern sidelock with good build quality, TO USE! I did own an actual H&H pre Royal, in the early 1990s, that didn’t end well.

We had a discussion on this very board on what case these BSS sidelock guns go in, and this Airways case has imprints of a BSS sidelock in the material inside of it. That is the only type of gun it has ever held. I’m confident a dealer would put a BSS sidelock in whatever case he had that it fit in, or, whatever the customer wanted.

I had an appointment with my retina surgeon today. He was astounded by my progress in healing at three months in, and told me unless I had a problem, we were all done. I was referred to as “The Golden Child” the day of my surgery, and was examined by three surgeons on every visit, all interested in my case, due to the fact that it happened to me at a comparatively young age, to a guy who took no medications, and had no health issues. My blood pressure was 116/67 today. They figured my healing would be rapid. Healing on an injury like this can be optional for people in their 80s.
He expects the process to take 3-6 more months, but, doubted the eye will have vision on par with where it was before. Horrific example of a detached retina. He told me to make an appointment with the optometrist for a new lens in my glasses, which I will hold off on until February. I can shoot as much as I want. I have been warned lattice exists in my right eye, and there is perhaps 10-20% chance of going through this again with that eye.
I told him I thought he was a hell of a man, and that I hoped never to see him again. He was OK with that.

Thanks again for all the good wishes. It means a lot to me.

Best,
Ted

Ted,
I have an early 1980's Browning catalog that lists the Browning BSS as well as the BSS-Sidelock. The case that they show for the SxS's is listed as #2015. It is the basic brown vinyl fitted case that is configured for the SxS's. Your case is the more classic Browning one and much nicer.
Karl

Karl,
Thanks. What are the barrel lengths on your guns? Been thinking a 20 would be the cats meow, but, I think that about a lot of guns.
You are correct, I am myopic with astigmatism. Since 8 years of age.
If you have them, put some pictures of your BSS sidelocks up. Love to see them

Best,
Ted

Ted,
Both my 12 & 20 are 26" barreled, and they handle fine for me. I shoot the 12 better than anything I have, but I'm working hard on that 12 ga. Churchill to do the same.
Karl

The 12 ga.


the 12 top
20 bottom

Quite nice, Karl.

Best,
Ted

So what they think caused it ?

jOe,
I have a few risk factors that came together, to increase the chance it would happen. White male, over age 50, with a long history of myopia. People who are nearsighted have eyes that are not spherical, more football shaped, and a weaker retina attachment than is normal. While a retina CAN be detached by trauma, in a guy like me, it can happen in your sleep, for no other reason than protein accumulated in a spot, and started a tear in the gelatin that holds the retina in place.
It sucks , trust me.

Best,
Ted

I bet

Ted- and Joe- makes me think more about my "gunning hero' the late T. Nash Buckingham. He went through the agony of cataract surgery late in life, but kept on shooting, in spite of a change in eye dominance, etc. For those of here getting on in age (I am 77) having good clear vision is a gift from God. And we never know from day to day when we might encounter such problems as you are experiencing.

Best wishes for a good solid return to the shooting/bird hunting fields, Ted.

I appreciate your candor in sharing your situation with all your many friends here on this website. I can't even begin to fathom how it would be for me to try to shoot a shotgun from the left shoulder- maybe a rifle, although a BA would be a bit unwieldy, but to move, mount and shoot game awing from the "Southpaw" position at my age would indeed, be a challenge. RWTF

I play around, a little, shooting from the hip .........clays, doves. I absolutely believe I could learn to shoot better from the hip than I could my left shoulder.

I'm so thankful for good eyesight. At 67 I can still see the ridges and the direction of rotation of the targets on a bright day.

SRH

Nicely said, RWTF, and I echo your sentiments, wishing Ted a New Year of clear sight and best target acquisition.

Regards, Tim

Thanks, Tim. Back at ‘ya.

Best,
Ted

Scary does not begin to cover problems with the eyes. I have learned how to shoot from either side but to do it well requires good vision, binocular vision is best. I’m sure Stan could learn how to shoot left handed but his problem is that he would not be satisfied unless he was nearly as good with it as he is now right handed. I’m hoping Ted finishes fully healing and that no one on this board ever has a similar problem.

Being unable to see is one of my worst nightmares. Almost everything I do requires good vision. My work, my hobbies you name it. My Father lost 80% of vision on one side, along with all depth perception. It is as a cruel blow for him. One I hope to never experience. Keep those peepers in good health.

I am, deep down in my core, a duck hunter. I love the wildness of ducks, I love big muddy swamps, and rivers, and creeks. I love retrievers, and I love big duck guns. I love to hear an old drake mallard circling the dekes because he's lonesome, and answering the hen calls we make with his "purring". But I realized about twenty years ago, one morning in a blind with the wind in my face and the ducks coming in from behind me, that it was the sound of their wings cutting the air that reached deeper into me than all the rest of it. I have made a request, to a few people who understand me, if I ever lose my eyesight but still have good health otherwise, that my son or my grandsons, or even a close friend will help me to the blind, without a gun ......................and let me listen. To the sound of the wind in their wings.

It haunts me the rest of the year.

SRH

Ducks huh. Ringnecks dropping from half a mile high in the sky into my decoys make a sound like the tearing of paper. I love it but have not been able to hear it for years now. If I wear my hearing aids the wind on a good duck day makes too much racket. Oh, well it is a sound I will never forget.

Stan's post reminded me...Geo

Stan, I suspect that sound makes your heart speed up. It does mine. I love the sound of wings just before sunrise as ducks move about the marsh.

Geo, when in college we'd hunt ringnecks in a 110 acre "pond" on a buddy's farm midway between Clark's Hill and Lake Sinclair in middle Georgia. We felt that the birds were coming from either lake. The ringers would arrive well past legal shooting time and we'd always hear them before we'd see them. They'd look like dots in the sky when we would first hear them. Sporty birds over blocks. Gil

I'm still dealing with PVD issues in my dominant eye. It's a [censored] trying to see through the cloudiness in my dominant eye. Hasn't slowed me down though. Still sending rounds down range in my rifles, handguns and of course shotguns. Not going to let this thing beat me.

I admire your persistence Ken. As I have always been told by many that are older and wiser than I, if you ever lay down you will not get back up. Hang in there. I hope there is some relief for you in the future?

Stan- the late Nash Buckingham could not have said it better- I think of how he prevailed in the duck hunting seasons with his cataract surgery, late in life-- I have been an ardent waterfowler for 65 years hand runnin'-- except a few seasons I missed due to my commitment to Uncle Sam of course-- and it's all about the sound and the other senses that calls us back, season after season--

All my old hunting partners are now gone from this earth-- and many 4 legged companions as well- But no morning with the sun opening up through the clouds in the Eastern horizon, the whisper of wings, the chatter of mallards, and the honking of geese, will also call me for as long as I can get out. At age 77, I still have 20/15 distance vision, possibly as Gen. Chuck Yeager does, and he is a tad over my age-- A gift from the good Lord-and I hope that you continue to have good health and vision for the years yet to come--

A world without shotguns-- as Gene Hill once wrote- for a title to a story- No marshes and leaky waders, no strings of calls, spilled boxes of shells on the blind floor- no early morning hearty breakfasts with strong black coffee at the Tunica café- no Labradors tangling in the decoys while you watch from your layout boat on Saginaw Bay- Well, you get my drift-- RWTF

Please, some info on the 12.
At sub 7 pounds (I'm guessing)
would you describe that beauty as well balanced and lively?

Been there and done that ............lunches after the hunt, too. That special place is named the Blue and White Restaurant, Tunica, MS ............ old Tunica, not the strip where all the casinos are. Been there since 1937. Their potato soup is to die for. At one time there was a live feed onto a big monitor in the restaurant from a local duck blind. Breakfasters could eat and watch the action.

SRH

Bob,
The 12b weighs 6lbs. 8oz. and has a neutral balance. The 20b comes in at 6lbs. 2oz. and balances the same. Both are 26" and are choked IC//MOD. At the neutral balance they are lively without being whippy. I shoot them well even at targets simply because I have developed the necessary muscle memory needed for the light guns. I stick to 7/8 oz. in the 20b and 1 oz. for the 12b. and the recoil is light.
That 12b has been my main bird gun since acquiring it 15 years ago. My new 5 lb. 12 oz. 12b Churchill has become my bird gun now and it's working out nicely with RST 1 oz. loads. It's great for all day carry in the North grouse woods.
Hope this helps,
Karl

Karl, that's a special gun. Gil

Well said, and so true.

SRH

Sitting on the curb waiting on a ride gives someone time to do a lot of pondering.

Not quite sure what you mean: "sittin' on the crib, waitin' for a ride" Joseph. Did you perhaps mean "curb"?? Nash B. never drove a car, at least from what I have read about him. His hunting pals picked him up-

OT- but I still wonder how a die-hard shotgunner could have not grabbed his first Becker/Fox Magnum- Dec. 1948, back from the game warden- somehow trusting that he might have put it back in the car- but that's history. RWTF

Forgive me but...there's more to the story of the missing Bo Whoop? A game warden was involved?

Ted, the same thing happened to me a few years ago when in Florida for vacation in late April. That February I had cataract surgery in both eyes and for my astigmatism I had two lenses put in. My vision was 20/30 in my right eye (dominant) and 20/20 in my left eye. It was great no glasses except sun glasses and shooting glasses. When in Florida I was in the pool with the grandkids and came out and the wife and I went to the store to get some groceries. While going through the isles I picked up a bag or a can and had trouble reading the contents. I thought maybe it was just from being in the pool with the chlorine. The next morning it was the same and called my family optometrist in Pennsylvania who stated I should immediately go see an optometrist there.
forgot to mention that I had been to my optometrist for some lazer work in both of my eyes due to floaters.
So I had surgery there and they put a band around my left eye and told that I would be nearsighted. I now have glasses to correct that and now my vision is 20/20 in left and 20/30 in right. Without glasses I can read as my left eye can see very clearly to about 20", beyond that it starts getting blurry.

It was explained to me that if I had not gone when I did and the vison became black that it could not have been fixed then and I would not see out of that eye ever.
The first time I had lazer surgery was I was hunting and on the way home for some reason I closed my right eye and could only see through the bottom, as if a curtain had partially closed in my eye. That was on Sunday and called around and this optometrist went and opened his office and fixed it. Every six months I go and have my eyes checked and knock on wood they have been the same since I had the bank put in. My optometrist in PA said I got the Gold treatment by having the band. I still had insurance in April but in June when I received the bill from Florida it said I owed $37000 plus. By May I was now on Medicare but since in happened in April the insurance covered it completely.

So to all getting up in age make sure you go to your doctors as things like this take longer and are more dangerous.

Ted, I hope that your band is different than mine and you do recover your full eye sight. From what happened I was worried about shooting and asked the doctor and he said shoot light loads. Since then I have only been shooting 3/4 oz and not over 8,000 PSI. in 12 ga.

I believe some of the details of that "Fubar" are contained in George Bird Evans book- "The Best of Nash Buckingham"--- as if there could have been anything lesser from "The Shootin'ist Gentleman from TN"--

With all notedc credit due to Harold Money and his legendary M97 Winchester- and De bottle of Brooklyn Handicap whiskey.. Great stories all, my favorite that doesn't deal with shotguns is: "The Great Reprisal"-- just as my favorite of all of Havilah Babcock's stories is: "Tennessee"! RWTF

Bob,
Mine is just under 6 1/2 lbs. Good weight for a 12 bird gun. Not a 100 straight at the club gun, but, the pheasants and grouse should be worried.



David,
Sitting here looking at the kid’s IPad, I have discovered I don’t need the bifocal section of the left lens to read the letters. The right eye, my “good one” as it were, I am dependent on the bifocal. And, the left was, previously.
So, I am just a bit better off in that regard.
The surgeon said it was getting close to the point to have a look at a new lens for the left eye.
Time will tell what else I get.
Good luck to you with your eyesight. My doctor was completely unconcerned with my shooting, and I pointedly asked him about half a dozen times. He did remark that he thought it was a perfect repair, and, to pay very close attention to the vision in my right eye.
That one might be next. Or, maybe not.

Best,
Ted

You guys need to get your eYes checked ....do really have to drag ol'Nash and ducks into every thread.

Last time I checked this thread is not about ducks, duck guns or some pOe dunk cafe.

Ted, I was concerned and asked the doctor if flying at anything to do with it (trip to Florida) and he said possibly with the pressure. I was concerned and a year later asked him about flying to Vegas and he said I should be alright when I had my check-up. He had also told me that if anything wasn't right to call him at anytime.
Thanks and good luck to you also.

Sorry about your eye Ted,
Back to “SideLock Talk”

Damn you Ted.
After seeing your 12 , I started looking.
A few “shorties” available on the Internet, most in as new condition. 4-5 K
I found this 28 incher, as new, for not much more than a standard BSS.
6lb 10 oz. Been in Napa Valley wine country since 1986.
5 boxes of shells through it. How does one say no?

Mr. Cash,
I guess you don’t say no. Good deal!

Do you have an intended purpose for that gun? While I know 28” tubes are more sought after than 26” tubes, I don’t have much use of a full choke, and I am loath to change factory chokes.

Shoot that gun in good health. I actually blame you for being among the instigators who got me looking for a BSS sidelock If you came back, don’t know that you can blame that on me.

Best,
Ted

I'll load spreaders in Federal paper hulls and shoot Skeet. Arizona Doves perhaps.
It's the last thing I needed but they are pretty cool. Imagine had Browning made a 28 gauge BSS.

I'm guessing this SL 12 will feel right at home.

C'mon Cryin' Bob, show Ted the pics of your other guns. Word on the street is that you is gonna' bust a cap in jOe's ass:





FYI Cryin' Bob, I left you alone for several days, but you felt the need to insult me in another thread several minutes ago. Now you can cry and whine about getting some well deserved retaliation.

I haven’t found a spreader that I consider to be consistent. I haven’t looked that hard, because I have a few guns that feature little and no choke.

Better get those other two into be repaired. Looks like a trigger fell out of each of them! I assume the sidelock is a 20 gauge.

Happy hunting.

Best,
Ted

Ted, if you have any need for a consistent 12 ga. factory spreader load give these a try. I order them a couple flats at the time from Hinterland Outfitters. $9.99 flat rate shipping, no matter how big the order.

I've been using them on the sporting clays courses for close stuff in my M and M choked Perazzi, with great results. My plate shows excellent consistency and patterns.

https://www.hinterlandoutfitters.com/adv...n_description=0

SRH

Bob,
Great find! Once you start shooting the sidelock, the other bss's will seem clubby. Enjoy and shoot it in good health.
Ted,
At that weight, I believe it's a 12 ga.
Karl

Karl,
I was referring to the gun in the photo that is wearing the recoil pad, shown with the two broken guns (missing a trigger) NOT the “new” gun.

Best,
Ted

Wonder who bOb stole those pictures of guns from ?