My first Guns

Turbocharged

Turbocharged

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After many years of procrastination, I am officially a gun owner after transferring a pair of shotguns from my stepfather to myself. It only took a month to complete the transfer process. Living in Ontario, that may be reason for celebration.

I am at least the third owner of these shotguns, a William Evans (12g) and Watson Bros. (20g). Both were made between 1924 and 1932. They have belonged to my stepfather for at least 35 years.

They're in dire need of a cleanup. They haven't been fired in a long time and could have been maintained better. I plan to take better care of them now that they are mine. I will be taking them to a gun smith to make sure everything is in working order before I attempt to fire them.

I feel lucky that the first guns I own are as beautiful as these.

Here's SxS #### for those who appreciate it...

Full size gallery here: http://flickr.com/gp/21093897@N02/8UR60q

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Those are BEAUTIFUL shotguns. That kind of quality is hard to find these days. The English always made THE best shotguns in the world, bar none. Have your smith pay particular attention to chamber lengths, they are probably 2 1/2 inch but you can still buy shells for them.
 
Mike Webb said:
Those are BEAUTIFUL shotguns. That kind of quality is hard to find these days. The English always made THE best shotguns in the world, bar none. Have your smith pay particular attention to chamber lengths, they are probably 2 1/2 inch but you can still buy shells for them.
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Thanks for the advice, I did read earlier this week that shotguns from that era had short chambers. I'm the kind of person who likes to know everything about things I own and It's funny that my first guns are of the type I know the least about. I do have a great appreciation for them and plan to keep them forever. Theses are the kind of guns that you keep in the family.
 
Congrats! Nice acquisitions!

Once you've had a competent gunsmith complete a thorough inspection - those two sxs will very adequately serve your Upland hunting needs. 65mm Kent Gamebore shells in 12 and 20 aren't hard to acquire either and perform very well indeed. But then again, I wouldn't be too surprised if those shotguns are originally chambered for 2 3/4in cartridges and nitro proofed for 1 1/8oz loads (well, probably in the case of that 12).
 
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I must say that the stock on that boxlock appear to have nice grain.

Needless to mention, many of us here will appreciate if you are able to post some detailed images of the shotguns particularly of the proofmarks.....not to mention an image in its entirety pertinent to each gun :).
 
Ahsan Ahmed said:
I must say that the stock on that boxlock appear to have nice grain.

Needless to mention, many of us here will appreciate if you are able to post some detailed images of the shotguns particularly of the proofmarks.....not to mention an image in its entirety pertinent to each gun :).
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I will definitely follow up with more detailed shots since there is interest. It might take a little while since I took a few hundred pictures at christmas that I still haven't processed. I will be sure to get shots of the proofmarks.

I'm likely to going to take them to Precision Arms & Gunsmithing in King City to get checked out. I've seen them mentioned on this site.
 
Congratulations on taking the plunge and on starting with such nice guns! Now, as long as you don't procrastinate over taking them to a smith and then out shooting, you'll be living the life of a king in no time.:D
 
Now that you've taken the plunge, take another and before you start tearing those old girls down ask yourself if you have the necessary tools and skills required to do it properly, without damaging them. I can tell you appreciate the shotguns and respect what you have.
You also have a fair amount of value there. A dull or to small/large srewdriver will do a lot of damage and therefore reduce a lot of value.
Those stocks look like they could use a good coat of raw linseed oil as well. IMHO boiled linseed oil will work just as well but purists might disagree. If you do use the raw linseed oil, wear gloves. When cleaning the checkering, use soft bristle tooth brushes and be careful.
If you don't know how to disassemble the shotguns, take them to someone that is experienced with such shotguns. There are perfectly capable people on this site. go to the gunsmithing forum and request some help. These knowledgeable fellows will chime in and give you the information you need.

I've seen several such firearm damaged badly, with no intent, just by people not familiar or skilled.

I'm not saying you aren't capable or skilled by the way as you give no indication of what you do.
 
Turbocharged, those are beautiful guns. More than beautiful, they are among the finest guns you can find at any price. The 20 gauge William Evans seven pin sidelock in particular is a shotgun which makes collectors drool.

Please do not take a screwdriver to either of them. You would need to grind a blade to fit the thin slots used by British gunmakers, and there is nothing in there you could fix anyway. Remember, you never really own guns such as these, you just take care of them for a while (hpoefully many many years).

If they were mine I would take them to Nick Makinson in Komoka. His work with guns of this sort is beyond reproach. I think you will find that not much needs doing in any case.

Please do use the guns. It would be a horrible fate for these pieces to sit unseen in a safe

Best of luck.


Sharptail
 
phooey...MY stepfather used to give me a buck if I'd stay out of the house for an hour...

Ok, seriously. Those are beautiful. I'm glad you mentioned your intent to take them to a 'smith.

I can't wait to see them once you've cut 'em down to 24" overall length with your shortened barrels and, "quick cut" pistol grips! (looking for two giggles in one post!)

I'm bettin' there's more than one out there who would be happy just to find the cases, much less the contents!
 
Sharptail said:
Turbocharged, those are beautiful guns. More than beautiful, they are among the finest guns you can find at any price. The 20 gauge William Evans seven pin sidelock in particular is a shotgun which makes collectors drool.

Please do not take a screwdriver to either of them. You would need to grind a blade to fit the thin slots used by British gunmakers, and there is nothing in there you could fix anyway. Remember, you never really own guns such as these, you just take care of them for a while (hpoefully many many years).

If they were mine I would take them to Nick Makinson in Komoka. His work with guns of this sort is beyond reproach. I think you will find that not much needs doing in any case.

Please do use the guns. It would be a horrible fate for these pieces to sit unseen in a safe

Best of luck.


Sharptail
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This is the best advice you can get as far as takingn care of these fine shotguns go!
They are truly works of art, and to have anyone but a very talented gunsmith work on them would be courting disaster.

Martini and Hagn, Claus Hepmeyer, or Carey Stricker are three that come to mind that can work on quality guns like these.
Jason at Gunco also apprenticed under one of Canada's finest, and knows SXS quality guns as well.
To have one of these beauties is super, to be able to own TWO is unbelievable!!w:h:
Cat
 
The advice you gentlemen are giving is much appreciated!

I plan to leave any work to someone who specializes in these particular guns. I know the craftmanship that went into making them. I am a graphic designer and appreciate works of art. I'm good with my hands and mechanically inclined but know when something is beyond my skills/knowledge/tools.

I made an ammendment to my original post, the William Evans is the 12 gauge and the Watson Brothers is the 20 gauge.
 
I would die to get that Watson Bros boxlock 20! I know it is not a sidelock like the Evans, but Watson are the cadillac in that pair as very few guns produced compared to W.Evans! I know you will never sell, but I am open to buying that cased set from you, cheers and I hope they see some hunting soon as guns like that deserve a few days in the sun!Dale Z
 
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