doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com barreled actions

The last time I was at SHOT I spoke with Fausti if they sold barreled actions in the white and was told no. Do any of you know of a supplier to be able to create a custom product or is it more cost effective to find an already manufactured donor to modify. I'm sure some of you have done or had done both and I would like to become educated so that my reinvention of the wheel doesn't come out square. I've modified an SKB 200E 20ga to what I feel is a more user friendly configuration, straight grip, splinter, double triggers, etc. and have had positive feedback. The barreled action in the white will possibly give more options to how the final product is configured, but would it be cost effective to try to move forward or just keep looking for donors? Thanks, Mark

It is rather easy to find guns to customize that are of great quality but older with LOP or drop from a bygone age, or cracked or plain wood. There are great buys in German guns.

How far do you want to diverge from the norm, ie sidelock and boxlock?

If you can live with one of those and simply want to finish the gun to your desired degree of finish and stock dimensions then a donor gun is probably the easiest way. I tried this with several medium grade shotguns and it works out fine, you end up with a fitted hand finished shotgun in a reasonable time but are stuck with the engraving and aesthetics of the donor.

Italian rules, and the same probably applies to other countries members of the CIP, mandate that a gun must be serialised as soon as barrels and action are fitted together. And because from that point on it is legally a gun, it must be submitted for proof before sale. Proving an unfinished gun is a hassle at the Proof House in Gardone and this is the reason most makers do not want to get involved with barreled actions. If you feel able to fit barrels to an action then you might be able to find the individual bits in machined form.

If something totally different is the goal then you are on you own. My experience is that no maker wants to get involved with one offs or new designs. Not to mention that sooner or later you will have to get into CAD and plastic prototyping to test function etc and these add to the cost of the project. A current project cost seveal thousand dollars to bring to the plastic prototype phase and will cost lots more to become steel and walnut.

A good place to see how others build doubles is nitroexpress.com. It is mostly rifles but you get an idea of the process.

I can do everything, some people may have comments about my workmanship, but we are all learning. As I don't intend to reinvent the wheel it would seem except for the interim customizing an existing gun is the best course. Shotgunlover thanks for letting me know the sisters didn't just blow me off. I think it was Barbara I spoke with. The serializing part makes sense. Thank you all for your input. Mark

Markll,
When I lived in Germany in the 70s&80s(and I'm sure it's the same now)it was common for small makers/gunsmiths to buy recievers and barrels(unfitted and w/o internal parts fitted)with which they could build what ever the customer wanted.The same reciever could be built up as a triggerplate or as a sidelock action and as double shotgun, double rifle, or combo gun, or all three.Also I have seen "donors" converted from triggerplate to sidelock and from o/u shotgun to combo, and engraving enhanced. While it may be possible to buy these parts from a manufacturer in Germany, I suspect importation would be "interesting".
Mike

CSMC had Sabatti Target guns available to finish a while back. They also had NID kits from Beschi I think.
Mark Beasland seems to have brought in a Verney-Carron in the white for finishing.

If you want a modern firearm, some of those kits from CSMC surface on auction sites, and I bet some of the guys here have some they never got around to finishing.

Put a WTB add up for one.

Thank you all for info I do appreciate whatever I can find out. Mark's gun was a bespoke gun he had brought over to make sure the fitting he had had shot were he looks. So far he shoots it well and has made good choices on his embellishments. Keep your thought going. Mark

Mark
Dale Tate was having contract made guns built to spec by an Italian mfr, I believe.

I recall Ithaca Classic Doubles contracted Mario Beschi to manufacture spec'd parts to build their guns. That arrangement didn't work out so well.

From your post I can't tell if you're intending to contract a design in some quantity or just want to buy one barreled catalog action at a time.

Right now I'm trying to hone my craft with a look to the future to find my niche. Thanks for your input, Mark

Customizing an existing gun will be much cheaper. You can find Austrian and German doubles for a reasonable price.

I have a provider of Purdey easy-opener SxS barreled actions as well as Woodward O/U actions in shotgun or rifle calibres; multi-barrel sets available. Im not willing to pass along that info, but may act as a middle man. Id much prefer to do all the work in-house other than outsourcing the engraving to my customers preferred engraver.