doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Vintage Shotgun Marketing Hyperbole

Wonder who started the 80 yard claim?

AND THE WINNER, from the 1908 Sears Catalog: "Shooting qualities- As before explained, the shooting qualities of these guns are unequaled for long distance killing, long range shooting, for penetration, pattern or target. Both barrels are full choke bore, so firmly constructed that unlike other guns, there is no recoil or kicking. That which in other guns goes into recoil in the A J Aubrey gun goes to give greater force to the shot."

The longer you shoot a Smith gun, the tighter it gets?!?

What yardage kills did the SuperFox claim? The Ithaca Magnum 10?

Things haven't really changed that much. Every gun, primer, wad, forcing cone shape and length, bore ID, choke tube and factory shell still shoots farther, kills deader and produces less recoil than any other.

Dropping ducks dead whilst pass shooting them and then getting them retrieved and back "in hand"- are two entirely different concepts- 80 yards- pace that off on a 100 yard football field with hash marks- plant stake markers and put a live mallard "guinea pig" tethered at 80 honest yards and use any shotgun and load you want- from a 10 gauge to a 20- One shot only. Boom- maybe a few feathers and a big load of duck poop- NO dead bird- then add: cross wings, elevation, swing and forward allowance on a real flighted late season "red-legged mallard" and see how many you kill at a honest 80. Old timer I learned from was a market hunter when it was legal- he'd let the first group land in his dekes, and when the following groups dropped it- cut loose with his 12 gauge M97 Winchester- aka- "The Old Corn-Shucker"-taught me one mallard dead and retrieved for every 2.5 shells fired (including finishing cripples) is first-class shooting, day in, day out. Also taught me when field hunting with dekes to let the first group pass or land without firing a shot, the following birds will loose their inate caution and drop in like bees to honey!! RWTF

I have a belgian gun I wish would do that!!

H&H

A bird in flight is a lot easier to kill than a bird on the ground, unless you hit the latter in the head. Wings down protect the vitals.

The first Super-Fox ad claimed certain kills at 60 yards, and went somewhat beyond that. Fox also guaranteed minimum 80% patterns with full choke. Turned out that was only on Becker-bored barrels, and they later stamped "barrels not guaranteed" on the flats--not indicating the barrels were unsafe, but that the 80% guarantee did not apply.

Talking about hype . . . I just translated some ad copy on the Manufrance Ideal for a friend. "The most perfect and the most beautiful shotgun in the world." "The simplest and best shotgun in the world." Ansley Fox, take a back seat!

Sounds a lot like the same type of B.S. espoused by
"Herter's" back in the day. World's best everything,
... well at least as far as their warehouse door in
Waseca, MN anyway.

It's true - I have a friend with a very worn LC Smith that was shot so much it won't even open anymore. He thought it was a worn-out used up gun that should be sent to a gunsmith but luckily I was there to correct him. They're supposed to do that, I told him.

Well: I think it's a shame we no longer have their "Five Alarm Chili"!!

But I still think that ads like the ones shown above in the old Sears catalogues take the cake for hyperbole.
Jim