doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The American Every Mans Double

all things considered, it is the stevens 311, its predecessors, plus its clone, the ill named fox model B

things, being almost indestructible reliability, low cost to obtain and repair, classic look...

but you also git watt you pay for...

Are you sure you want to go there? I found Nobody & Son (Trade gun of Keeper grade) Bath Street Birmingham 28" 1/2-1/4 chokes 2&3/4" 1&1/4oz proof for $500.

And, what have you got for $500?

Answer, . . . . a gun that, when it breaks, will cost you more to be repaired than you paid for it. No thanks.

Parts are readily available for 311s.

Around 1980, I bought my brother a second hand, but, looked like new Fox model BSE 12 gauge, 30” tubes, single trigger, choked mod and full. My brother was thrilled to have a gun that wasn’t a single shot. He used it every year, until he couldn’t. I worked on both the single trigger and the ejectors, it wasn’t rocket science. Brother used it with slugs for deer, mostly, and an occasional tramp for birds, mostly with my dog and I.

A friend’s dad had the same gun, in 20 gauge. Needed work on its trigger as well, but, I didn’t do it.

Neither of those guys gave a rip about what was classic. They had them because they could afford them (I could afford one, in my brother’s case) had more than one shot, and, usually went bang. My brother used his hard, and it shows, it is on its second buttstock, as Stan pointed out parts aren’t an issue. They are heavy, a bit ungainly, mostly reliable.

I’d vote Nitro Special for everyman’s double gun. This one is a 16 gauge and a bit more svelte.



Best,
Ted

I would take the Brit boxlock for 500$ myself, when they both work, one will be a decent handling gun, the other, not so much.

Jimmy W lays back, kicks off his shoes and watches the party go on this one. 🤐

ah doublegon made in Birmin ham, ang lan, does not qualify as american...

Thanks, this one being in very good mechanical order I haven't thought of that because Anglophiles convinced me they rarely break down. I just need good all-around 🌧 gun. The appeal is I can buy Ameican light game loads from country store and go hunting, no 2" or 2.5" chambered stuff. Unlike decade or two ago hardly anyone stocks short shells. Last time I was at Clark Bros. they only had 16ga 2.5" or 67mm shells, must be for some local Kaisers Boys shooting their Thuringian sticks? I get it, one doesn't stock what doesn’t move.

Given the choice, for $500 equivalent , if I was more concerned with repair bills I’d opt for an AYA boxlock in the best condition that I could find at that price point. They’re invariably a nice handling gun and benefit from disc set strikers, chopper lump barrels and replaceable hinge pins even in the cheapest number 3 and Yeoman models. If I was willing to gamble on the repair aspect I’d find an English boxlock non ejector 30 inch barrelled gun that fitted me well enough and had a balance that set it apart from the average more modern machine made gun. My Greener,Webley and Williamson boxlocks have never needed costly repairs in my ownership and all could be bought for not much more than £500 each.
For example on the uk guntrader site there’s a Greener Empire for sale described as in great condition for £450 that’s where I’d spend my money.
Edit to add £450 Greener Empire now sold ,one described as “in excellent condition” at £565. A search on Guntrader for side by sides filtered price £400 to £600 shows some good options.

Thanks for the link. Our prices haven't gotten that low yet Greener Empire in very good original condition can cost well over $1000. The only stuff I see for $500 around here are old field grade domestic clunkers or beat up English guns from BSA or something similar to beat up Webley & Scott 700.

Jagermeister, have you bought a double shotgun yet?

You've been kicking the tires for years, and should have bought one by now. Just do yourself a favor and do it already. If you don't like it, then trade it or sell it and enjoy being a Capitalist.

You don't want to be that guy who will will be on your death bed one day thinking, "Gee, I'm glad I spent so many years looking at shotguns without ever buying." I can guarantee you that if you don't spend your money, someone else will.

Thanks for the link. Our prices haven't gotten that low yet Greener Empire in very good original condition can cost well over $1000. The only stuff I see for $500 around here are old field grade domestic clunkers or beat up English guns from BSA or something similar to beat up Webley & Scott 700.[/quote]

A combination of aging shooting participants deciding to leave the sport and declining interest in side by side guns in the UK has resulted in good quality guns being sold ,by private sellers as opposed to trade ,at less than total auction price to avoid auction costs.Private sales on forum sites would be a good place to look. The impending complete ban on lead shot use due to take effect in the UK in 2029 should see more well cared for side by sides on the market as owners not wanting to shoot steel through guns not designed for such use decide to sell up. The limitations of steel shot use in .410 could potentially see an increase in availability of .410 side by sides particularly those chambered for the two and a half inch cartridges common in British built .410s.

Same situation here except lead shot will be legal to use longer. I will buy what I described because I can buy American, Mexican or European light game loads at country store and choke combo is very useful Mod-IC.

It's coming because while I like 16ga Model 97 I can't shoot a pump worth a darn.

Similar reasoning led me to buy my Greener Empire with 3inch chambers, although the weight distribution is further forward than a dedicated game gun with bismuth shot it’s a great wildfowling gun, and the heavier barrels do keep the swing going on longer shots.No shortage of shorter two and half inch game cartridges here but they are not widely available at clay shooting grounds compared to two and three quarter inch shells so two and three quarter inch Birmingham ,or anywhere , boxlocks combine nice handling with more convenient ammunition availability.

I just saw this today and thought I would jump in for a bit. I am 77 and still have and occasionally shoot the original Stevens Model 311 12 gauge my dad bought for me on my 12th birthday. The gift started out as a Remington Sportsman 12 gauge semi auto. It ended when we got home and my mom found out my dad had paid $100 for it. Soooo, back it went to the hardware store where it had been purchased. Disappointed, I took my uncle's 20 gauge single barreled model 37 that I had been using for the past 3 or 4 years out to see if I could scare up a rabbit or a quail or two. When I got back in after hunting I discovered that my dad had indeed taken back the Remington semi auto and had returned instead with the little Stevens 311. 26 inch barrels choked IC and Modified, I hunted everything from quail to dove to rabbit and even squirrels and then deer with buckshot for many years until the lure of the semi auto once again took control of me. To shorten the story, I hardly, if ever, shot the Stevens again until I arrived in Albuquerque in 1993 and was invited to duck hunt with a friend. I of course said yes and took the Stevens and stuffed it with steel shot no larger than 2's and happily blasted away. Well, that got me back on the right track. From the Stevens I moved onward with several (or as my wife would say MANY) doubles to follow, both side by sides and then to over/under guns. I still use several different side bys and O/Us, but as age and deteriorating shoulder joints followed by Titanium shoulder joints, I have really come to enjoy 28's and now .410's more for smaller birds. But, the little Stevens still gets taken out of the safe and wiped down with my silicon rag as often as the rest of them do. So Ed, at least on this, you and I agree!!!

BTW, the little 311 cost my dad $72. Amazing what a difference a mere $28 meant back in 1961.

Neat story Perry. I apprecaite you sharing.
My first double was circa 2001, just out of college with a few nickels to rub together, I called on a newspaper add "Old Double barrel shotgun $200." I left the parking lot feeling like a train robber with my, possbily unfired, Stevens 5100. I learned how to shoot double triggers on that gun. I missed the first big TOM I ever called in on my own with it, and I took if from VA to NV to hunt Chuckar. It did the job and built the fire.

my first doublegon was a 16 gauge Stevens 311a...my dad bought it for me for my 11th birthday, from floyd, a local boy who worked for him...

that was in January 1954, north of jessup, ga, on the banks of the altamaha river...

reckon floyds gon rubbed off on me..

I agree 💯 % it must be fully usable for me to buy.

Well, well never thought you're native southerner like John Mann. One of my original guns capable of > 1 shot before reloading was old Ithaca 87. I have since tried 20ga and 16ga 37 versions but had to let them go because I can't manipulate a pump worth a darn. I did buy 16ga 97 because for some reason I always wanted one. It's HD/ Halloween prop.

pray tell, during the sixties an seventies, ah wuz jest above new york city, where things were ah changin...

ah bought this dainty little 1950's vintage 20 gauge Ithaca 37 pump gon at ah yard sale...

that was the beginning of a roughly 20 year diversion into the ego boasting world of being able to hit most anything I aimed at...

including lots of clay birds on the skeet range...

my ultimate digressions were replacing the 37 with a Remington model 17...

and obtaining a 16 gauge 37 with two barrels, one for birds and one fur deer...

but then, I used to hunt with a friend who had a 20 gauge SXS made by antonio zoli...

that caused me to buy a 16 gauge Fox sterlingworth...been addicted to double gons eva since...

that was in 86...

My first gun at a very young age was a Stevens 311. It was old 60 years ago. I shot it for a few years and ignored it for many more. Oddly the last few years I’ve realized how many good features it has. Decent triggers, very good dimensions with a full comb and lovely patterns. It has a full, hand filling splinter forend that I favor above a beavertail or tiny splinter forend. Excellent balance and reasonable weight. It’s 28” 12 gauge and the chokes are probably M/F and measure .023 and .032 iirc. but not marked that I’ve seen. The metal is probably on the soft side as the firing pins have extruded the striker holes slightly. Still a lot of gun for what they sold for then. It’s also well regulated which is not as common as it should be in SXS. I like to take it on a grouse hunt but have not done so yet.

The gun weighs 7# 11 oz. It appears to be a 1948 first year gun.

A few pictures of Richards first gun. He was blessed in that it was an actual double gun, and not the single shot many of us got:





Best,
Ted

Ted,

Thanks for posting the old beater. It has not changed much in my 60 years of ownership. According to the barrel code it is a very early (48/49) era gun.

It shoots lovely, uniform patterns that are equaled by few of my more highly regarded guns.
When I started shooting it I could only reach the back trigger. So, full choke or nothing.

Thanks again.

Richard,
The back trigger only thing is hilarious.

I hope you get it out, here and there.

Best,
Ted

The only problem for Savage 311 is 12ga costs about $350 to $400, more for 16ga or 20ga and .410 prices are 🤪. One can get much better used s×s for few hundred more or pay same for Ugartechea, HVA, AyA, Zabala,.... BLNE.
Nothing wrong if one owns it, if i owned one I would keep it and use it, but I would not buy one today because what is currently out there. One only need to visit Simpson Ltd for stuff from all over Europe.

I once had a fox bse. Like you said it was a tuff reliable gun, however it was stocked all wrong for me and handled like a fence post in my hands.

Most of us got guns like that before we were old, and jaded. My brother’s BSE 12 gauge feels like it weighs nine pounds.

But we didn’t care. We were hunting.

Best,
Ted