Cheap Guns vs Expensive Ones

[Old farrier]

To be fair 

It’s hard to compare cheap to expensive 

the thread should be bargain basement £50

entry level £700 

nice new /second hand £1700 

up market £3500 /£5000 

then levels of expensive 

personaly like nice wood and nice engraving ?

apart from trigger pulls balance and general finish there’s probably not much in it 

personaly think if you can shoot and have shot for a fair time you will hit a few with anything 

lots of reasons to aspire to having a expensive gun pride of ownership feel good factor 

spreading some money around the gun trade giving the engraver some work it’s how the world goes round earning some and spending it 

it’s nice to miss with style ?

[welshwarrior]

OF  you’ve hit the nail on the head. I’d hit just as many with a basic Blaser F3 however I’ve decide to have nice wood and engraving to my tastes l won’t kill anymore birds but I’ll enjoy using it a bit more. 

[Old farrier]

25 minutes ago, welshwarrior said:

OF  you’ve hit the nail on the head. I’d hit just as many with a basic Blaser F3 however I’ve decide to have nice wood and engraving to my tastes l won’t kill anymore birds but I’ll enjoy using it a bit more. 

Looking forward to seeing the pictures can’t help it but I just love craftsmanship from picking the wood to seeing it turned int a wonderful stock 

the blank lock plates hand chisel and engraved 

absolute works of art

enjo the experience 

all the best 

of

[buze]

16 hours ago, Old farrier said:

To be fair 

It’s hard to compare cheap to expensive 

the thread should be bargain basement £50

entry level £700 

nice new /second hand £1700 

up market £3500 /£5000 

then levels of expensive 

personaly like nice wood and nice engraving ?

apart from trigger pulls balance and general finish there’s probably not much in it 

personaly think if you can shoot and have shot for a fair time you will hit a few with anything 

lots of reasons to aspire to having a expensive gun pride of ownership feel good factor 

spreading some money around the gun trade giving the engraver some work it’s how the world goes round earning some and spending it 

it’s nice to miss with style ?

 

Exactly what I think too... I've handled quite a few expensive guns when I was looking for a 'serious' clay gun, and once you pass the ~£3k mark basically you buy a 'brand' and some engraving/wood. Which is fine too, if you have the money for it. I think a lot of "push" for Kriegazzi etc is mostly because they sponsor a lot of people, so you see all these fancypants shooters using them everywhere, and it could feels you /need/ one of these to get any good. 

And weirdly, perhaps it does in some case, perhaps some people decide that buying a Kriegazzi is a message to themselves they are taking their shooting seriously.

It was a bit of a shock to me when last december I decided to *only* shoot a 130yo hammer gun for the rest of the game season. I shot everything with it, sporting, FITASC, skeet etc and very quickly I was about as good as with my 'serious' clay gun...shooting 21g fiber, to the amazement of my perazzi-wielding friends (and to myself !)

And I like your last line, "miss with style" -- I keep telling people that with that gun, when I miss, at least I look damn cool doing so ;-)

Altho, I *know* my pretty hammer gun wouldn't like to shoot 1k shells a month, while I would trust a modern O/U to be able to do that for a long while... Perhaps there's a bit of that in more expensive guns: you expect them to be reliable, which in the case of your gun @Wingman is a rather cruel counter-example.

 

[JohnfromUK]

20 minutes ago, buze said:

Altho, I *know* my pretty hammer gun wouldn't like to shoot 1k shells a month

Remember that when these guns were built, some of them fired A LOT of cartridges - and some of those very guns from the big shots are still around.

Provided you use suitable loads, keep a little grease on the moving surfaces, and it is nice and tight, it will happily shoot many cartridges without loosening or breaking down.  All guns eventually loosen, but these old guns can mostly be tightened quite easily (new pin, make up hook metal etc.).  Barrels, if not allowed to corrode or get dented are almost ever lasting.  One of the most common problems I have had is 'lifted rib', but that can be relayed.

Key to using these old guns is to use the right loads (21g as you are using is great) and keep them well cleaned and lubricated.  If it starts to loosen, get it sorted sooner rather than later - as shooting it whilst loose rapidly worsens the problem.  They were built for use.

[kevin55]

11 hours ago, buze said:

 

Exactly what I think too... I've handled quite a few expensive guns when I was looking for a 'serious' clay gun, and once you pass the ~£3k mark basically you buy a 'brand' and some engraving/wood. Which is fine too, if you have the money for it. I think a lot of "push" for Kriegazzi etc is mostly because they sponsor a lot of people, so you see all these fancypants shooters using them everywhere, and it could feels you /need/ one of these to get any good. 

And weirdly, perhaps it does in some case, perhaps some people decide that buying a Kriegazzi is a message to themselves they are taking their shooting seriously.

It was a bit of a shock to me when last december I decided to *only* shoot a 130yo hammer gun for the rest of the game season. I shot everything with it, sporting, FITASC, skeet etc and very quickly I was about as good as with my 'serious' clay gun...shooting 21g fiber, to the amazement of my perazzi-wielding friends (and to myself !)

And I like your last line, "miss with style" -- I keep telling people that with that gun, when I miss, at least I look damn cool doing so ;-)

Altho, I *know* my pretty hammer gun wouldn't like to shoot 1k shells a month, while I would trust a modern O/U to be able to do that for a long while... Perhaps there's a bit of that in more expensive guns: you expect them to be reliable, which in the case of your gun @Wingman is a rather cruel counter-example.

 

I do love hammer guns

Always with 21gm  or 28 6s on a game shoot

 

[Blackpowder]

I have an Army and Navy hammer gun built in 1898 which my research has shown cost £7 : 00, its a K (Keeper) quality and is virtually bereft of engraving other than a border line around the action and barrels.  Also in the cabinet a No1 of a pair John Dickson and Son  trigger plate or round action built in 1889 cost unknown but it would be top of the range in its day.  Some days with either gun my shooting is rubbish in others it approaches average, I dont think what a gun costs makes any difference to markmanship as long as there are no major faults in stocking or barrel alignment.

 

Blackpowder