Jerry they are high quality and as long as you shoot the loads they were designed for they should be reliable. My shooting student Joe Wood taught me that there was certainly an overall improvement in gun metallurgy becasue of WW1 and an overall decline in workmanship after WWII. There are certainly thousands of exceptions.
The 2-1/2" chambered guns were built to shoot on a regular basis 1-1/16 oz of shot at about 1200fps with pressure below at or below about 9000psi.
I think the Between-the-wars English 12s and BTW German 16s are the biggest bargains on the planet.
Those old guns have had decades to be screwed with. There seems to be alot of them with thin barrels. Additonally there are many out there that have been damaged by shooting hot American loads in them. As you said look for cracked and split stocks, thin walls, pin marks on the side of the hook for a quicky tightening job, loose ribs, etc.. just like any other old double.
Best,
Mike
Last edited by AmarilloMike; 01/25/10 12:33 PM.
