doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com British Proofs in latter Miroku SXS

So this gun isn’t in my hands yet but should be soon. I’ve owned a number of Miroku SXSs and quite aware of their box lock guns being Imported to England. Those guns typically were copies of Birmingham guns down to their leaf springs.

This gun appears to be based on the BSS, coil springs and a through bolt, but has chopper lump barrels and weighs 6lbs 11oz (12ga). I’ve had 20ga BSSs that weighed more.

Has anyone else come across one of these guns?

Miroku MS 150 probably ,quite a few about ,but never in the same numbers as Spaniards....

Are they thought well of? It’s amazing Miroku was able to take a pound off of what a similar BSS would weigh in the states. Similar as far as 28” barrels and the action anyway.

6 pounds 11 ounces is not particularly light for a 12 bore built for the British market where loads tend to be relatively light, typically 1 ounce
or 1 1/16 although I anticipate that you will find that your gun was built and will have been British Proofed on importation with 2 3/4” or 70mm chambers.

Parker-Hale were the importers for many years.

OP,can`t offer a view on them ,as I don`t know anyone who had one and never heard a gunsmith talk about them ,sorry.

Had a browse though some old Parker-Hale catalogues. The Miroku over and unders feature more regularly, the side by sides not so much.



In the 1970 catalogue they show the Model 500E (BLE) and the 500 (BLNE) is mentioned but not the weights.



In the 1976/77 edition there is mention of the “new” MS-150 which is better described in the above 1981 entry where the weight is given as approximately 6 1/2 pounds.

Miroku have always had an excellent reputation for quality.

Post pictures of the British Proof Marks when you gun arrives and we can probably establish the year it was imported.

From the above photo, the profile of the receiver certainly makes it look like a BSS. I had a Miroku Model M 12ga, receiver with a straight back. Very nicely finished. Blued receiver, minimal engraving. Straight/splinter/DT. Extractors. Factory choked IC/IM. Looked like a very basic British boxlock. That's one I wish I'd kept.

I had a 500. Good skeet gun.

Last summer I stumbled into a 12ga Miroku 500E at my nearest Cabelas, so stamped on both sides and bottom of the receiver. Borderline engraving, straight grip stock, splinter forend, plastic butt plate with no marking and no white spacer, 28" barrels choked IC right and full left on a brass choke gauge, ejectors. Very light to me for a 12 at 6 3/4 lbs, wonderful dimensions to boot. British (Bermingham) proof marks.

It was well used and enjoyed by previous owner(s), barrel bluing thin, no finish left on receiver, checkering visible but well worn, a couple of dings in stock and not much finish remains, lever slightly left of center.

The good, barrels ring like bells, gun is tight and on face, no wiggle with forend on or off, barrels free of pits, ejectors working and in time, wood is solid with no evidence of repairs or cracks.

Proof marks date to 1964 (first year of production so I have read). Proofed for 70mm/ 2 3/4" shells at 3 1/4 tons. Small stamping on outside of left barrel close to receiver, LCL Inc. Scottsdale AZ. I am told this is an importer being used by Cabelas.

This was in their bargain rack for $399, with my military discount I got it out the door for $379 including tax. It fits me to a T and I shot 23 on my first round of skeet with it and shoot it really well most every round. It's an amazing quality A&D boxlock for pennies and undoubtably the best bang for any buck I have spent on a gun ever. I really enjoyed finding an advertisement for it here.

I first read on this website about the BSS and that it was made for Browning by Miroku.

Then I noticed that Holts Auction here in the UK had two coming up in their Sealed Bid sale for cheaper guns. I bid on one but did not get it - the successful bidder paid £420 or $600 for it, which was way over the estimate. So in the spring of 2024 I browsed through the British Internet site for guns and found several for less money. Many had been in the rack for years. One caught my eye 200 miles away, so after a phone call to the dealer I bought it sight unseen for £300 i.e. $400. The serial number is 4528xx, and many here are in that range. It has a splinter fore-end. A pal found me an original handbook, which shows three versions of fore-ends, up to a huge beavertail!

As your previous poster said the bluing on the barrels is thin but OK. Mine has British proof marks dating to 1974 and weighs exactly 7 pounds and no ounces with 28" barrels. It is choked EXACTLY like my 1946 Webley, with 13 thou and 40 thou constrictions, and handles much the same too. Usefully it has 2 3/4" (or 70mm) chambers so it is my back-up plan for when steel shot becomes compulsory. The barrels are indeed chopper lump, and bear an inscription "Made in Japan, Assembled in Korea". I suppose this was to keep the costs down. I probably have some photos somewhere, but may need to talk to Parabola...

The stock was too short at only 14 inches so I spent money to have it lengthened with a matching piece of wood.

Last November I had my best-ever game shooting day so it has been a good (if small) investment, all thanks to this Forum.

HB

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Back in 2022 I bought this SKB 500 over and under (and the Valmet Skeet above in the same lot) for similar reasons - 2 3/4” chambers and not too worried if I had to use standard steel in them.

The SKB was well used but both have good (chrome lined?) bores, and is a reasonable fit with a Pachmayer slip on pad (the type with a Velcro securing t@b).

I haven't yet mastered the art of posting a photo with a post as yet. Here is a link to my Google Photos album of the Miroku 500E 12 bore I mentioned in my above post.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kj6KzCanb8kPbw3PA

I have a Miroku Daly 500 that is noticeably lighter than my BSS Sporter. Both are two-barrel sets, 28"and 30". My recollection is that the Daly barrels are lighter than the BSS barrels.