Iconic fowling guns.

[holloway]

With the new season around the corner i thought it might be interesting to see others views of what they would consider to be iconic fowling guns which have stood the test of time.

 My personal favorite the Winchester 101 waterfowl 30 inch barrels (32 inch was available but very hard to find even then nearly impossible now ).A fairly weighty 8 ish pounds very well balanced in my opinion the 32 was a little nose heavy but each to there  own.

Fully multi-choked, interestingly Winchester had already started to ok the Winchoke system for use with steel shot back in the early eighties when these guns were produced.Some people mistake the Winchester proof steel printed on the barrel as meaning it has been proofed for steel shot this is incorrect it was just a standard mark to advise on the quality of there own steel .It came fully magnum proofed at 4 tons per square inch with  3 inch chambers.In my early days of shooting i did send one of these guns off to Birmingham to be steel proof tested so somewhere out  there is one with the fleur de lis  stamp !

Very well built guns that today people will scare you by saying you cant get spare parts, well to be honest apart from the odd spring or fireing pin you probably will never need any,i have always found these parts on the internet without any problems.Always produced with a glossy blacking to all metal parts nicely engraved with waterfowl and scroll engraving, the wood work was a glossy laquer not to everyones liking but tastes change over the years always finished with a ventilated rubber recoil pad .As with most or maybe all of the 101 series these guns had an inertia system to fire the second shot so not dependant on recoil.They seem to have stood the test of time ,both of my guns approaching 40 years old never had any issues with either as quality will always stand the test of time If you see one in good condition you could do a lot worse.Of course  no 3 1/2 inch chambers in those days but we didnt seem to shoot any less ,i put steel shells through mine never had any problems using common sense with the shot size and choke selection it patterns very well.

Not to be confused with the later Winchester 5000 which is a very similar looking gun made for the European market so i am told, i have had a couple but to me they just didnt feel the same and they were never as popular as the original 101 waterfowl.

Anyone else got a favorite  ? old or new any type or mechanism.

[Gerry78]

Ive a 1979 AYA NO 3 Magnum beaver tail fore end pistol grip  choked half and quarter great gun weights over 7 ibs i think Great gun for the salt marsh

[panoma1]

1880/90's, J&W Tolley, 8 bore, double hammer gun, 34" laminated steel barrels, 3 1/4" chambers, just over 12lbs, Jones u/l...now eats 2 1/2ozs of Bismuth and/or 2 1/4ozs of ITM....iconic foreshore goose gun!

Edited August 7, 2018 by panoma1
Weight revised! Wrong gun! ?

[holloway]

2 hours ago, panoma1 said:

1880/90's, J&W Tolley, 8 bore, double hammer gun, 34" laminated steel barrels, 3 1/4" chambers, 14 1/2lbs, Jones u/l...now eats 2 1/2ozs of Bismuth and/or 2 1/4ozs of ITM....iconic foreshore goose gun!

Any pictures ?

[panoma1]

11 minutes ago, holloway said:

Any pictures ?

Pictures are beyond my competence I'm afraid!

[Fen tiger]

 Browning automatic 5 JM Brownings truly iconic semi auto it came out well over 100 years ago and only went out of production 25 years ago, and many of the old A 5 magnums are still out there on the marshes the world over doing what they did over a hundred years ago, and still by many seen as the first and the best semi auto ever made.  Not the traditional fowling gun in the 8 bore 4 bore sense but popular and outstanding in its time and even today its still well capable.

[Salmo]

Beretta 301 magnum bought new from Tony Kennedy guns . I was a milk delivery boy and my mum loaned me the money . I was 15 and fed it Winchester super xx , Remington power pistons and C-I-L imperials ....... had a hundred geese or more with it 

[holloway]

7 hours ago, Fen tiger said:

 Browning automatic 5 JM Brownings truly iconic semi auto it came out well over 100 years ago and only went out of production 25 years ago, and many of the old A 5 magnums are still out there on the marshes the world over doing what they did over a hundred years ago, and still by many seen as the first and the best semi auto ever made.  Not the traditional fowling gun in the 8 bore 4 bore sense but popular and outstanding in its time and even today its still well capable.

What made it so good do you think reliability ...handling ? i still see a few advertised often wondered .

[Fen tiger]

Around The Turn of the last century the way they were the first helped them get a head start, the early offering from Winchester the widowmaker although quite well made we're not in the same league AS the automatic five.  Winchester for quite some time had to contend itself with fronting the model 12pump as their only viable alternative in the  ever growing market of multi shot guns.

A fives are very well made very well designed they are strong and reliable, a great many semi Autos function reliably these days but the fact the A5 was the first and if set and lubricated properly to this day they will function flawlessly. You mention handling this wil this from a personal standpoint it's something I don't especially like about the A5 although they balance quite well they are heavy and the stock profile and me don't get on. Yet set personal physiognomy to one side it's difficult to fault the automatic 5 only the Remington 1100 outstripped it on sales and with respect to the Rivington it is still in production today in largely original format.

The recoil mechanism on the A5 with the mass of the barrel helping function if any slight obstructions I always impressed me, but on once they get well and truly fouled up the need for a turn screw to field strip these guns is annoying,later recoil semis like the breda franchi Remington 1148 and others went down the route of pins to dismantle the main parts of the action as is the way with the modern semis you say today I am not saying browning got it wrong with the screws but it was certainly different.

Edited August 7, 2018 by Fen tiger

[6.5x55SE]

16 hours ago, Gerry78 said:

Ive a 1979 AYA NO 3 Magnum beaver tail fore end pistol grip  choked half and quarter great gun weights over 7 ibs i think Great gun for the salt marsh

Man of my own heart Gerry same gun same chokes.

For me nothing better than walking in the steps of the likes of Kenzie - Frank Harrison and killing a Right an Left at Pink's on the foreshore even though it's not with Lead Shot now

[Penelope]

The 3" Birmingham boxlock magnum as advised in pretty much most of the fowling literature of the 'Golden era'.

[Dave at kelton]

17 hours ago, panoma1 said:

1880/90's, J&W Tolley, 8 bore, double hammer gun, 34" laminated steel barrels, 3 1/4" chambers, 14 1/2lbs, Jones u/l...now eats 2 1/2ozs of Bismuth and/or 2 1/4ozs of ITM....iconic foreshore goose gun!

Me too, what loading data with bismuth as I am running short on ATM

[panoma1]

I have lots loaded up Dave! Mostly Brass, Win and Remis, for the future I still have supplies of M92S and TK8....don't think you can get either now? For several years I have been using ITM with TK8.....dirty! But certainly does the job!

[Gerry78]

Cheers 6x5x55 the aya no3 magnum built like a tank love taking it on to the salt marsh it justs feels built for wildfowling there great guns

[Gerry78]

Few photos

[fandango]

One of my favourite's is the 4g Berry 4 1/4" chamber 

choose files...---------Click to choose files.url

Or the Browning BPS 10g

Edited August 7, 2018 by fandango

[fandango]

Or the George Newham double 8g 4" chamber

[mudpatten]

Is that Newham or George NEWNHAM of Portsmouth, please?

 

[fandango]

yep its Newnham Portsmouth…. sorry my spelling is getting worse 

[Ttfjlc]

My Dad's Greylag 10g imported by Elderkins, still remember a customer describing it best, "well built like a poohouse and weighs the same as a poohouse too."  Shot my 1st right and left Pinks with that gun. 

[anser2]

I have a 3inch AYA no3 magnum that does most of my wildfowling , but I am a bit of a moron and guns hold no attraction for me. Its the birds that are all important.

[four bore]

I USE AN SINGLE 8 BORE PINFIRE BY JOHN LYLE ABERDEEN WITH A 42 " BARREL.  

                        FOUR BORE.

[Gerry78]

Four Bour that looks like geese’s worse nightmares ??

[mudpatten]

Fandango, thanks for that. I`ve not seen a Newnham double eight before. I`m sure you know this but your gun is a Tolley as Newnham did not make guns on the premises but sourced them from the Birmingham trade.

I wish these old guns could speak. I wonder if your eight ever saw service in Portsmouth, Langstone or Chichester Harbours before finding it`s way north?

 

 

[fandango]

Mudpatten.

I done a bit of research when I got her, as I had a idea that it was Tolley made in Birmingham, have no idea who or when it was used  down south though I am sure it seen service down south as I did acquire it down there. 

it sure gets used up here as my "go to" 8g (love it) I really do wish there was some magic you could use on the old guns to have them tell you there stories, as they are mostly over 100 years old they would have quite a few tales to tell …….. if only they could  

have a mate who I fowl with who used to shoot Chichester and he has pesterd for god knows how long about the Newnham,,,, I have finally gave in and will lend it to him for his annual trip up to the black isle....