I own a Super Fox that I duck hunt with. I also know about the Sterlingworth Wildfowl.

What other "famous" side by side duck guns were there? I would love to research some other models/makers.

Thank you all.

First one that comes to mind is Nash Buckingham's Bo Whoop. If there was ever a storied firearm, that would be at or near the top! Great reading, too. Gil

#3 frame 32" Parkers, 3" chamber 1 1/2 ounce proofed Purdeys, 32" 3" chamber boxlock Dicksons, heavy frame long barrel Prussian Dalys, and a few others that I can't think of right now. How about 3" Ithaca NID 12s?

L.C. Smith made one with a reinforced short rib between the fore-end lug and the action flats. Iver Johnson's Hercules could be chamber lengthened at the factory for 3" shells. Greener made a "FarKiller"...Geo

I guess you are asking for makers rather than individual guns.

I just want to learn so.....both!!!

California Duck Club long barreled Parker 20gauge

If you want to get away from 12 gauge guns, I can give you a list a yard long of tens and eights. Great idea for a thread.

I would love to hear. 10, 8...blondes brunettes.....love em all.

Eightbore, would a 7 1/2 pound 30” Prussian Daly be a “heavy frame”?

I would be interested in hearing about the Dickson.

As for individual famous duck guns I think the list begins and ends with "Bo Whoop"...Geo

As for individually famous duck guns I think my list begins and ends with 'Bo Whoop"...Geo

GE Lewis Wildfowler

Watson Bros. Fowler

Thomas Bland `The Brent`
Gallyon & Sons Magnum.

Parker never had a special waterfowl grade like Fox, Smith and Ithaca. But I bet they made more special built SxS duck guns than anyone when you consider the number of 8's, 10's and long barreled (32"+) 20ga and 12ga guns in the records.

The Fox Supers, in 12 and also in 20 gauge, were designed as long range waterfowlers. The "penultimate" 12 ga. Supers are the ones marked as originally having 3" chambers. The chambers are reamed in a certain manner, with a certain taper that is unlike other 3" chambered guns, and require sophisticated measuring to determine originality. There are also 2 3/4" chambered Supers that are original. Supers are unique in that they were designed for a particular waterfowl load that was developed by Western as a long range waterfowl load. If I am not mistaken the HE grade Super Fox is the only gun ever designed and built for a particular duck load. It has a different frame size than other 12 ga. Fox guns, and has specially bored bores and chokes to hold tight patterns at longer ranges.

The L C Smith that was designed as a long range waterfowler is the 'LONG RANGE', and so marked on the underside on the through lump. However, the first year they were offered for sale (1924) the Smith LONG RANGE was SUPPOSEDLY not marked as such.

There are many, many iterations of American made shotguns that are effective long(ish) range waterfowlers, but the two I mentioned were designed and advertised as long range duck guns. As mentioned above, there was a small area of dedicated small bore duck hunters in California, and there are examples of guns having been ordered for members of those duck clubs. I have a Parker DHE that was originally sold to that area. It has 32" 16 ga. barrels, and another set of 32" 20 ga. ones. I have no proof that it was ordered for, or by, a member of one of those clubs, but it is a sweetie on the dove field.

The Steel Shot Special by Parker Reproductions.

With Parkers a letter can give you great clues about what the gun was intended for. I own a DH Parker 12ga #3 frame 34" barrels choked F/F that was shipped to Montana in 1900 to be patterned for #5 and #4 shot, 2 7/8" chambers. That's a no question duck gun!!

Winchester Model 21 12ga duck gun with 30" to 32" barrels. Factory 3" chambers, full & full choking with a 13 5/8" LOP for wearing heavy winter fowling clothing. Specifically made for water fowling with the then new Super-X ammunition.

Probably the next most famous side by side waterfowl gun after Bo Whoop is this Ithaca NID No. 4+ made for Capt. (later Major) Chas. Askins but actually much more associated with Elmer Keith --






I never much cared for the later restock Elmer had done --

On the other end of the scale we could consider Edwin Hedderly's 32-inch 28-gauge Parker Bros. --



Hedderly and his long barrel small-bore Parkers were probably best known to west coast readers of his articles in Western Field magazine of which he was editor in the years before The Great War.

Yup, I agree. A truly ugly chop job. Probably by Elmer's friend Iver Hendrickson.

The 2 7/8" Ithaca NID Super 10 is a wonderful duck gun and its younger bigger brother the 3 1/2" magnum 10 of course is about as purpose built a duck or goose gun as exists. I hunt with both but the magnum is heavy though well balanced. A 30 inch barreled 3" Browning BSS works pretty well too.

L. C. Smith made a long range and a wildfowl version.

Many of Edwin Hedderly's articles are digitized

Forest Stream, Nov. 13, 1909, “Small-bore Guns”
https://books.google.com/books?id=l0kcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA790&lpg
Arms & The Man 1915, “Loading Small-Bores”
https://books.google.com/books?id=BX07AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA158&lpg
Recreation 1917, “Handloading for Small-Bore Guns”
https://books.google.com/books?id=4uVQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA97&lpg
Outdoor Recreation 1919, “Loading Small-Bores”
https://books.google.com/books?id=BX07AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA158&lpg
Field & Stream, Nov. 1921, “Sixteen” – Or “Twenty” Which
https://books.google.com/books?id=UPtAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA704&lpg


On introduction in 1923, Hunter Arms referred to their gun as the "Long Range Wild Fowl", but shortly thereafter the gun was advertised and cataloged only as the "Long Range". Hunter Arms records show that one was made in 1921 and an Eagle Grade Long Range in 1922. Only 14 were made in 1923. Total production of Long Range shotguns (1921-41) was 2,606. The "Wild Fowl" name was used 1940-1942 and 98 were made.
Additional information may be found in the Spring 2013 Double Gun Journal Volume 24, Issue 1, p. 137.



Not all LRWF had 3" chambers and if so, had the football "CHAMBERS 3 INCHES" mark on the barrel flats. The top gun has the "reinforcing wedge"

Now THIS is a famous long range gun! "Will kill at 150 yards!"

G.E. Lewis & Sons

Yup- I own one made in 1930== deal Grade with 30" barrels F&F, DT and AE. Great turkey gun too, since steel shot I am back to my M12's for waterfowling.

Amen, brother.

"PIC DELETED"

And, that's not me with the jammamatic.

Tell you what, let's change the pic to one without a friend and his Beretta

You owe it to yourself to try bismuth #4s, Francis. I won't say it kills like lead, but it's close. NICE shot is supposedly even closer. I'll find out next duck season. And, these new BOSS copper plated bismuth .................. they ought to be bad to the bone, b-b-b-b-bad, b-b-b-b-bad, bad to the bone. (Thanks, George T and the Destroyers)

If somebody was to look closely enough there's bound to be an O'Connor in his ancestry somewhere. Dang he resembles Jack.

[img]https://imgur.com/8VwSJz8[/img]. 8ga Enos James 34 in bbls, Ithaca magnum10 3.5 in. , Ithaca Super10, Ithaca flues 10, AHFox wildfowl 12 3in, Win1901,Win model 21duck3in.

I have a DT Parker 16ga originally set up with 3 inch chambers, 32 inch barrels, XF in the right pipe and F in the left.
No idea why it had the long chambers for a cartridge that was never marketed (but maybe anticipated?). But it screams special order duck gun to me.

Keep in mind that most run of the mill 12 gauges around the turn of the century were used on ducks and still do well today, with "appropriate loads"

Just like the 12- and 20-gauges, the 16-gauge was offered in several lengths. The "Standard" 16-gauge shell was 2 9/16 inch, but they were also offered in 2 3/4, 2 7/8 and 3-inch lengths.







Back in the day, these longer shells didn't offer heavier loads, but more/better wadding, which many gun cranks believed important.

My canned 16-gauge history lesson --

16-Gauge History lesson --

From the late 1890s until after WW-I, the heaviest 16-gauge loads our North American ammunition companies offered were 2 3/4 drams of bulk smokeless powder or 22 grains of dense smokeless powder such as Infallible or Ballistite, pushing 1 ounce of shot. Those loads could be had in the "standard" 2 9/16 inch case or any of the longer 2 3/4, 2 7/8 or 3-inch cases. In late 1922 or early 1923, Western Cartridge Co. added the 16-gauge to their progressive burning powder, high velocity loads called Super-X, but unlike the 1 1/4 ounce 12-gauge and 1 ounce 20-gauge Super-X loads which were put up in Western's 2 3/4 inch FIELD shells, the 1 1/8 ounce 16-gauge Super-X load was put up in their 2 9/16 inch FIELD shell. When the Lubaloy shot Super-X loads were introduced in July 1929, they were put up in Western's high brass RECORD shell, but the 16-gauge still in a 2 9/16 inch length case. The other ammunition companies followed suit, Peters' High Velocity and Remington's Nitro Express 16-gauge loads were put up in 2 9/16 cases.

The 2 3/4 inch 16-gauge shell really began to get some traction when Remington Arms Co., Inc. introduced their Model 11 and "Sportsman" autoloaders in 16-gauge in 1931, chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells. While Remington's regular Nitro Express 16-gauge progressive burning powder load was put up in a 2 9/16 inch hull with a load of 3 drams equiv. pushing 1 1/8 ounce of shot, for their new 16-gauge autoloaders they introduced the slightly faster Auto-Express with a 3 1/4 drams equiv. charge pushing 1 1/8 ounce of shot --



I'm thin on Winchester ammo catalogues, but for sure by 1934, they were offering a similar 2 3/4 inch 16-gauge load.

The 2 3/4 inch Magnum shells with 1 1/2 ounce in 12-gauge, 1 1/4 ounce in 16-gauge and 1 1/8 ounce in 20-gauge first appear in the December 15, 1954, Western Cartridge Co. catalogues.

Western Cartridge Co. added a 2 3/4 inch 16-gauge to their Super-X offerings for 1938. From 1938 through 1942 they called this 16-gauge 2 3/4 inch Super-X shell "Magnum", even though it was still a 1 1/8 ounce payload. By Western Cartridge Co.'s March 7, 1946, catalogue the term "Magnum" was gone from this 2 3/4 inch 16-gauge Super-X shell. In Western's January 2, 1947, catalogue, the 2 9/16 inch 16-gauge Super-X shell was gone from both the chilled shot and the Lubaloy offerings, and their only 2 9/16 inch shells being offered were Xpert. This may have been an oversight, as the 2 9/16 inch 16-gauge Super-X shell with chilled shot is back in Western Cartridge Co.'s April 8, 1948, catalogue and price list, and the 2 9/16 inch 16-gauge Super-X loads remained until their last appearance on Western Cartridge Co.'s January 2, 1962, catalogue and price lists, where it is "available until stocks depleted." By Western Cartridge Co.’s January 2, 1963, catalogue and price lists the new Mark 5 was introduced and all the 16-gauge Super-X offerings are 2 3/4 inch. By the January 2, 1964, Western Cartridge Co. catalogue and price list the 16-gauge 2 9/16 inch Xpert shell is gone as well.

As an update to this thread, I just acquired a 32" VH Parker #3 frame 12 gauge with a beaver tail for-end. Will post pics when I get the gun!

luv dim ole ammo boxes...

Haha. It was only a matter of time, Adam.

A little bigger than the Askins/Keith Magnum-10 NID, at the NRA Convention in Reno in 1987, the Southern California Arms Collectors display included a Charles Edward Sneider, 214 W. Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland, hammerless double in 4-gauge with 38-inch barrels which was said to weigh 28 1/2 pounds.

Punt gun.
JR

Not so famous, but really works well. Husqvarna 51

Desert waterfowl



PNW waterfowl

Our little gathering in June, the Upper Canada Double Gun Classic, produced a W W Greener 4 bore hammerless with 34" barrels (if I remember correctly). We had a scale, so weighed it. Just a hair under 18 pounds. So light and lively in hand!

Such a nice trophy

According to the David McKay Brown book by Donal Dallas, they made one heavy 12 ga RA for steel loads. I happen to know it weighs 8 lbs and is a beauty.

Certainly not. An engraved Sneider sidelock hammerless double. Undoubtably for a member of Baltimore's well-heeled that "shot the bar" with their big 4-gauges at the Carroll's Island Ducking Club. See C. John Sullivan Jr.'s book Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Decoys & Long Guns, Tales of the Carroll's Island Ducking Club.

Ok, maybe a "semi-punt" then. But I would argue that a 28 1/2 lb. 4 gauge with 38" barrels is unwieldable for wingshooting.
JR

The guys in the UK that shoot the big bores often have a kind of stick with a yoke to support their mega shotguns. Always reminded me of artillery pieces.
Shooting geese in the twilight with essentially shoulder fired cannons, seemed a hoot. Fire blazing 10 feet up from the barrels with every shot in the increasing darkness.

Wow at that greener! It even has the sweet side safety on it. I bet that would be a treat to shoot

[img]https://imgur.com/a/gGvODMV[/img]. jout a single shot but its a 4 bore Tolley

Just before the men walked on the lunar surface, these were being marketed as duck guns, through the efforts of one Francis E. Sell:





As late as 1977 (Gun Digest, “The 20 comes of age” Francis E. Sell) 20 gauge 3” guns were being marketed for duck and goose hunting. Mr. Sell had some connection to Richland Arms, of Blissfield, MI. in the late 1950s to about the late 1960s. They imported Spanish and a few better quality Italian guns, and the Italian guns had internal barrel dimensions to Mr. Sell’s beliefs, long forcing cones, overbored, long chokes and 3” chambers, along with a hidden third fastener. If waterfowl hunting had not been mandated non toxic shot only, the guns may have been more successful. The example, above, is unused, but, most of the guns I have seen were run pretty hard. You also got some hand engraved scroll, bone color case hardening, and nice Italian checkering. Prices floated around $150 in 1968. It is worth noting that for whatever reason, by the 1977 article, Mr. Sell was using other, more expensive 20 gauge 3” Italian guns, with identical bore dimensions, for his duck and goose hunting.

Another point, the Spanish versions of the Richland offerings from the same era, leave a bit to be desired. Not sure whose idea it was, but, they are often seen with a cheek piece.

Best,
Ted