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Joined: Jan 2006
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
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The thread regarding the current doublegun collector's market got me thinking about where we came from.
As Mark observed there was little SxS interest (of course with exceptions like the M21 and British "Best") 50 years ago.
So what happened?
The first issue of the
Gray's Sporting Journal was 1975
Sporting Classics 1981
Shooting Sportsman was Winter 1987
Double Gun Journal was Winter 1989
I couldn't find when this Forum started but I believe shortly thereafter.
Double gun collector's groups: (please correct me if the dates are wrong)
PGCA 1993
Dr Bob's Lefever site about 1993?
LCSCA 2003
16gauge Society 2004
Fox 2006
Damascus Knowledge and Pete Mikalajunas' site were both in 2008, which I hope stimulated interest in damascus barrel SxSs, and possibly the value thereof
Daryl's Baker sites 2011
There are lots of gauge and SxS specific Facebook groups now
Parker Reproductions by Winchester were introduced late 1983
Bill Brophy's L.C. Smith book was released in 1977
Lefever: Guns of Lasting Fame 1986
Walt Snyder's Ithaca book 1991
McIntosh Fox book 1994
Semmer's Remington Double Shotguns 1996
The Parker Story 1997
Houchins' Smith book 2006
So the interest was generated, and through the ups and downs of the U.S. economy SxSs were purchased (at increasing prices) and used in increasing numbers.
I do believe, now that many of us are in our 60s & 70s, having "stuff" is less important than having (less) really nice stuff that we enjoy using, and collections are indeed being cleared out - sometimes by our survivors who have no interest (and sadly were left with little directions regarding value) in the guns. Many of us do have more disposable income after retirement and getting kids educated.
As said by several, the good stuff retains value, still sells, and IMHO will continue to do so. Well used 12g utility grade U.S. doubles are a hard sell, but decent condition small gauges are still sought.
The other dynamic however is that many of our doubles are now 120 years old, need repair or refurbishing, and the double gun expert smiths are fewer in number. I think that will be a major issue as time goes on.
Last edited by Drew Hause; 08/12/23 02:01 PM. Reason: Corrected dates
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2 members like this:
FelixD, Karl Graebner |
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
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Peter Johnson's Parker book came out in 1961 and I got a copy for Christmas that year. Larry Baer's Parker books were published in 1974 & 1976 and the combined version in 1980. The Parker Gun Collectors Association was founded in 1993, the brainchild of Forrest Marshall & Ron Kirby. The first issue of Parker Pages was Jan/Feb 1994.
In my family American doubles were the favored shotguns. My grandfather shot a Parker, my father shot Remington doubles and a Parker, and my Uncle Larry shot a Fox-Sterlingworth that his father-in-law, my grandfather's best buddy, bought new in 1930.
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1 member likes this:
Drew Hause |
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
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My love of doubleguns is inherited. My first gun was a 16ga BLNE. My father loved doubles too and spoke of the lost LC Crown grade my grandfather sold.
My first gun book was Jack O’Connor singing the praise of the model 21. I still have all the Winchester literature from their custom as I unsuccessfully saved for a model 21 in high school working part time jobs.
I still have the Purdey catalogue from my fathers trip to London.
I was infected early, my first long gun purchase was a Fox Sterlingworth.
I told my wife the price of getting married right out of college was a matched pair of Purdeys. Never got the pair, but I still have the wife and a love of side by sides.
Vintage gun books is an addiction, I have too many, but not enough gun books. Though I find fewer new one’s these days.
Michael Dittamo
Topeka, KS
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Joined: Jan 2002
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
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my first doublegun was a 16 ga stevens 311...around 7 pounds...
i discovered grouse hunting...
my second doublegun was a 16ga fox sterlingworth...around 6 1/2 pounds...
i got older...
my third doublegun was a 16ga ithaca flues...around 6 pounds...
grouse disappeared...
now it makes no difference how much they weigh or how well they shoot...
ah luv erm awl...
Last edited by ed good; 08/12/23 02:36 PM.
keep it simple and keep it safe...
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,427 Likes: 315 |
Gene Hill's 1st "A Hunter's Fireside Book" was 1972; "Mostly Tailfeathers" 1975
"Shotgunner's Notebook" 1989
Bob Brister "Shotgunning: The Art and the Science" 1976
Don Zutz "The Double Shotgun", 1978; "Shotgun Trends in Transition" 1990
Michael McIntosh "Shotguns and Shooting" 1st edition 1995, 2nd revised 1998, 3rd 2008
"Best Guns" 1989
Ed Mukerlak "Parker Guns: The Old Reliable", 1997; "Parker Brothers: Knight of the Trigger" 2002; "Parker Guns, Shooting Flying and the American Experience", 2008
Michael McIntosh and David Trevallion "Shotgun Technicana", 2002
Steven Dodd Hughes "Double Guns and Custom Gunsmithing" 2007
Vic Venters "Gun Craft" from his series in Shooting Sportsman, 2010
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Joined: Mar 2007
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 103 Likes: 51 |
Stephen Bodio "Good Guns Again" 1994
David Butler "The American Shotgun" 1973
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Joined: Dec 2001
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
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Bob Hinman’s , The Golden Age of Shotgunning was the first important book on Doubles for Me. Maybe in the early 1970s or so. He talked about many makers.
Last edited by Daryl Hallquist; 08/13/23 12:46 PM.
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Joined: Feb 2007
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 145 Likes: 11 |
All the above were influencers. Influencers and good marketing develops interest. Then access to venues to enjoy that interest facilitates more interest.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,427 Likes: 315
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,427 Likes: 315 |
Good point.
The Vintagers’ first event was at Addieville Farm East in 1997, and again in 1998, then for the next eight years at Orvis’ Sandanona Shooting Grounds in Millbrook, New York.
The Southern Side by Side Championship & Exhibition began in 2000 at Deep River; and the Fall Classic in 2007, which was relocated to Backwoods Quail Club in 2008.
I'm sure Bro. Larry recalls The Flatwater shoots in Nebraska.
Lots of SxS focused shoots today.
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