I’m new too much of this older gun thing, so bear with me! I’ve been looking for an older SxS for sometime and found one that appeared to fit the bill. The gun in question is an inexpensive pre-war English 12g with 30-inch barrels, original 2 ¾ chambers and seemed to be in pretty good shape. I gave it the recommended once over I’ve read about various places. The guns seems tight, the lever is well to the right - more so than any other gun I’ve looked at or any other gun of this vintage in this particular shop. When giving the gun a good shake with the fore-end off there was no sign of looseness. No case colors remaining except for a bit in the water table. The barrels looked good.
While inspecting the gun, I noticed that light was visible between the breech face and the breech end of the barrels. Light was visible from the water table up to about the centerline of the barrels. Above the barrel centerline no light was visible. This led to a rather circular discussion with the shop owner - the gun was tight – no you shouldn’t be able to see any space between the barrel and the breech face – the gun was tight. I have no reason to doubt the fellow’s word, but he didn’t or couldn’t explain this apparent contradiction to me.
So, my questions are; 1) should there be any space noticeable between the breech face and the barrels and, 2) can anyone recommend a gunsmith in the Denver area familiar with older sxs’s that might give the gun the once over?
Thanks for your help.
