doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Best guns in the world today?

Treblig,
Not trying to argue, but everytime I've seen a documentary, film or pictures of PH's, they have a beat up old bolt gun, usually and M70 or M98.

As I post, I am watching Under Wild Skies, the great Outdoor Channel show produced by my friend Tony Makris. His PH on a buffalo hunt is carrying a wonderful clamshell action double rifle among the bolt guns. Unfortunately, I don't know the maker of this rifle.

I agree Chuck I see them also. However when a wounded animal runs into the thick stuff most of the time someone off camera is handing that PH an English built double rifle.

When I've seen footage of that situation, usually 2 or 3 guys, with big guns and really big eyes and expressions like they are about to dirty their diapers, are shown going in.

Ever read Hemingway's short story, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"? If not, find a copy. You'll get a pretty good idea of what it's like to go into the tall grass......

I've a slight bone to pick.

"--- wonderful weignt, balance, and handling!" Uummmmmm! That is like saying whichever maker you favor has wonderful stock dimensions. Wonderful for who? Since many "best work" guns are bespoke, we should assume that the stock dimensions and handling dimensions suited the the bespeaker. We should also assume that the "best work" gunmaker satisfied himself that the bespeaker was properly advised as to his specifications. That is to say, the bespeaker will have a gun which suits him/her personally for the purpose communicated to the maker. If this is not so, then the maker did not do due dilligence.

For purchasers of preowned/used or off-the-peg best guns, you have to assure yourself that the gun has stock dimensions and handling dimension that fit/suit you or can be successfully modified to do so.

Handling dimensions are no more unique to any maker than are stock dimensions. Was that Purdey you are dreaming of a light game or a game weight gun? Could it have been a heavy game, light pigeon, pigeon, or a light fowling gun? Or were you thinking of a big 'ole fowler? Purdey has made/makes 'em all and their handling dimensions are different. Ergo, one can't say, "Purdeys handle thus and so."

Thus endeth the rant.

I've never ordered a "bespoke" gun, let alone a London "best", but what little I understand about them being built to customer specs and my preference in gun characteristics, I see the logic of Don's 'bone'. I also gotta believe if 'London' made a gun with certain characteristics, Ferlach, Eibar, Scotland or about any other competent accomplished double maker can easily make a gun with the same weight, balance, weight distribution, etc.. It's not a mystical witch's brew, it's engineering, albeit the first guy that did the engineering that made it all come together was an artist of an engineer.

The barrel makers might disagree, and say that there is a lot of art in selecting the right steel and striking the barrels properly for the particular metal to get the required strength, weight and balance.

Its something new to me. How many "right" barrel steels you know and what is difference in strength of them?
There is English type of barrel design with heavy breech end, also there are German, Austrian etc.
What can change balance and handling of particular gun design is wood.

Doverham,
I have to respectfully disagree here. There may have been "...a lot of art..." the first time it all came together, but now, it's more about copying versions of what worked (whether it's the heavy barrels for a duck gun or light barrels for an upland gun.

Barrels can be and without a doubt, are measured even by H&H (I saw that in the video), suitable steels for barrels are narrowed down pretty well to fractions of percentage of alloying agents.

I think a more accurate discription of building a good set of barrels would be: there's a lot of skill in replicating the processes to create them.