Hello! I purchased this veryinteresting SxS 12 gauge at auction a few years ago. If there are any shotgun guys in the crowd, have a go at identifying it! I still haven't been able to. Ignore the clipped on fiber optic sights on the rib...they were removed as soon as I got it!
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It is indeed an odd gun. First strange thing is that it is an 8-pin sidelock. Someone was reinventing the wheel a bit when the classic H&H 7-pin patent and the simpler 5-pin have been in the public domain for a century. (Clue #1)
Then we look at the emphasis on "loudness" of the gun from the scroll coverage executed with a minimal selection of chisels and gouges, the gold triggers, the carved fences, and the overall appearance of the gun. Embellishment is high and quality is low. (Clue #2)
Quality of features: It has a beavertail forend, some inconsistent checkering on one side of the wrist, and the stock isn't "stocked to the fences" which means the wood was easier to head at the action by the design. (Clue #3-#5)
Lack of proof marks. This is illegal in many jurisdictions and it removes of course the UK, and all CIP countries from the potential location of origin. (Big Clue #6)
Lack of proper tools: The script on the barrel flats and water table were sloppy and out of symmetry indicating the most basic of ability to stamp text onto the gun rather than nice clean rows. (Clue #6)
A lot of additional "over the top" embellishments that are not traditional including gold paint in some of the engraving on the belly of the action and black paint on the sidelocks. (Clue #7)
My votes in likely order (more pictures of the barrel under the forend may help pinpoint futher)
#1 - India
#2 - Turkey
Distant #3 options: Former Yugloslavian countries (but would mean gun made after 1992...doubt it) and the various "Stans".
What it positively is not:
Spanish
French
English
Belgian
American
Brazilian
Russian
Czech
Austria
Chile
Finland
Sweden
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Russia
Slovakia
UAE
UK