Recently I purchased an early 1950's 12g side by side Boswell box lock double trigger gun. The gun is slightly cast for a right hand shooter.
My query relates to the trigger guard that has been positioned on the gun 'off centre'. In other words, when looking at the underside of the gun the trigger guard is offset a little towards the right hand side of the action. Both triggers are centrally located and there's no evidence of the guard being damaged or twisted over in any way.
I've researched this on english gun sites and cannot find anything about guns being made with trigger guards mounted slightly to one side. The two anchor points for the guard appear to be centrally located, although I haven't accurately measured these points.
I've been advised that the material the trigger guards were made out of back then are relatively soft and malleable. I don't want to attempt trying to bend it over, as maybe the gun was built this way and is perfectly normal?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Reidy,

I have a number of English guns with trigger guards that are not perfectly centered. I was concerned when I noticed the first one, but after finding others, my concern faded and I just enjoy them. Not sure if they were made like that or if they may have been bent a bit somewhere along the way. But it does not interfere with shooting them, and I do not notice it anymore, unless I turn the gun over and look for it.

Thank you redoak for your advice. You are correct, it's only cosmetic and doesn't affect the operation of the gun. It's nice to learn that others have noticed this on their treasured old double guns as well.

Reidy,
Check to see if they it is centered relative to the action and it is the stock that is angled to produce the "cast off".
Mike

Is the trigger guard tang actually out of its inletting??? Hard to understand what exactly your issue is. The tangs had to be a little bent depending on the buttstock cast. This is completely normal. If the tang has popped out of its inletting, then that’s another issue.

When gunsmiths bend stocks to fit a customer, the bending of the tangs can be also part of the job. Refitting/inletting of a tang could also be required depending on the severity of the bend.

Does it look something like the gun in my previous post below? The trigger guard inletting was definitely done originally to compensate for cast to fit the original owner presumably.

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forum...;Main=37109&Number=442198#Post442198

The trigger guard tang is securely fitted at both the connecting points (front and back) of the frame of the gun. The gun is currently in the hands of a gun dealer awaiting my permit to acquire from the police before I can pick it up. This is a requirement here in Australia. Once I obtain the permit, I can photo the underside of the gun and post it on this site. A picture tells a 000' words! Thanks to all for your help and advice.

An update. I got possession of my Boswell today and showed a gunsmith the off centre trigger guard tang. He was very reluctant to adjust it in any way and commented that it might have been made this way by the makers. As Redoak has posted, he has also noticed this on some of his English guns. Although it looked a little odd when I first noticed it, I've decided to leave as is and enjoy the gun shooting clay targets at my home club.