Vintage British Doubles

19_A_CPT · Aug 24, 2026

I bought a SxS .45-70 awhile back that looked alot like the Hellis & Sons on page 1.
Supposedly it's a Spanish Zabala Brothers.
Converted with barrel sleeves.
Has a low power scope and shoots like a dream.
Anybody else have any experience with converted shotties to rifles?

steve white · Aug 24, 2026

zephyr said:
I am also Left Handed and pretty finicky about gun fit .. Ask about ... A good Smith can Bend the stock and give you the cast you need ..

Yes they can but cast shows up in other places--like the slant on the surface of the triggers, or the angle at the toe of the stock. A true lefty takes all these things in hand.

Oops, I see Rookhawk has covered this....

Kdgj · Aug 24, 2026

In a few more months I’ll be able to go out again.

Ken

S Bertram · Sep 11, 2026

I'm hoping I shoot this one well, Charles Lancaster SLE, looks to have been built in 1926.

Altitude sickness · Oct 26, 2026

I was able to get out this AM with the Boss.

S Bertram · Wednesday at 1:53 PM

The dogs and I had a good trip to the prairie.

Altitude sickness · Wednesday at 3:39 PM

I just received these elephant and Buffalo leather shot shell holders back from @LEATHER LINK STUDIO

I May de use to sell 3 of them

Charlie64 · Wednesday at 4:02 PM

.

I have just got back from the UK & spent a few days with some very knowledgeable gun folk. Consensus was / is that with lead bans going thru in the UK & a lot of Europe there will be a flood of 19th & early 20th century British shotguns that come on to the market.

Very likely they will go the to USA for cents in the dollar to US gun dealers / traders that will make a killing on the mark up. God bless America & your gun laws!

In the meantime, I am going to shot & enjoy my Holland, my Leesons, my Watkins, my Churchill XXV & a few more in the up coming pheasant & hare shoots that we will be attending! Enjoy whilst we can !

.

mms45 · Thursday at 7:00 AM

Charlie64 said:
.

I have just got back from the UK & spent a few days with some very knowledgeable gun folk. Consensus was / is that with lead bans going thru in the UK & a lot of Europe there will be a flood of 19th & early 20th century British shotguns that come on to the market.

Very likely they will go the to USA for cents in the dollar to US gun dealers / traders that will make a killing on the mark up. God bless America & your gun laws!

In the meantime, I am going to shot & enjoy my Holland, my Leesons, my Watkins, my Churchill XXV & a few more in the up coming pheasant & hare shoots that we will be attending! Enjoy whilst we can !

.

I'm hoping to pick a few up in the next year or 2 so hopefully this works out for me in the states!

CJNJ · Thursday at 7:22 AM

My Charles Hellis in a gun case which belonged to Major Daniel Harding, DSO, of the Royal Army Medical Corps. He served in the 2d Boer War, in India and in WWI. I think the Hellis is maybe a gun similar to what he once carried in this case.

mms45 · Thursday at 1:14 PM

what is the general consensus on the lead ban affecting pricing on tier 1 and 2 sidelocks is there more room for prices to come down or have they stabilized?

Altitude sickness · Thursday at 1:25 PM

I see very nice high end 12 gauges sitting for sale for a long time. I think we are seeing the beginning of the British 12 gauge glut now. It will get worse if the importers keep bringing more over from Europe.

The sub bores keep moving quickly and still at a premium.

For the people that just shoot them and are non collectors like me this is good news.

Remember when Sable trophy fees were $20,000 ? Now they are $3k

mms45 · Thursday at 1:42 PM

What’s the thought on the bottom atkins or lang sidelocks sub 3k? Hollands and purdey under 6?

Altitude sickness · Thursday at 1:56 PM

Like before any glut. There is a period where the seller still thinks they’re worth more than they are and sits on them.
Luckily, for them, there are the buyers that still think they’re rare and pays retail.

As @rookhawk admonishes us. Buy the gun. Not the name.

There are always outliers. I’m hopeful, but doubtful that a McNaughton or Dickson round action will drop in price. but that’s not likely because they actually are rare.

There are H&H, Lange, Atkins and Purdeys that will hold their value and others. Not so much.

For example. I’m a user of these guns. Not a collector. So a well done sleeve job does not bother me. But to the collectors it can.

I took Rookhawks and Mark Ouellette’s advice and bought key books to educate myself to the basic knowledge level for buying.

There are some key take aways from these books

Barrels, barrels, barrels.

Charlie64 · 2026-11-01T02:26:37-0600

.

It’s that time of the year again! A wonderful Saturday rough shoot with friends & dogs, with a final bag of 13 brown hare & 3 pheasant, nothing pricked & nothing lost.

A beautiful brace of pheasant & an early 20th Century Churchill XXV 12 bore, shooting Eley 30 gram fibre wad 6s.

A magnificent autumn day in the countryside amongst friends!

.

Vintage British Doubles

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S Bertram

Altitude sickness

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