doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Well Known & publicized "Facts"

William Harnden Foster pretty much knew which end the shot comes out. Would anyone care to post what his actual quote was about "light American guns"? My books are packed up right now.

Bill I may be like Old Russ use to say being wrong as I cannot find my book right now but I believe I read the statement about having to buy imported doubles to get a lightweight one. Bobby

Not according to the A.H. Fox Gun Co. �The Most Perfectly Proportioned Small-Gauge Gun Ever Built�
https://books.google.com/books?id=Uy7OAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA121

I believe Foster's "Little Gun" was a 16g Parker

My Thomas Turner Lightweight 12 weighs 6 lbs., 1 oz. Some 12 gauge Turners are lighter. This one has 28" Damascus barrels, Westley Richards A&D action, stubby forend and scalloped stock. circa 1875-87. Gil

I am a believer that the little 28 at 3/4 of an once of shot is a perfect gun to carry for grouse. I carried a 12 guage 11/8 oz of 8s for grouse for years and the light weight of the 28 is a dream to carry. I have not read the referenced material stated in this post, but I pretty much use a 28 for just about everything that flys. It should be noted, that the little 28 is a Snow shoes hairs worst nightmare . I handled a Parker in 28 and it pointed well and tracked very nice. I thought a little heavy for a 28 but hit every dove that happened into my segment of sky.

Bill page 96 Foster writes about the 20 ga shooters had to go to imported guns to get 5 1/2 to 6 pounds doubles and that American makers shied away from building light 20s. Bobby

By William Harnden Foster, and possibly depicting his son.
Foster Sr. shot a 27" barrel 20 gauge DHE Parker SN 225905.
Bet the weight is in the Parker records



1907 "Weight 5 1/2 to 6 pounds"



Oct. 17 1908
http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1908/VOL_52_NO_06/SL5206021.pdf
Hunter Arms Company Places High-Grade Shotgun on Market.
A double-barreled, single-trigger shotgun that a girl can use, and that any Nimrod would be proud of, now that the hunting season is on, the announcement of a brand new high-grade shotgun of that sort is one of timely interest to the readers of "Sporting Life." It is the product of the Hunter Arms Company. The new gun is a 20-guage, L. C. Smith, and is described as a beauty, perfect in balance, correct in its lines and weighing only 5 1/2 to 6 pounds. Mr. John Hunter, in speaking about it, said: "It is the neatest, daintiest little proposition we have ever put on the market."
The Hunter "Boys" spent eighteen months in making a complete set of tools before a single one of these guns was turned out. This new 20-gauge will be No. 0 and better grades. Barrels 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32 inches in length. And the sportsman can have anything he may want in the way of pattern from cylinder to full choke. Stocks are standard length and drop, and the gun is supplied with or without automatic ejector, as with all other gauges, and is so constructed that the Hunter One-Trigger can be fitted to it. The Hunter Arms Company emphasize the fact that this little 20-gauge Smith is not a 16-gauge cut down and called a 20, but is correctly made from the foundation stock, lock and barrels. It is something new under the sun.


That may not have worked out In 1910 "5 3/4 - 7 pounds"

http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1910/VOL_55_NO_16/SL5516028.pdf

I finally found a 20 under 6 1/4 lb. that I can actually shoot with some success.

It has long barrels and a fairly high comb stock with a long pull.

The gun has some weight in the 'ends' just like we try to avoid with sailboats.

Ruger's 28 is the same way as Don points out.

Light to carry, some swing inertia to facilitate shooting.

That's a good combination.

Larry, do you measure and record balance when you shoot a new to you gun? From above, you may have some sensitivity to balance (the % of the gun's total weight carried by each hand).

DDA

I have a Harkom 16 with 28" tubes that weighs 5/10. I've carried it a lot and killed many birds with it. My Fox 16 weighs 5/15 and I;ve killed a truck load of birds carrying it. I had a Fox C grade (recently sold) that weighed 5/10 and killed birds with it.I have a Lindner Daly 20 gauge that is 5-11/2 lbs. and it shoots like a dream.

I like light guns and they are not really hard to find. If you can master shooting them, you won't go back to a heavy gun.