doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com John Dickson & Sons Round Action

They made some impressive pieces in them "mountains". Just recently 16th century 2-handed Highlander claymore realized 240,000 ENGLISH POUNDS at Thomas Del Mar Ltd. action. stuff

They have lovely racy lines and, all of the ones I've shot, fast handling. That having been said, there are a number of sub categories. There are a few with wood extended to cover almost all the actions (bar-in-wood). There are (maybe even rarer, and somewhat hard to justify either aestheticaly or from an engineering standpoint) a few Dickson trigger-plate actions made with false sideplates to resemble a conventional barlock. I know there are fewer than a couple dozen of those. There are round actions with top-rising cocking indicators and without. In the really rare category, there are fewer than half a dozen three-barreled guns and side-opening O/Us. They are all as strong as all get-out and very hard to wear out. The new ones by David McKay Brown are faithful to the basic design, but improved in all sorts of ways (better ejector disks, for example) and are even better, IMHO. (On the other hand, YOU try to get David to make a side-opener or a bar-in-wood.) Dickson/MacNaughton will make a bar-in-wood if you ask quite nicely. In short, it's a fascinating category, with not a less-than-wonderful gun in it, assuming decent condition.

Lets not forget the other Scottish guy, who was no slouch either.
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Well.......My Dickson is the only gun in my safe that is not for sale at any price. It has 29" barrels, weighs in at just a touch over six pounds and is truly a magic wand.









For information on Dickson and McNaughton here in the US you should contact Rachael Allenby at http://www.allenbykennels.com/index.cfm

You can pick up a nice FB springer to go with your new round action too.

Aloha,

Bob

PS For some reason I always shoot better with the Dickson when kilted.

PPS Wow! Wonder what happened to my Hunt101 pics. They've been downsized!

I have a skeleton MacNaughton aka the Edinburgh Gun in 12 gauge. It came to me through Graham Mackinlay from Glasgow. I recommend finding these in the barrel-cocking style made after about 1894. IF something does go wrong, the gun should not be opened by the faint-hearted. I have never held one of these round action guns that was not a delight as to balance and swing in much the same way that a Boss of the same period is.

I have had no issues with the gun which came to me in excellent condition.

To my knowledge, all of the Dickson RA guns are of first rate quality.

Have a pair of Dickson round action 12 gauge guns, each at 6 -1/4 pounds, and the papers that show the same fellow ordered them some months apart. The s/n are 51XX and 52XX (1899 and 1900) and the damascus barrels are still in proof but show rivelling and some areas where pitting was polished out. I had new modern barrels made for the guns about four years ago "by another" when Dickson (still in business) quoted me 6,500 sterling for each set of barrels (!) Took the youngest of the pair out a month ago and waved it at some Hungarian partridge on the Eastern Shore. Magic

Regards

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my request for information. As I'm sure you have gathered, I have a complete lack of knowledge regarding these guns, but I have been "smitten"!

Does anyone know how to relate the serial number to the dates of manufacture? Or where to go to obtain this information?

And Bob, thank you for the link to Allenby Gunroom and Kennels. I have sent an e-mail to Rachel for more information.

Markel,

Nigel Brown, British Gunmakers, Vol. Two, Pp. 80-81 has a chart correlating serial numbers to production dates.

The Dickson round action shotguns are fascinating.

Curl

http://www.gavingardiner.com/BidCat/detail.asp?SaleRef=0004&LotRef=152A

Brand Value level two (BV2). Lets say Original Quality grade one(best work, OQ1). Current Condition level five (CC5 - restored).
BV2-OQ1-CC5 = $9,031 or $18062 for the pair. Auction low estimate is £14,000; delivered in USA (hammer price, buyer's premium, and shipping/delivery) would be about $35,000 or $17,500/gun. So, we are looking at something like a 94% premium for this pair. What will they hammer at??

Rocketman,

Your formula produces a number much lower than what Lowell Glenthorne suggested ("Must have about 20k to play"). And most I've seen listed have been in the 20k range. So I don't understand how 18k for the pair is realistic. I know if I were presented such an opportunity I'd do what it ever it took to close that deal!

Perhaps I'm missing your point with the formula.