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My point of view. As a gunmaker/gunsmith/RFD you want me to take your unwanted gun off you so it is no longer your responsibility. What do I do with it? Is it saleable? No, otherwise you would have asked me to sell it on commission so you could get some money out of it. Now what do I have to do with this gun? Scrap it. So in scrapping it I have to cut it up into sections required by law and take pictures to prove to the local FEO that it is now no longer a firearm. This takes up time that I am not being paid for. You think you are doing me a favour in giving me a gun for spares. It doesn't work like that. You are giving me work that I am not going to be paid for so yes I do charge to take your gun off you for scrapping. My local police (Wilts and TVP) won't take them off you as they will have to pay to get them scrapped too. This

You're right. When I was at Holland and Holland our guns were all made to the same spec. It was the customers that asked for 70mm, 76mm, steel proof etc. The guns were all the same. The ONLY change was with barrel making and chokes. When I (a barrel maker) was given an order for a pair of barrels the order may specify steel shot, 3" magnum, etc. So I left extra wall thickness around the chokes and gave more "lead in" to the chokes for steel. Negated choke ring bulge. But the whole gun was the same otherwise. You can deepen the chambers of a 70mm chamber Browning and it should successfully pass HP steel shot proof provided the gun is fit for proof in the first place.

So much disinformation out there. You can certainly use steel in these Brownings and any gun proofed post 1955. (that's the proof house's own advice) BTW. I shoot it in my Edwardian guns when I have to as the barrels are in great condition. So many people on here are still panicking. The fact is other shot will come out like Bio Ammo that works like lead and you carry on as normal. Steel was the quick fix. If you do use steel, best get the 3/4 choke bored to around modified (3/8ths). Seems a good pattern. Buy a lovely gun at a bargain while you can. Signed A gun barrel maker

He obvs never used the key. Had the whole choke to grab to tighten by hand. In fact I know many people who just put them in "finger tight". Correct way round of course. Still can't believe someone actually did that though.

A Beretta flush mobil choke will as the thread is at the end of the choke

As Dave said, take it to a gunsmith who has bore and choke gauges and can measure the choke restriction vs bore size. That's the only way to truly measure the choke. The stars are what chokes were bored when the gun was made but they may have been altered since. Plus I have seen many chokes that are stamped something and measure tighter. Spanish .410's in particular.

Yes that's my thoughts too. I have handled both.

Had the same pair of Aigles for near 20 years now. Bored with them. 😄

Usually a 12mm socket with a slot head for a long screwdriver also. But I did come across quite an old one with a 10mm socket and slot for long screw driver.

Correct. Absolutely would recommend. If you get him to make a thread protector with it you think he's forgotten because you can't see it it is such a good fit.

Some Hardy guns were indeed made by Holloway. It shows in the quality of the action file up and gun balance. Holloway guns have an H***** number on the small rib or as we call it the "butt piece" between loop and lump. My son blagged one in an auction (12 bore BLE) for no money and it is lovely. It too made by Holloway. If you get the chance to see/shoot a Holloway gun you will appreciate the feel and balance as well as the file up/finish of the action. Stirling work.

I assume when you say "when fired" you mean with live rounds? In that case being auto safe it could be what London Best said but also I have found that if the lever spring has weakened and the lock up or "bites" are loose sometimes the lever flicks open enough to engage auto safe. Happens frequently on old loose Brownings and Mirokus I've come across. I always polish the sear pads and recoil block lip where it engages the sear pads during a service for a nice slippy surface helping to release when fired. Do so at your own risk though. Prefer you saw a competent gunsmith. If you mean when fired with snap caps then it is perfectly normal not to fire second barrel without recoil. I once had a guy return a Beretta to me because he said the second barrel didn't fire. This was before he had a chance to live fire it. I put snap caps in and pulled the trigger then thumped the stock and pulled the trigger again with no issues. He didn't realise he had to do that with snap caps.

THIS 👆

As a gunmaker in business for 36 years now gunsmithing with a small shop I have had trouble getting a card machine due to "the nature of my trade". In the past I have been set up with a card payment machine by the rep on the Friday only to be shut down by Monday. It's not the card machine provider, it's the bank that handles the money. It's rife I can tell you. The guy is right.

It's not uncommon for any sidelock 50 years old to have small cracks in the head. The wood gets soft and brittle from oil contamination. Also if the breech and hand pins are loose and the gun continues to be shot the stock will inevitably crack. Even on younger guns. I've seen loads of guns with loose stocks and cracks. Owners don't notice and also do not have the gun regularly maintained where the looseness will be addressed. A proper gunsmith or gunmaker knows how to tighten actions on the wood. The trigger plate pin (I assume the screw you are referring to) should be difficult to remove. As should have been the breech pin. If the breech pin was easy to undo and the hand pin was half a turn out then that could be your answer. Just because the stock may have never been off the gun doesn't mean it wasn't loose on the action. Doesn't look that bad in the photo but best get it looked at though. FYI I'm currently working on a No.2 with the very same crack. I'm not the slightest bit concerned and will run some epoxy in it when I reassemble the gun. When it's all tight on the action it won't be an issue. Interesting to see your stock initialled by the stocker. I've stripped hundreds of No.2's and don't recall ever seeing them initialled. I also don't recall the inside of the lock plates being "jewelled" either. If it says S for safe in front of the safety catch then it's a No.2. (There were other grades of sidelocks) If it says SAFE then it's a No.1

Yes

I used to go to buy for selling on in the 90's but now popular guns are almost, if not retail money. (with the taxes) I assume because of the internet exposure perhaps. So no, not from a dealers point of view. And privately as a punter, unless you really know what you're looking at, better to stick to a shop where you get warranties, etc. for nearly the same price. If you're a seller you benefit from all those foreign buyers if it's something a bit rare. Saying that, my son purchased a lovely Hardy Bros, 12b BLE in the last sealed bid sale. (made by Holloway if you know gun making) An absolute steal for £250 inc taxes.

I had a look at the other photos on their web site and the letters next to the bore/chamber depth suggests it's Turkish. I maybe wrong though. It's just that other Turkish guns have the letters TR on them so to identify the country of origin. A requirement these days. And Turkey is identified by the two letter abbreviation TR.

Get yourself a Payne Galway brush. Way better than a PB

FAIR side by sides are great. £1600ish. RUAG Ammotec are importing them. Best lower budget side by side I've seen by far. They make the Lincoln guns and they never seem to go wrong.

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No not all did. I can't claim to know why either but I'm looking at one now (20 bore Sporter) with no oval. A wild guess as the one I have here is a Sporter. Maybe only game/field models had them? Saying that. I have a brand new SP III Field here without one. Another guess. Different era different attitudes towards spec vs costs. Don't know how they fit their ovals but fitting one in by hand is not quick.

You're right about that. Not knocking your photos but Pauls' blacking is much deeper and shinier than the pics show. I use him all the time. Anyway... shush. Don't tell anyone as he's busy enough already.

Beat me to it. My thoughts exactly. Hope you're keeping well mate.

I had a guy come in for a gun service. I spotted a nasty dent in his barrels. He failed to see it and asked me how I could spot it. I told him it's called a five year apprenticeship in barrel making. 😄