Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Guilty pleasures?

I love fine shotguns and have a number of high grade doubles in the gun room. L.C Smiths, A.H. Foxs, High-dollar AYA's, Brownings and such, but there are also a few "low-class" guns that I have learned to love.

I have a couple of Felix Sarsqueta over/unders that are NOT high dollar guns, but balance and shoot as well as guns costing three times their value....and look good too.

I have always liked and used the various Spanish-made SxS doubles.....a great value for the dollar.

My favorite "guilty pleasure" guns are the doubles made by.....Crescent Arms. These guns were not top quality even when new and most have been beat and used hard, but occationally you run across one that is in great shape and can almost always buy it for a song. I own a 12 Ga. that is in near 98% condition with wood that would cost a fortune today. A 16 Ga. that I own looks like it was stored in a closet and shot very little....nearly 100%. My .410 is in 90%+ condition and is trimmer and better balanced than others I've seen costing 5x what I paid.

These guns balance well, have good checkering, and look like quality even though they cost little and are normally looked down upon. They might not stand up to 1000's of rounds like a better gun, but for a field gun that will get reasonable use.....just can't be beat.

What guns have YOU found that are NOT high dollar or highly respected, but you love anyway. Your "guilty pleasure" guns?

My CZ/BRNO M48 sidelock 16 gauge SxS. No frills but well built and assembled on a proper size frame, twin triggers, 27 1/2" barrels, a straight grip no cheekpiece stock of straight grain walnut and a splinter forearm. A bullet proof gun I believe. Balances and handles very well for me. It was originally choked at least XXXF/XXXF but has been opened to .005/.115. I traded into it years ago. Though somewhat hard to find (particularly in my configuration) they are out there for good prices too IMO.

Mine has to be my Ted Williams 21. First "my" shotgun. And while I am passing it along to my son, I don't want to cut the stock down to fit him, so I can still bust clays with it...and yes, I find myself feeling guilty about it.

I have an odd passion for Philadelphia Arms Company guns... its a result of being a Fox guy I guess.

I also have a German Guild gun that I simply adore. It's a 16 and weights a mere 5.25 lbs... its a dream to carry and shoot.

Finnish Valmet shotguns and combination guns made for Savage Arms in the 1960s and 1970s. Often "sleepers" in cost; don't break, and can have spectacular wood. Unfortunately the guys who have them usually don't sell them (I hate waiting for divorces and deaths to bring me guns. Besides, my wings get tired from all that circling....).

I also like good quality, (formerly) "cheap" single shot shotguns, especially in smaller guages. Easy to carry, take down into two compact pieces, and don't break. Just nice to carry for "targets of opportunity."

EdM, I hunted all over the west coast of Ireland in the fall of 1968 with a borrowed gun identical to yours. The owner called it his "Black Widow." Lord knows it was deadly enough!

Marlin Model 90s. I shoot these guns a lot, the 12ga has over 25K rounds through it. It gets some strange looks when shooting clays usually followed by, "what the heck is that?"

Weagle

Old used Model 12s-especially the 16Ga-that show wear. Usually fall in the $450 range or a little more and they have lost their respect. Parts are easily found if needed and they usually are not. They can be blued and refinished to look like new for not all that much if one is inclined.

Hard to find more shotgun for those kind of dollars.

Weagle, I like Marlin Model 90s, too. Still kicking myself for passing on a .410 back 20 years ago when I lived in Vermont. Just didn't quite have the $$ when I saw it, but should have sold my boots and driven it home in my socks! Did pick up a 16 guage ST, a very late one, a few years ago. Nice gun.

Are the other two guns in your picture 20s or 16s?

Agreed, Im a model 12 slut. I cant seem to hang on to one but I buy the crap out of em.......

My guilt is "Lefty" remington 1100's. I have two trap guns and I
will be shooting a for sale "lefty" 1100 20ga this afternoon at the skeet club with 2 barrels. The asking price is very resonable, not for the quality of the gun but for the rarity to find one under $2,000.

Doc

passport I have that same problem with Model 12's.

I too love fine shotguns, wish my pocketbook was as large as my wants. I've been able to pick up a few over the years.

A 1955 Darne 12ga just under 6#


A pair of very early Win 101's

A nice 1960's Browning Superposed Lightning 20ga

A 1941 Husqvarna Model 51 12ga Hammer Shotgun


Last a Beretta 300th Anniversary ML O/U 12ga

The Darne and Browning are headed out for Pheasant and sharptail very soon. The Husky will see service in the duckblind this fall, it worked great last season.

Mesa, The picture is of 2 12 ga and a 16ga. I also have a 20ga though and it actually gets shot the most these days.

Nice 20! I especially like the open pistol grip, and the wood looks excellent. My later 16 is somewhat over-wooded ("proud wood") and has a more closed (tighter curve) pistol grip that are a little less elegant. But the stock fits me well and I shoot it about as well as any shotgun. Recoil is minimal because these are pretty stout--and therefore heavy--guns.

Me too. I picked up a 1931 Model 12 16 gauge a few weeks ago for 175 bucks. A little BLO on the stock and it looks pretty good for it's age.

I bought a NOS left hand safety for it and after a session at the range to pattern it I'm absolutely smitten.

I've had a Browning BPS Upland Special 16 gauge for awhile and it's a great shotgun but that model 12 has it beat hands down for handling and ease of carry, Besides that it's a classy ol' girl in my eyes and I really enjoy hunting with it.

There will be more Model 12 16's added to the safe in the future.

I have two I have learned to like a lot:

A well-used Gladbach 16/9,3X72R cape gun...just a field grade German combo gun.








And a favorite 16ga SXS I bought for $270.00, a Manufrance Robust No. 4 that looked like it had been used as a club to kill everything it dispatched over the years. It is still very tight and functions perfectly with good patterns from the pitted barrels.


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"Just a field grade" German drilling is still quite a gun!

I also have a Manufrance Robust, the lowest grade of 16 which has the markings of the French Algerian Forestry Police on it. Bought it from Winfield Arms (remember them? The CIA does....)from a batch of used North African guns imported in the 1960s and have used it ever since. Had the chambers lengthened and right barrel opened to IC--originally both barrels were tighter than a gnat,s you-know-what. Left barrel still is. Gun in very nice shape, which is why I bought it, even tho it's plain vanilla. Talk about "field grade"!!

There is a Manufrance museum at St. Etienne in Eastern France. Some guns but mostly their bikes and bicycles. I know some guys that dote on the rather strange looking Manufrance "Ideal" doubles. The French always follow their own music, for sure.

The only two good things to come out of France, Champagne and Shotguns

Old Stevens doubles, and various old single-shots. Also, while not a shotgun, a six-inch .32 Long Iver Johnson 'Safety Hammer' with an over-sized 'saw handle' grip.

But I don't feel a bit guilty about any of them.

Agreed but would add, cheese, foie gras (mostly because it pisses off PETA but it taste good too) and women.

My guilty pleasure? It would be my straight grip 20ga Beretta 625 SXS. It was an economy model with extractors and less attention to detail with the finish.