Mr. Wood: You make my point for me. This thread started out with someone taking umbrage at Mr. Hadoke's assessment of the quality of American guns at the turn of the last Century. For all of the various reasons you state above, the need and use for a shotgun was different here than in England. In many ways, that situation hasn't really changed much. The vast majority of guns sold here today are to sportsmen that can really only afford one good gun. That is where many of us start our shooting careers. I am a huge fan of our early double guns and their history. They were both affordable and enduring. I grew up in an LC Smith household and think of them fondly still. But.....when I'm going to be walking all day in pursuit of game, my nostalgia doesn't overwhelm my need for a lighter & better balanced gun. We all like what we like for our own reasons. With that said however, English game guns were, indeed, more highly evolved in the 1890s than our own domestically produced products. Ignoring that reality because we so blindly love our own historic products simply isn't rational. The reason that your DH Parkers are so enjoyable is that they are fairly close copies of basic English game gun designs.

Last edited by Lloyd3; 04/14/13 11:43 PM.