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SIDE BY SIDE RESURGENCE??? BUT PRICES !!!!!!


oldypigeonpopper
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Apart from my very first gun which was a Webley and Scott single 12 bore bought from Darlows in Norwich , all my guns have been side by sides and still are , at the present time I have got six in my cabinet, ranging from a lovely T Wild hammer gun to a very nice Andrews side lock ejector .

The gun I use all the year round now is a B S A ej , a reliable gun that never let you down , I also like having a little go with one of my hammer guns now and again, and when I look back over the last 55 years I think the gun I liked the most was a Midland Gun Company 3" hammer gun that had 32" barrels , full and full , I used this all the year round on pigeons and wildfowl and to me it handled like a dream and the only gun I regretted selling.

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I have two SxS and enjoy using my sidelock as its a joy to shoot, the other a cheap spanish gun was cut down to 24 1/2" barrels and the stock shortened for my little wife and nephew to use. Known affectionately by my friends as Bank Job :lol: due its short tubes.

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Interestingly two guns on my shoot use modern a SBS, namely the Beretta Silverhawk. Like many people they had started with an OU but took the logical progression to a SBS. I was surprised that they went to the 471 instead of a fantastic English boxlock that the same money would buy. However, the Berrettas are steel proofed and take 3" shells, so I guess they are future proofing their investment. 

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My second sxs was/is a Bosher bargain Belgian boxlock, 26" barrels and nimble as you like. Cost me £35.

I bought it coz my 1st sxs is so much fun to shoot but as she's over 130 I thought I'd save her for special occasions. 

Both make me grin from ear to ear. 

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image.jpeg.87d99ffe9149b9e3d0af4725f9954886.jpeg

An ad from the Wildfowler Magazine dated 1963-64. An AYA No: 1 for between £185- £235!!!!!. Enough to make you burst into tears until you remember that I was then on about £11-00 a week and my first 12 bore was an Irish (Dublin made) hammer gun which I got by swapping a double hammer .410 in. & I believe £8-00 cash. That was kept behind my bedroom door; never heard of such a thing as a `gun-cabinet`.

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My first Side by Side that I shot and used was my fathers E.M. Reilly Damascus hammer gun ! I think I was about 12, I have only used a Side by Side since then. These Over and Unders will never catch on, so keep hold of your 'proper' gun as it will go up in value when they all realise :yes:

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9 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, that must have been mid 1970s?  after i bought mine they had a slight increase to just under the £50 you mentioned, 

I was a 17 yr old so that was 1970, TBH ive probably got the cost wrong,  it was a very long time ago...:|

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3 hours ago, JJsDad said:

image.jpeg.87d99ffe9149b9e3d0af4725f9954886.jpeg

An ad from the Wildfowler Magazine dated 1963-64. An AYA No: 1 for between £185- £235!!!!!. Enough to make you burst into tears until you remember that I was then on about £11-00 a week and my first 12 bore was an Irish (Dublin made) hammer gun which I got by swapping a double hammer .410 in. & I believe £8-00 cash. That was kept behind my bedroom door; never heard of such a thing as a `gun-cabinet`.

hello, a few i knew back then bought the No 2 even now a fishing friend has a pair of No 2s i traded my yeoman to a number 3, the poor mans AYA:rolleyes: 

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15 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, a few i knew back then bought the No 2 even now a fishing friend has a pair of No 2s i traded my yeoman to a number 3, the poor mans AYA

Finally achieved a long standing ambition about 5 years ago and bought a No: 1 (secondhand), which is my normal game gun, but also have an elderly No: 3 3inch magnum which I use for my ducking and syndicate vermin drives. Perhaps shouldnt admit it in this thread, but also have a couple of B25 O/Us that I use when we have a fun day on the clays or when I have one of those off days with the SBS.

 

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Not a side by side, but bought a new Cooey .410 in the early 60s for £11 10 shillings then up to a S/H BSA Snipe 12g ( remember those ? With an aluminium action and ejected the cartridge whether fired or not) for £13. First double was a S/H 12g Zabala for about £15. I remember not shooting as well with the double as this did not concentrate the mind so much as a single, having just the one chance. My dream at that time was to own a Webley 700 which I think ( might be wrong here) were selling new for £110. This was totally out of my price range as my weekly wage as an apprentice was £4 - 4 shillings (4 Guineas). Out of my wage, paid my Mum £2 for my keep and still seemed to have plenty to see me through the week. I recall that a pint of bitter cost 1/10d.

A few years later bought my first new SxS, an AYA 25 BLE for £430, but cannot remember the year. Think it was late 70s but someone on here may put me right on that.

My 16g Pape BLE cost £42 in 1901 which was a lot of money then, but Pape was known as 'The Purdey of the North' , perhaps a self appointed title, nevertheless, they did make lovely guns. Think I paid £1100 for the Pape in the 1980s.

Have shot SxSs all my life with only, dare I say it, a couple of recently acquired O/Us in the cabinet, but still prefer my SxSs. Don't do driven or clays, just walked up rough, pigeon and duck shooting these days.

As said, there are some absolute bargains to be had in the SxS market. My local gunshop has very few for sale, is not interested in taking them in PX and any that he had previously gone to auction. Now's the time to grab a 'Bosher Bargain' and enjoy owning and using a SxS.

Will now dig out some of my old Shooting Times that I have from the 60s to look at gun prices then. 

OB 

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13 minutes ago, Old Boggy said:

 

Will now dig out some of my old Shooting Times that I have from the 60s to look at gun prices then. 

OB 

Just found a dozen or so Shooting Times from 1948 which make interesting reading  

A S/H pair of Purdeys for sale for £400.

A S/H pair of Purdeys with cross over stocks for 180 Guineas.

A S/H Westley Richards SLE £50.

Then an advert for a C&H (Cogswell & Harrison) Permanent Pigeon Decoy with 'Patented spring and peg device-Moves with slightest vibration made of aluminium alloy'. £1-2-6d (postage 9d)

'Send for pamphlet "Death to the feathered enemy" free'

Unlike JJsDad above, unfortunately I am a complete technophobe and am unable to copy and post some of the more interesting adverts (and articles) which may be of interest to some.

OB

 

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20 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, that must have been mid 1970s?  after i bought mine they had a slight increase to just under the £50 you mentioned, 

Heres an add from shooting times august 1968 AYA Yeoman £46 10. Elderkins were doing a Spanish  d/b hammer 12 bore for £40 and a new BSA 400 field grade was £203DSCN0235%5B1%5D.JPG.206489b45a95407bdf1d105417983ac4.JPG

DSCN0235[1].JPG

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Been back on Side by Sides now for over 12 months.

I persisted till I found one that fitted me properly which paid off as I shoot very well with it. 

Dead easy to carry.

Use it for everything. Game, vermin etc.

I really don't miss or need an O / U. 

O.K. if I was big into clays, I would have one but I just do the odd clay session for S x S practice and with 21g cartridges it's ideal.

Buy a decent one and view and use it as a proper working gun and not some sort of old novelty blunderbuss.

As far as I'm concerned the S x S is alive and well and a thing of the present.

 

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46 minutes ago, muffin said:

I remember Yeoman going up in price to £81 but do not remember when I was a BSA fan then 

hello, yes they seem to get very popular so the price went up, saying that it was not a lot of money for making a shotgun, i think an  english boxlock non ejector cost quite a bit more 

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