doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 12 GAUGE FOX STERLINGWORTH

I rarely find myself very interest in the 12 gauges I see. One reason is the weight of carrying the things around in the field. I think I own 6. My grandfather's Remington 59, a Winchester SX2, a Benelli Ultra light, two Parker 12's - a VH 28" and GH 30" that are both 1 frames, and an early Fox A grade that is a project gun.

I wouldn't use the Winchester for anything other than standing in a duck blind. It's heavy and recoil operated. Swallows 3-1/2" shells and swings nicely. The Benelli is nice because it weighs 6.1 lbs.

I bought both Parkers on Gunbroker within the last year. Both were right at $500 each. The price was what motivated me to grab the Parkers.

I paid $1300 for my Fox Sterlingworth 20ga last year. Every month I wonder if I bought it too soon.

good news, is that this year, some sporting clays shooters are turning to the classic sxs"s for something different. this has caused a slight increase in demand for graded 12 gauge guns...this movement is noticeably coming out of the south, as far west as texas.

and years ago, there used to be a healthy competition between sxs muzzle loader shooters in arkansas and missouri...any of you boys out there still active?

the demand for field grade hunting guns is being met with new guns...none of the young folks have any real interest in this old crap...unless this changes, as us old timers die off the high end market will take a dive also......

I think the pool of shooter that think blued steel, walnut and two triggers is what a hunting gun should look like is fast dwindling.

When I show up at the boat landing with my old sxs most think I'm some kind of nut and doubt I can kill anything with those two fat barrels out there and trying to navigate two triggers, and it gets even worst when they see I have to cock the hammers and have only two shots.

The young generation looks at hunting with a sxs as a sever handicap and the only measure of a successful hunt down is the number of birds and not the experience getting the birds.

It is a supply and demand problems at it's simplest form. The supply of old guys buying doubles to hunt with, shoot or collect is drying up. Several mid to major collectors I know are done or worse have passed away. Dead men buy no guns. The number of double guns to choose from is increasing as old guys sell off their stuff. This combination of too few and too many is keeping prices depressed and will do so for the foreseeable future.

And it is not just doubles that are hard to sell. Pump guns, other than a few select ones, are dogs on a gun rack these days. You can sell high condition Model 42, 12 and some of the 37's but the vast number of well used guns are just impossible to sell in most shops. If not in great condition my favorite gun shop will not even accept them on consignment. They might as well be bolt action shotguns these days, and you can just imagine how easy those are to sell.

And there is no hope for the younger shooters suddenly becoming a major force in the market. Young people are more into black guns, semi-automatics and camo than doubles. The non-tox shot forces them to buy those guns even more so as three bucks a shell is too expensive for most hunters. The need to change chokes for different game or games make the screw-in choke tube guns a way to go for many. Hunting is getting to be prohibitive expensive for most. And I think the taste fir wild game is in much decline.

So it has become a real buyers market. Figure out what you want and it is out there at your price if you look long and far enough. I do not even worry anymore about missing a bargain gun because there will be another one along soon enough. Rare and extremely high grade or high condition guns will sell for a premium but run of the mill stuff will not and junk will become just about impossible to sell. Supply and demand working for and against us depending on your perspective.

ky jon: you said alot...all true...

perhaps, one day, like vintage cars, vintage hunting guns will become popular with the young and affluent..."this old gun, is just like the one my dad had", could be the new in thing...one day?

yea...but with most of the classic doubles it would have to be just like my grandfather/great grandfather had....+ its getting harder and harder to find/afford a smith to work on these hand fitted guns....

I have quit buying shotguns for resale at shows unless they're dirt cheap. They have become increasingly hard to sell even when priced reasonably and I've had some at shows that no one even bothered to pick up and look over.
The only big use for shotguns in Arizona is for Quail hunting and I agree that most hunters favor smaller gauges today.
I've had a super nice Winchester 101 Pigeon Grade that's cased at the past two shows that has been looked at a lot but I've received no offers for it and I have it resonably priced.
I don't know if the shotgun market will ever turn around but I for one am not holding my breath waiting for this to happen.
Jim

The lore of hunting with old side x sides is, in my opinion, an attempt to return to simpler days. For those of us who use these guns it is rarely a question of how much a gun costs, but rather one of the enjoyment we derive from being afield with a gun with some nostalgia behind it.
Every time I hear about soft markets, or old doubles not bringing what they should, it is usually voiced by people who do not buy these guns for the long term. People who, if they can't buy a gun for pennies on the dollar, figure they are going to be losing money on resale. Well you may be right, but that does not mean the guns are worth less, it means that more and more buyers out there are trying to buy guns to flip.
If I offer a gun for sale it will be sold to the end user, and I would expect that buyer to enjoy the gun for what it is, and the pleasure to be derived from it.
It is a shame that some people have to sell their doubleguns for far less than their actual value, but anyone who places the same value on a classic side x side versus a modern pumpgun should be buying pumpguns.
Let the angry responses begin.

Ky Jon hit the nail on the head in my opinion. I am 73 and need to thin out my old smallbore side by sides. Bobby