doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The new ways vs the old

Speaking of modern technology, has anyone handled a Longthorne Hesketh?

http://www.longthorneguns.com/cgi-bin/scribe?showinfo=Try-Hesketh

I was recently in England and couldn't get to the factory and there don't seem to be stockists so I still haven't seen/shot one but would love to hear about them (in addition to Mike Yardley's article)

"In eliminating the need for a heavy soldered centre rib we are able to add weight to the barrel wall thickness" per Hesketh site blurb on their solid barrels. This is exactly what can be done with monobloc ribless barrels. With the added advantage of bulging or denting one barrel means changing only that one, not the whole barrel assembly.

While innovative, I do not see Boss moving towards this method anytime soon. This methodology lends itself very well to a production line, Bespoke Best guns, not so much.

Pureys will always be Purdeys and good luck to those that like them enough to pay for them.

Quality as I perceive it is illustrated by the better quality single barrel hammer guns turned out by provincial makers. These have nothing in common with the cheap and nasty "single shot". Their balance is superb, they were made to fit the client, they are a joy to handle in terms of balance and pointability. It is this kind of pleasure in handling that defines quality for me. The decoration, maker's name, figured wood etc seem irrelevant when compared to the sheer joy of a good handling gun. Perhaps modern advertising has conditioned us to purely visual judging of things, we overlook the tactile aspects.


As to ribs. Tinning will help prevent corrosion, yes, the same can be done more easily by going ribless or at least leaving out the useless bottom rib, as in Darnes, and get a better balanced gun with less hassle. The gap in the Martin ribless, if it offends the eye, can be dealt with via a detachable top rib. We made so many things detachable in shotguns, why not ribs!

or why mess with what works and add modern gimmickry?

Myself, I'm pretty conservative when it comes to guns. Heck you could have a bolt on carbon fiber rib if you wanted. But again, why? just to say it is the newest technology? SxS guns in my view do not lend themselves to many modern upgrades.

No, not to say it is new technology, just to avoid the hassle of resoldering. Some things just do not sit right with me and all that rigmarole with clamps, torches and solder is one of them. As if that is not enough every rib resolder means rebluing. I feel sorry for guns that undergo this brutality.

Darnes with their single top rib are by no means modern. I have yet to see such a Darne with rust between the barrels. They also balance superbly without the weight of the bottom rib. For those that insist on seeing a bottom rib, the other French great, the Ideal, had an "I" secton rib that fit between the barrels. In short there were old solutions to the ribs. I wonder what we would think of the "I" rib if it had been used on "best English" as opposed to "best French".

" Heck you could have a bolt on carbon fiber rib if you wanted."

OK now were talking!!!!!!

My Holland balances as good or better than any Darne I have ever shouldered, and it does not have such a horrendous action design. One look at a Darne and you do not have to wonder long why the British best is the world wide standard.

Really ribs and the soldiering of them is not that big of a deal, nor is rust bluing once you have it mastered.

" all that rigmarole with clamps, torches and solder is one of them"

not really rigamarole, more just simple set up and quality gunwork, no real mysteries involved.

There is no doubt whatsoever that Holland makes fine guns. Is a Holland as best as it can get? I am convinced it is not, a shotgun can be simpler, more robust, less costly and still provide that fine balance and the ergonomics associated with a bespoke gun.

It can be done. Perhaps the result will not have the cache of a London address, or the complexity of a sidelock with its 19 bits per side. For this reason I respond to the original poster that new can be better than old. It is a technical consideration.

Bluing is not a big deal, but is it something that should be necessary after rib relaying, and should complete rib relaying be necessary even if a small bit of the rib is loose? To some that chain of events means deficient design.

mr shotgunlover is describing a plain barrel Remington 870 every thing you want.with out the messy ribs, plain barrel can be hot blued correct?easy to fit a stock and balance perfectly for all your gun needs with out paying for tradition, and hand work. that requires skill and time to perfect. mc