Do you like blondes, or redheads, Larry? Pretty is as pretty does, I think, at least when you are talking gun designs. Lets say the blonde is a "high maintenance" type, needs the best of everything. To me, thats a sidelock. The average gunsmith isn't going to fix it, and if you need a new stock, you might as well go find another gun. The redhead who is happy to go for a stroll down to the corner for a ice cream cone would be the boxlock. Any gunsmith should be able to at least diagnose trouble in it, and stock replacement would come far less costly. Parts, too. As far as the fake sidelocks on boxlock guns, well, they are for somebody I guess, but, I wouldn't pay a dime more for a gun that had 'em. I think the makers were banking that someone would.
Make mine a boxlock, please.
Best,
Ted
Ted, that may be the story to you, but you're not a gunsmith. "The average gunsmith" is the wrong guy to work on ANY decent double, BL or SL. Well, maybe trust your 311 to him . . . but for the most part, not even a Sterlingworth, Elsie or Ithaca Field Grade, or Parker Trojan. No thanks. And a decent doublegun smith will work on any of them. If the sidelock is of the hand detachable variety, very easy to work on the guts of a sidelock--much easier than on any boxlock. You don't need to fool with a single screw. Stock replacement . . . yes, you have a good point there. The sideplates . . . well, they do leave room for more engraving than on a boxlock, and hand engraving costs $. Francotte, to name one, certainly did some great work on those false sideplates, and a lot of folks think it's worth the money.
And although the niche market for sxs is fairly narrow, it's also quite deep. That is, most of us own several. And if you compare, for example, original prices for American classic field grade guns to the best American classic pumps (for example), you'll find that it's the pumps that are underpriced--by a long ways!--not the sxs. From my 1936 A&F catalog, arguably the 2 best pumps on the market (Win 12 and Rem 31) sold for $39.50. Fox SW, Ithaca and LC Field Grades all sold for within a few pennies, one way or the other, of $43. So something less than a 10% edge to the doubles. Comparing guns in similar condition today, and sticking to 12's, you'll likely pay at least twice as much for one of those American doubles.
