Joe,
When I first decided have an ICD made, I ordered a 16ga. over the phone. Since I only lived 80mi. away from the factory, the drove down to look at the operation. I was so favorably impressed, I ordered a 28ga. to match the 16ga. Somewhere along the way, I decided that I hated the basket weaving on the fences and didn't want the duck, but rather a grouse. Therefore, I had the pattern changed and the guns became 4ES's and the guns are numbered #1 and #2.
For those of you who like the new 4E pattern, you now know who planted the seed.
These are both single trigger guns with English stock and BTFE. The 28ga. arrived first and is probably the first #471xxx with a ST. (#4710xx). The 16ga. is the only gun made with 2 sets of 16ga. bbls.
Along the way, I picked up two 20ga. 4E's, both with DT's and another 28ga. with DT and SFE. They are all #471xxx guns which I prefer. I had an extra set of bbls. made for one of the 20ga. guns. The gun came with 26"bbls. and I had a set of 30"bbls. with Briley choke tubes fitted for Sporting Clays. I also had them make a BTFE which can be used with either set of bbls. I shoot this gun the best and take it everywhere.
I took my hunting partner down to the factory and he ordered a matched pair (20-28ga.) of 3E's with ST,ES, and BT. These are the only grade 3's ever made and have consecutive SNs. The are both Italian guns and are things of beauty. We spent a morning picking out the stocks and got first class American Walnut.
We will be taking these guns on our annual Canadian grouse hunt on Friday. What could be better than hunting grouse with English Setters and ICD's?
