My grandpa taught me how to shoot as a kid, and I hunted rabbits with his old Stevens 20 ga IC single shot (which I still have), and I've gone after pheasants, ducks, and turkey with my 12 ga 11-87, but a couple of years ago we got a bona fide bird dog, and lately I started to want something more appropriate to lug around behind her.
So, I went on the hunt for a 16 ga SxS.
Last Christmas I won an auction for a Field Grade LC Smith 16 SxS that I had to return because one barrel was too thin to be safe (due to a bad refinish job.) I've never been accused of being terribly impatient, so it took a year to find a replacement. I gave up on a budget Elsie and decided I'd help "save a fine gun"... guns in Germany that are sold because a hunter's heirs aren't allowed to keep them without a license, and they would otherwise have to be destroyed. After missing a couple of gems by seconds in the first-come, first-served forum, I ended up winning an auction in their first-ever listing on Gunbroker - a batch of guns already in the US. It was Christmas Eve... how fitting!
Yesterday I got the call from my FFL that my new double has arrived and is ready for pick up... a 1956 JP Sauer & Sohn 16 ga SxS.
The more I read, the more fascinating the history of these guns made by the old German guild masters caught behind the iron curtain. The stamp on the rib translates as "Thielmann-Werke, formerly JP Sauer & Sohn, Suhl," and the locking lug is stamped as a quality 1 gun. (Not Export Q1, but the level just below that, 2 grades above the most basic level.) Its wood needs a refinish, but the metalwork looks relatively pristine. It caught my attention because someone clear-coated the receiver long ago to protect the case colors, and it shows! It'll see plenty more field and clays service with me.
I expect I'll end up loading my own shells for this gun, and am grateful the load data is here. I'll have questions...
Cheers!
