What do most people consider the golden era of SxS guns from the high end English makers. Is the period of 1890 to 1915 close?

Thanks.
Ken

I would say so. Maybe even go back ten years earlier than that too, around 1880. During that time frame it seems to me that most of the really important innovations were starting to gain foothold and by the end of 19th century and in the very early years of the new century, pretty much perfected. I'm no expert, just my opinion.

Dustin

The golden era was an Edwardian thing, and really starting with the London patent Sle gamegun. 1900-WWI

What is the golden era of SxS guns?

Right now.

• Buy a golden era original - the world's inventory is on your PC
• New best guns, custom ordered and hand made, from LG's big 3, the continent or CSMC, and plenty of flush buyers to keep the craftsmen busy
• CNC factory guns that are pretty darn good, B-guns and RizziniB/CGs come to mind
• Truly cheap SxSs from the emerging countries

I confused barrel orientation in the CNC example above, but you get the pernt.

Yeti, You have nicked the matter. High quality modern steel, CNC production and we are in the pink of the double gun era. Not cheap for the best quality but it never was cheap. It is the lower cost guns that are better now. Let the games begin! David

1917 to 1945. Between the two wars. Some beautiful guns were built in Europe, the US and Britain, hand engraving was still the fad, black powder gave way to smokeless and steel was getting close to perfect.

Jim

I would agree with the answer above from Jim Moore.

Before reading the responses to the original post / question I was thinking just as Yeti stated. The number of options out there now is almost numbing. In every price range.

If I were looking for a gun from the 'Golden Era,' I would be looking for something made just before WWI.

Lou M

Burr! Its cold out here. Winter arrived!

I think a modern day Greener built by David and Richard would be as near to perfection as you could have or ever get.Peter Nelson,Dave Sinnerton, Tony White, John & Brian Wiseman (now there is a nugget)all spring to mind, but at what cost and timeframe? Answer= phenominal cost and when it is right it will be ready timeframe.
Which sends us back in time to a Dickson, Harkom, Woodward, or best of all a Beesley.IMHO

No such thing as a'Golden Era' in my opinion.

The best craftsmen from any era would stand comparison with the best from any other.

Depends what you want- if you want a stocked to the fences hammerless bar-action sidelock with top-lever, intercepting sears, ejectors, steel barrels and a single trigger then you have to look to around 1910-1939 for everything now considered 'modern' to be in place and working proprerly. Post WW2 production can be variable but the best is as good as pre-was stuff.

One reason the WW1 - WW2 era is so lauded is that there are lots of guns from that era around in good condition. A lot of earlier stuff got shot to pieces or handed on to gardeners and the like.

Take one of these pre-war guns by a 'best' maker and you have a top quality gun which you can still buy for a reasonable price (relative to a new one with the same spec and quality).

Take apart an 1870 hammer gun of quality and you will struggle to find better work and attention to detail. you could argue that the aesthetic never exceeded the 1870s hammer gun, As I say, it depends on what you like and what you appreciate.

The

'Golden Era' is to my mind the lazy shorthand of a salesman trying to get more for a gun he is trying to sell and a comforting cliche that stands no real examination. a gun is as good as it is regardless of when it was made.

Consider each one you see accordingly and forget about 'Golden Eras'.

There was a time, when I owned a newish high condition, but poor quality Westley Richards gun. It was just a gun at most, and made the Winchester M21 look like a best - and thats saying alot coming from me. There are periods in a gunmakers lifespan to pass on.

Agree with SB - 1870 to CIB!! The makers have all had various "periods" of better and worse, more and less reliable quality, etc. The number of high original Quality grade guns as a % of total production has also varied due to local, country, and global economic cycles. One needs to judge guns against the time frame of their production, the use they have seen, and their current utility. The current spread in prices suggests that there is a sufficinet supply of most guns. Very high condition American guns may be something of an exception in terms of supply. The number of shops, makers, and size of auctions suggest that there is a healthy demand, also. As for new guns, well the trade has molted from local to national and into pretty much a global trade.

Early 1800's to 1920.

Interesting. That statement seems to fit with my conservator friend's statement. He fixes, restores, creates, "old stuff", lots of Tiffany, Gorham and other silver. Was summoned by the Royal family of Saudi to create something or another for them. Quite a guy, really. Anyway, he once said it was cheaper to buy old crafts of these makers than create new. The costs to create/re-create it surpass buying good condition old art, even though it can be done today.

I would define the best years as 1895 to 1905-ish.

It's whenever your Brit was built!
It's a jamsession out there!

OK, I admit that I tend to march to the beat of a different trumpet player but without a doubt, IMO, 1810 to 1825. A more beautiful and gracefull firearm was never made by the hand of man than the best of the late flint sxs'x.

OK, so everyone's got an opinion, but this is getting silly.

The original question specified British, so why not defer to David Baker's "Heyday of the Shotgun", which pretty clearly defines the period as from around the turn of the last century up till WWI.

Jonathan Ruffer, author of "The Big Shots" likes to go a bit earlier, but by no stretch of the imagination did the so-called 'Golden Era' pre-date the breech-loader!

I think you had it nailed down in your very first post, Ken!

I don't quite get why it matters. It's like "what are the boundries of tornado alley"?

I could not agree more, with Chuck, Marrakai & Dig.
I think that 'the golden era' was probably prior to WW1 (1914)this was when the breechloader had reached it's Zenith in form & function.
But there is no doubt in my mind that providing you are prepared to pay, and wait, you could have a superb piece of craftsmanship built for you today using tools, technology and materials that our greatgrandfathers could not have imaginedSuch is the march of progress.
But personally a titanium barrelled, aluminium actioned, carbon fibre stocked, kevlar forended firearm leaves me cold, even though the calculations to programme the CNC machine would leave me awe struck, and the images of the proposed gun on the CAD machine twirling and rolling through 360 degrees would be impressive sales technology.
No, Gentlemen, what we are talking about here is the days of 'The Shooting Party'prior to WW1, when you managed your diary to shoot on every opportunity from August 12th until the end of January before going off to St Moritz tobogganing, and skiing.
Oops! must sign off now they await me on the 'Cresta'I was awfully fast yesterday, must try harder today, Smiffy is catching me.Wot.

Chuck, think of this as the difference between a Savage, and a Philly built AH Fox gun, and the different value placed on both.
The more, and more you hang-out here, the more you find guys touting the best years of their guns.
Got to draw the line somewhere!

C'mon Lowell, the so-called 'Golden Era' in British shotgun parlance is a well-defined historical period. Period!

Do you think this thread is going to re-write history, or something?!

You guys better check your records if you think the breechloader killed more game than the muzzleloader or stop watching Hollywood westerns altogether.

There are those, who'll try to re-write anything just to suit their own needs.
I wish someone would invent a BS filter for the computer.

Heck Lowell I'd miss reading your posts...

Is that why the pictures of your whatever-you-call-it breeches didn't show-up j0ey?
...ain't science wonderful

Yes it is...

Lowell you should put up a new thread about 'The Golden Era of CowbOy Action' and show your prized Beezley.

Perhaps clarification of the question is in order. The question as written "What do most people consider the golden era of SxS guns from the high end English makers." My interpretation of the question is not when was the hayday of the sxs rather, I take it to mean when did the English sxs reach it's pinnacle of manufacture from a quality standpoint including workmanship, grace and handleing as well as over all beauty. If this be the case, then the late flint period (1810-1825). However, if the question refers to when the sxs reached it's heyday, then I would suspect the period to be somewhat later, sometime after 1870.

Cody, quality and workmanship of the 1900-WWI London Sle gamegun(Purdey, Boss, H&H, Woodward, Beesley, Atkin and Grant) was at it's zenith. You know these guys eh!
...but if your favorite gun is a flinter,(c.1810-1825) hey make-up your own timeline!
No sin to spin!

Well, I am kind of with Cody. Just a couple come to mind in an instant, like Manton and Nock. But, there certainly are others. The artistry of wood working, fit, engraving and style in my eyes in the flint period, are tough acts to follow.

Come on guys, compare a flinter to a percussion to a pin fire to a breechloader built in the late 1800's to a modern firearm built by let's say Purdey or Boss, Manton or Daw, Westley Richards or Thomas Bland, got to love the long history and heritage of the British firms, is there any difference in their perfection, no. Each sample from that specific era will signify perfection in the gunmaker's art; so in other words until all of these British firms have disappeared you can't possibly narrow down or nail down a term such as "The Golden Era".
All the best

Video killed the radio star and the repeater killed the two-holer which is after all sort of a repeater by iteration. The Golden Era of anything is when it's the going thing, in use, the common currency. Has little to do with the perfection of execution or the "ultimate evolution" to every damn cost-added option which can be squeezed in. Bet there are lots of folks who don't think a Lincoln Navigator belongs to the Golden Age of motor cars but think a T-model with a gravity fuel line or even a Stanley Steamer does. This in no ways impugns the usefulness of historical signposts or the self-congratulation of chauvinistic backpatting.

jack

This is not the first time golden era has been used in gunmaking and shooting, and I doubt the last.
If your into muscle cars, I bet you could nail down the when, from start to end.