doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hussey sidelock ?

Interested in buying.Any info appreciated. Would anyone have records on Hussey shotguns? What would be a reasonable price in today's market? Thanks

A reasonable price for a border engraved only SLE today with no more than what you have listed about the gun--absence of bore condition, whether in proof, 2 1/2 inch or 2 3/4 inch chambers and wall thickness is unknown and one cannot estimate the price. One can see that the exterior of the barrels of this Hussey are poor, so I suspect the gun is of little value. If it has bad barrels (bore, wall thickness and proof problem) the value is zero. If it has bad barrels then the oak/leather case is worth more than the gun.

Here is a link to a Atkin SLE gun of similar engraving (or no engraving) of known quality by a respected gun dealer in Scotland; and if you convert the price from UK pounds to USA dollars it is about $4,000.00. You can buy it and have it shipped to you for less than $800.00 ( a shooting colleague of mine just bought one from Graham and it cost him $709.00 to have it shipped to his local FFL shop. English guns are priced to sell in the UK, but the USA gun dealers are still pricing them high because they bought them at a high price.

https://www.gmackinlay.com/product/12g-ad-ejector-by-henry-atkin-28-x-2-1-2-barrels/

There’s a gent on this board screen name “Hussey” who is well versed in the various incarnations of the Hussey name. Maybe he will chime in.

BTW I own this Imperial Ejector from 1907.

url=https://flic.kr/p/21wFKwT][/url]HJH2 by FGP1154, on Flickr

HJ Hussey shotguns are great quality. I have owned one in the past. There is information on the man and the guns in "Atkin,Grant &Lang" by Don Masters.
HJ Hussey started out working for Holland I believe. He was well know as a pigeon shooter and built guns for the sport. He went in business with Joseph Lang, somewhere along the way there was a dispute. I believe the thought was he was selling guns out the back door. They parted ways and he started HJ Hussy. He made some of the finest London guns till his death on New Years day in 1919.

Thanks for the info.The asking price is $2500.Don't know yet but I'm assuming it's a 2 1/2" chambered shotgun.The bore's are shiny as far as I know.

eddie k;

The low price quoted to you for this Hussey indicates that you should examine or have examined the barrels. You need to determine if they are in current proof, barrel dents, the barrel wall minimum thickness, if there are loose ribs and so forth. If the barrels pass inspection as to proof and wall thickness, then the price will allow you to have the barrels re-blacked and any loose ribs repairs, dents removed for maybe $1,000,00 or less. As mentioned Hussey made good guns.

I can see that the barrels seem to have a Purdey style third fastner. It is peculiar to me that the case color hardening is visible after all these years but the barrel exterior is poor. Be careful. If you are not able to carry out the proof examination and bore measurements have someone of renown who does this routinely. Of course you need to consider that you may have found a bargain with little expense to make it a jewel. Guns made in the time frame of this gun without engraving can were high quality made guns.

Another photo.

Barrels look tired. Get wall measurements before going further. And to be clear you should be looking for barrels .025 or .030 as the minimum. If they are .020 that is not a great first gun purchase. .020, with location 20” past the chamber is my personal safe to shoot minimal wall thickness. If they are .025, with those external pitting I see I would be very careful or honestly more likey to just not buy it at any price.

Here is the skinny. We do not have proof laws so tend not to understand what in proof means and what it does not mean. In proof does not mean absolutely safe to shoot. It means the bores have not been altered, on the inside by more than .010” in diameter. Which means the walls have not had more than .005” removed from the inside on both sides. The bores could be exactly like new without and metal removed from the inside and still be unsafe to shoot. How you ask? Simple, the barrels have been struck on the outside. Perhaps a dent was raised and then metal was filed down to reblue the barrels. So those lovely .025” barrels now are less than .020”. And location of thin spots is critical. The nearer the muzzle the better. Or the barrels have been refinished three or four times with moderate filing to smooth the external surface. Take a few thousands off every time and barrels can get thin quick.


Looking at those barrels I would call them tired at best. With external pitting you have to estimate how much metal will be removed to get them ready to reblue. .002-.005 would be gentle but those might need .005-.010 which could take them out of reasonable thickness for shooting.

I am unaware of any Hussey guns simply marked up as 'H Hussey, London'. There were two Hussey's, father and son; HJ & HH. They almost always made a point of signing their guns and barrels.

Unusually there are no tear drops on the stock, where there should be. The gun may have been restocked. However, I am a wee bit suspicious about this one.

What is the serial number on this gun, please? I have a register of guns made by both Hussey's, garnered over many years, though not complete, I hasten to add. However, it does allow me to date and identify guns under their names to a pretty good extent.

Tim