doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What's the least expensive "best gun"?

Once upon a time, before the Great Recession wiped out every one of my wealthy condo developer buddies who used to go to Winner, South Dakota each fall for a pheasant hunt, I stopped at Cabela's in Mitchell, and looked at a very nice Purdey.

The man said it was only $10,000, because the chambers had been lengthened to 2 3/4", and it was originally a 2 1/2 inch gun, and hadn't been subjected to reproof. It would likely be all right, but they would not guarantee the barrels would stand proof. Not very reassuring.

The gun was quite a bargain, he said, compared to another one on the rack that looked just like it, that was sixty thousand dollars.

Then I went on to Winner, where one of my wealthy friends let me hunt that afternoon with one of his Purdeys, one of a pair he'd only paid thirty thousand for the pair, many years ago.

All in all, the Purdey was a very nice gun, and handled about like my Ithaca Model 37, which is a great complement to the Purdey. It looked much like the Grulla the same man showed me, with beautiful engraving and gold filled screws, he said was only a six thousand dollar gun.

I have more guns than I can shoot, if I shot one a week for a year.

I appreciate all your well thought out advice, but my conservative nature has me wanting to send off my Bernardelli to Mike Orlen and have the chokes opened up to something more "game gun" than IM/F, and shoot the hide off the thing at skeet, causal trap, sporting clays, and the doves I shoot in the fall here in Missouri.

Buying a "best gun' is sort of like buying a genuine 28 gauge Model 12 Skeet Gun. It might be the real deal, or it could be a 16 gauge Model 12 counterfeited into a 28 gauge. Somebody could screw me to death buying a best gun, and I'd be standing there just smiling, not knowing enough to avoid my screwing.

And if I want to admire great craftsmanship, all I need to do is take one of my Browning Superposed shotguns apart, and peep up inside.

I'm not saying I won't eventually buy a best gun.

But I'm going to try out a lot of best guns, first, and buy one that my gunsmith pronounces as sound and good, and it might be another V. Bernardelli.

They made some best guns, too, with sidelocks and nice engraving. I see them listed in the Gun Trader's Guide.

And their box lock S. Uberto I guns imported by Charles Daly, handle about like that Purdey I tried, or an Ithaca Model 37, take your pick.

I own bunches of Ithaca Model 37's, but only that one boxlock light game gun from Italy.

It will do me, for now.

"All in all, the Purdey was a very nice gun, and handled about like my Ithaca Model 37, which is a great complement to the Purdey."

This is pasted onto my quotations file! Thank you.

The injection of Prussian Dalys into this discussion makes it much more realistic. Leroy's Featherweight Daly is probably the best buy we have discussed. Too bad it has already been claimed. I have a little bit of everything in my collection, but my Lindner guns are about the best there is.

Although it doesn't meet your design criteria, high grade Darne shotguns (which I'd define as V-19 and above) are beautifully fit and finished and tend to be fairly light weight for gauge. They are extremely strong actions and I doubt anyone has ever worn one out from use (as opposed to mistreatment).

Those original links to Reillys were from my original research in Dec 2015-Jan 2016. Many no longer work. Thankfully I kept a copy of most of the original ads and photos of most of the guns. I've posted a working link to 34865 and the original ads for the other two whose links have gone dark. If anyone wants to see a pic of some particular Reilly from that original database, I may be able to accommodate.

I realize now what a lot of work compiling that database was and since it was usually in the evening with a scotch or a gin in hand, damned near turned me into an alcoholic. I'm also convinced I wasn't quite sane (not a surprise to some here). I am going to search my original database with key word "Best" to see what else turns up in the Reilly world. Mind - just because it has "Best" in the ad doesn't mean much.

20468

http://www.pooshka.com/a.php?aid=13575

Name: E.M. REILLY (full address not mentioned)
Descriptions: 10 bore hammer, Purdey patent, circa 1882-1883 22 rifle. damascus pattern on barrels and ribs. Exquisitely engraved rebounding sidelock hammer receiver with tall graceful hammers, fancy carved fences and tight, on face lockup bluebook gun. Straight grip extra fancy English walnut stock pistol. Great old Reilly hammer gun on a Purdy action 38 revolver. The receiver is mostly silver but all engraving is very very fine and very sharp with wear visible only on the trigger tang in the grip area used gun. All finishes are in high condition revolver collector. 32 line per inch very fine checkering sks rifle. A correct and very solid London best sidelock hammer gun from a great maker bluebook gun values. 29 1/4" fancy damascus barrel



15084 (this number may be the auction house identifier not the Reilly SN�this is likely 1880�s)
http://www.stevebarnettfineguns.com/asp-bin/archivelist.asp?sort=00
15084,� E.M.REILLY ,�Model:�BEST HAMMER PIGEON GUN ,�12 �Gauge �
SBFG ID: 15084
Manufacturer: E.M.REILLY�



35079
http://www.heritageguns.co.uk/back-catalogue.htm

EM Reilly Co 12b SLE no 35079 14 5/8� well figured stock inc. 3/4� Leather Recoil Pad. 30� Damascus 2 3/4� Nitro Proof

The Action is of Southgate's back action sidelock design and features: 
Back action 9 pin locks with interceptor sears, 
Top lever operating a Mills 3rd bite and a Purdey Bolt by way of a Scott Spindle, 
Double triggers bolted by an automatic top tang safety slide, 
Southgate ejectors tripped by sprung plates rocking in the bar of action 
and Anson's push rod forend catch. 
Gun weight 6lb 13 � oz 
Engraving style Best Foliate Scroll. Webley fences with carved Acanthus leaves. Gold 'SAFE'
Trigger pulls measure approximately: Front trigger 3 lbs Rear trigger 4 lbs
The original damascus barrels are 29 7/8" in length, chambered for 2 3/4" (70mm) cartridges and are of brazed dovetail lump construction with soft soldered ribs.
Top rib is of the smooth, concave game type. 
London reproof for 70mm nitro powder cartridges in 2013.

Approximate barrel measurements at date of publication:
�
Nominal Proof Size
Bore Diameter 9" from Breech
Minimum Wall Thickness
Choke Constriction
Right Barrel
18.7mm
(0.736")
0.737"
0.024" at 9" from muzzle
0.010" (IC)
Left Barrel
18.7mm
(0.736")
0.735"
0.029"
0.031" (IM)

The Straight Hand Stock and Splinter Forend are crafted from highly figured walnut. The stock is 'stocked to the fences', lightly cast-off for a right-handed shot, features a vacant white metal oval, well-defined drop points and is finished with a �" leather covered recoil pad. The forend features a finely engraved steel forend tip.

Highly Figured walnut

The 20 lines per inch chequering is to the normal sidelock pattern
The stock is finished with a traditional linseed oil based preparation as used on best guns by one of the top English makers. This finish uses no grain fillers to achieve its deep, smooth lustre, only many hours of alternate build and flatting off of the surface.
Approximate stock measurements at date of publication:
Pull to Heel
Pull to Bump
Pull to Centre
Pull to Toe
14 1/2"
14 5/8"
14 5/8"
15"
Drop at Comb
Drop at Face
Drop at Heel
1 7/16"
1 5/8"
2 1/8"
Cast at Comb
Cast at Heel
Negligible
1/4" Approximate
For the purposes of these measurements, 'Drop at Face' is the 'drop' measurement taken on a line perpendicular to the 
line joining the trigger and centre of the butt at approximately 8" from the trigger (front trigger on a double trigger gun).
Patents Exhibited include:
Southgate lockwork, ejector and interceptor sear patent no 12314 of 1889; 
'Purdey Bolt' patent no. 1104 of 1863;
'Scott Spindle' patent no. 2752 of 1865;
Mills 3rd bite patent no 4980 of 1878; 
Southgate's ejector trip patent no 8239 of 1893 
and Anson's forend fastener patent no. 3791 of 1872.