Older Shotgung

[chasechicken]

Edit ("Shotgun" not shotgung obviously....)

 

Hi all,

 

Just seeing how old your shotguns are and at what age a gun becomes, in your opinions, too old to be used (or - if it works, use it?)

 

I was given a gun a couple of years back and it turns out it's a 1948 AyA Coral Deluxe, which looks to be quite rare. I'm now worried that I should be more careful with it. Excuse my potential naivety....

Edited September 21, 2015 by chasechicken

[DanWalker]

My oldest shotgun in regular use was made in 1903 and the newest is mid-'20s. Have the gun checked out for barrel wear and general condition by a good gunsmith. AyA Corals are good guns and well made (and desirable) so it should last another lifetime of use.

[chasechicken]

Thanks - it certainly doesn't seem to have any problems at present, from what I can tell. I might be a little more careful with it now of course.

[dougall]

1875 & 1908 of the old stuff..........just as well made as you could buy today!

[DanWalker]

Better in many cases, I think, Dougall

[kent]

Properly built and looked after there is basically no limit

The availability of ammo is the thing that limits most guns

[matone]

The oldest I use was made in 1866 and it still works perfectly.

[chasechicken]

Encouraging! Certainly I didn't feel it was as "old" as it is because it works well, so maybe I'll pass it on in years to come ...

[JohnfromUK]

Oldest used occasionally 1871 (hammer gun). Oldest used regularly 1911 (sidelock ejector), oldest overall (and still usable) 1810 (muzzle loader, flint later converted to percussion)

[kenholland]

still use my 1891 William powell hammer gun .

[johnlewis]

10 bore muzzle loading percussion cap no marks or numbers. My late uncle found it in an attic in bits and remade trigger and some springs, use to shoot this and checked it by loading double charge of powder, string around trigger while behind straw bales and then fire. I have yet to fire it, It might be this weekend as my gun club doing history day and one section is shotguns though history.

[Gunman]

Depends on the gun and the amount of abuse it gets .Some guns will last longer than others as they are better made and have used better materials e.g. a lot of cheap guns from the continent used case hardened inside work rather than carbon steels and employed a lot of castings , made to a price rather than a quality.

[Old Boggy]

I hope to shortly start using my James Woodward 'The Automatic' push forward underlever (Woodward & Southgate patent No.600 of 1876) No. 1 of a pair built in 1878 after having it checked out by a gunsmith who has confirmed that it is sound and will see me out, albeit that it still requires a little cosmeticTLC. So still a bit of a project.

Also use 1901 W.R. Pape, 1913 W.H.Symons and 1930 Charles Hellis 16 bores.

Just cannot beat the feel and handling of a good old English gun, in my opinion.

 

So a 1948 gun is 'nobbut a lad' and providing it's still in proof, tight on the face etc. has years of use ahead of it.

As had already been stated, AYA Coral's are good guns, so enjoy owning and using it.

[Paul T]

My E Harrison at 1905 (give or take a year) is first choice for all my game shooting.

 

The only day it misses is the odd rainy one - I just think that at 100 years plus it deserves a bit more respect than to get sopping wet for a handful of pheasants.

 

Shoot your old(ish) gun and enjoy it!

[bruno22rf]

I use a 1900-1904 English hammergun for most rough shooting but keep a modern 525 for clays-other guns I use as often as possible are an early 1900's .410 sxs hammergun and a Pollard sidelock from god knows when-nothing touches an English sxs from the early 20th century.

[ShootingEgg]

1908 chas Osbourne, needs some work but is a beaut...

[Smokersmith]

Think condition.... not age.

[Blackpowder]

1889 John Dickson round action, 1914 W R Pape box lock ejector, Army and Navy hammer Gun of unknown vintage. As Smokersmith says think condition not age.

 

Blackpowder