doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The cost of Scottish round action guns

In the recent past there have been discussions of the great value of Scottish round action shotguns and how that one can find an excellent one for $15,000.00 Some have doubted this. Here are two examples of superb round action guns that are real bargains. The first is one with its original damascus barrels and a new set of steel 2 3/4" inch chambered barrels at a cost of $21,000.00. The second is a outstanding gun for $11,000.00 Both of these guns are in the UK and one could expect to pay maybe $1,500.00 additional to get them to your door step. They are beauties and bargains.

https://www.gmackinlay.com/product/...rrels-plus-extra-29-x-2-3-steel-barrels/

https://www.gmackinlay.com/product/12g-round-action-by-john-dickson-son-28-x-2-1-2-barrels/

Nice guns. My dealing with Graham was very positive.

Ken

Very nice guns. Thanks, Stephen.

nice gons...gulp...

I bought a Dickson about five years ago. It came through Graham McKinley as well. He has re-finished the gun and it looked spectacular. It was a 1943 gun with 28" barrels. Had original case with original owners initials in the oval and on the case.
I paid $12,500 for that one.
I recently bought my friends Dickson. It is a 1909 with 29" barrels. It also came through Graham. Paid $10,700 for it.
Both guns are truly the "Best" quality.

The round actions are very pleasing to the eye, but they strike me as being delicate because of their graceful lines. How do they stand up to a lot of shooting. I’ve never owned one and they seem to be the thing nowadays.

British doubles are not designed for what we think of as high volume shooting. Hunting or driven bird shooting might reach a thousand rounds a year. Clay targets can reach 10,000-20,000 per year. So we put 10-20 times the wear on a gun per year compared to what it was designed to do. If you estimate the working lifespan of a double as 10-20,000 rounds before it might need rejoining or other attention, which is a reasonable 10-20 years hunting use, which we could burn through in two years or less. If you want a high volume gun buy a semi auto or O/U. If you want a true delight to shoot try a round action. They really are quite wonderful and on my bucket list. Most in my price range seem to be well worn out examples, these are not. So many nice guns, so few dollars.

The late Archie Coats of pigeon hunting fame used one to shoot large bags of pigeons in the UK.
Back in the early part of the 20th century people would take weeks off to travel to shoot driven birds. They would shoot large numbers daily, more than they do today.
Yes they are not clay guns and do not consume thousands of cartridges a year. They are light weight game guns.
Also most of the people had their guns serviced at the end of the season.

I would add one category of gun to my friend Jon's recommendations for high volume shooting. A British gun, 12 gauge, proved at 2 3/4" and 1 1/4 ounces, weighing more than seven pounds, a pigeon gun by definition, would be as suitable as an over under or an autoloader. Unfortunately, good pigeon guns are as rare in a reasonable price range as is a low mileage round action.

Well the top one of those links (the two barrel set) didn't hang around. It's showing as out of stock already on Graham's site.