Let's see some pic's of your SxS's & O/U's

Just got this back from Chris and he made the wood "pop" once again. The gun is a German Wilhelm Collath circa 1906. It sports ejectors, horn grip cap, horn buttplate, horn trigger guard and Witten steel barrels, the same steel used on Linder-Dalys. It's good to go for another 100 years but I am debating about doing the barrels. They aren't that bad so I may leave them original finish at this time.
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Brian, looks great. That wood is interesting. Looks very "Winchester-ish" to me. Not a knock at all......just different from what we normally see on Continental guns.

12 gauge?? That horn trigger guard will feel nice on those cold Manitoba mornings.
 
Well, I think I have the photo attachment thing under control now so I'll present some of my ladies over the next few weeks.
First up, J D Dougall Lockfast 16 ga from 1881-82, marked 'HIGHEST' on the table and it sure looks like a highest grade. Original metal finishes, perfect bores in original proof, restocked by Elmer Rinas about 30 years ago. Still looking for a suitable case.
 
My turn I guess. This one is a T E Mortimer (Edinburgh) 16 gauge from 1893 and it's kind of like King Arthur's axe which had received only four new handles and three new heads, 'as new'. First, in 1955 Russell Sporting Goods sent it to England and had NEW barrels installed with 2 3/4" chambers. The top rib is engraved ' NEW BARRELS BY RUSSELL SPORTING GOODS, CALGARY' and the barrels are marked on the bottom ' MADE IN ENGLAND'. About 2000 Elmer Rinas ( then of Mission, BC, now passed on unfortunately) restocked it with a nice typical piece of Edenbank Farm, Sardis BC walnut. About ten years ago I had Ralf Martini do some work on it and he reblued the furniture and sent it to Turnbull in the US who case coloured it. So it's my 'new' 126 year old gun, it's been loved a lot.
 
I don't take credit for the guns 1963 Beretta, just for having the luck to find them and the foresight to acquire them even though it may have hurt at the time. I've had these on display at a few gun shows but I have never offered them for sale (yet). Yes, the Dougall is gorgeous, the engraving is actually still sharp to the touch! In their heyday they made some of the finest guns in the world, certainly the equal of many more famous (today) makers. And I shoot my guns - all of them. Some years ago at the Calgary gun show I had Chris Beaumont from Holt's do an appraisal on it, the results shocked me ( but put a smile on my face). He tried his best to get me to consign it to auction in England. If I have any control, my guns won't leave Canada like so many of our best ones have. J.
 
James Dalziel Dougall

Ashcroft, your Dougall Lockfast is the epitome of the suave, refined gun, for the gentleman of impeccable taste. And it has external hammers, as all proper guns do!

Spare a thought for its parent, the pinfire version. James Dalziel Dougall was one of the first British gun makers to recognise the potential of the pinfire. Initially based in Glasgow, he opened his second premises at 59 St. James St. in 1864, which is when the gun below was made, and marked with the London address. For those who haven't handled one, the Lockfast is a slide-and-drop action, where moving the side lever downwards (Patent 1128 of 7 May 1860) moves the barrels forward slightly, disengaging them from raised bosses on the action face and allowing the barrels to swivel for loading. It is not a fast snap-action, but it is immensely strong and suited for both guns and rifles.

Dougall was a tireless promoter of his invention, writing in his 1875 book Shooting: Its Appliances; Practice; and Purpose:

“This is not the place to enter upon personal or commercial matters and I should much prefer in this treatise to sink my identity as a gunsmith altogether, were I not induced to believe that practical experience, honestly expounded, must have weight with impartial readers. I will only say, therefore, that the " Lock-fast" system of breech loaders, with which my name is inseparably connected, is constructed so as to give the old interlocking of the muzzle-loaders to the new weapon. In the Lock-fast it is the stock itself which holds the barrels in their place: the mechanical movement is merely the agent to bring the stock and barrels together. The system also first demonstrated the great fact that the barrels should be held down at their extreme rear, and all genuine progress has since been made on this most important principle. If I knew of a better gun, I should at once adopt it; and feel assured that no unprejudiced reader will blame me for thus frankly stating most honest and conscientious opinions, and the results of experience. Beyond this, however, I will not go, nor carry the war into the camp of the enemy on matters of detail, although this would certainly be commercially justified by the thousand-and-one ridiculous mis-statements which have been set afloat against the Lock-fast breech-loaders, but which each succeeding season sends to the limbo of untruths. It is a fair logical inference, that the complete success of any invention against bitter opposition is the best proof of excellence.”

16-bore, number 1750.
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Beautiful pinfire, Pinfire. Hah, sorry, I just couldn't help myself. Your excellent photos do a great job of illustrating how this massively strong action locks up. In their heyday JD Dougall held Royal warrants and appointments and were an elite London gunmaker but they failed to adapt to changing trends, never putting out a hammerless sidelock and only marketing a sidelever lever cocking trigger plate gun briefly in the late 1880's when this concept was already considered obsolete. This course doomed the firm, and when JD Dougall the founder died in 1891 the firm died with him, leaving only the Glasgow branch which was being run by his son.
 
Well, time to show off again. I look at 'em, I fondle 'em, I hunt with 'em, I shoot and clean 'em, but only a handful of people have seen these marvellous pieces, more Canadians need to know about and appreciate the best of the best that exist right under their noses, it's an important part of our heritage that is disappearing.
First up, an outstanding Steven Grant 12 gauge pigeon gun, apparently original 2 3/4" chambers, bores at original proof dimensions, having needed nothing more than a polish to present as new. Built in 1883 on Horatio Phillips trigger plate action patented in 1879, Grant purchased the patent and was the major user of it, this was their best gun until they secured a suitable hammerless sidelock gun later in the 1880's. Metal finishes all original, forend is original, that magnificent butt stock being the product of three succeeding stockmakers, being finished by Don Robinson of Prince George and Kelowna BC. The engraving on this gun,in the traditional Grant pattern is flawless under magnification, actually the equal of my Dougall. And those barrels! They look like they are jewelled from end to end, choked in both and they throw the most perfect patterns with most good ammo. Enjoy.
 
Here's one to make Londonshooter and Pinfire both happy. A Westley Richards best quality from 1873, according to WR it was made as a pinfire, quite late of course, but at this time before hammerless guns were successful they were actually still making a few muzzleloaders. The gun carries three different Westley Richards patent marks, has awesome wood and almost microscopically fine best quality engraving. Not known who did the conversion or when, it isn't the system WR used but it is very neat and tidy and perfectly executed and almost invisible. She's been around some but well looked after, fits me better than any of my other current hammer guns so I shoot it a lot, mostly with black, sometimes with low pressure smokeless 7/8 oz handloads and even with the cylinder chokes it is deadly out to 40 yards on a good day.
 
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Pinfire, approximately what is the vintage of this lovely Dougall of yours? I know the records are lost, but I have some confirmed dated serial numbers that might narrow it down. It has a side lever variation I haven't seen before. J.
 
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