HE 20 bore

nitro proof · Post by **nitro proof** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:24 pm

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I went to the Southern SxS and one of the dealers had an engraved HE 20. It came along with a letter by Callahan attesting that it was indeed a 1926 HE 20 w/ 32" full and full barrels. The barrels has the #1 stamp and the frame is rebated with the locking screw on the tang screw. The gun is heavy and weighs about 8lbs. I patterned the gun and the chokes are .035 and .040. Interestingly the left barrel put all of its pattern in about 9" at the short pattern range (25 yds or so) that they had and was marginally tighter than the .035 right barrel. The bores measured .627 and were slightly overbored. The gun fit and the price seemed reasonable enough for what it was so I bought it.

My question is the engraving. I don't know how to download pics but would be happy to send some detailed photos of the engraving to an administrator of this site or anyone who knows how to download photos and would be willing to do so for all to see. I am curious if any experts out there can tell if Gough actually engraved this gun or if not who? It looks like Gough gold work but I would be interested in any comments or thoughts. The water table is marked "Special". I am also curious if Mr. Becker marked guns he worked on in any way? It is a very presentable gun. Thanks

birdawg · Post by **birdawg** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:45 pm

That sounds like wonderful gun! If you want to forward the photos to jess@jessleephotos.com I will post them for you.

jess

Silvers · Post by **Silvers** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:23 pm

Nitro, darn..... I knew I should have gone to the Southern. If I knew a 32" HE 20 bore was going to be there I would have camped out to help the dealer unload when he showed up. Seriously, congrats on your HE. I can't wait to see the pics. Frank

abner · Post by **abner** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:02 pm

This sounds like the 20 HE that the Researcher and I saw at the Vintage Cup two years ago in New York. If the gun is the same, it was redone recently and not the work of Fox or Gough. Check with the Researcher I believe he might remember the serial number----there can't be two HE 20 done up in gold.

Researcher · Post by **Researcher** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:12 pm

If this is 202285, I saw it at the last Vintage Cup at Sandanona, and to these eyes looked like an aftermarket upgrade to DE-Grade. The records I have just list it as an HE-Grade.

According to the compilation Roe Clark did at the time McIntosh wrote the book there was only one higher grade 20-gauge Super-Fox, the Hal Howard gun, 202651. It was in the Nash Buckingham display at Ducks Unlimited headquarters when I was there. It is actually a rather light weight gun, and not really built on a Super-Fox action at all.

abner · Post by **abner** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:32 pm

Nitro

I looked and I still have the card of the owner at that time. He was working part time for Connecticut Shotgun in sales. He may be able to tell you who did the work and when. His name was Boyd Corliss, Jr. and I have his phone number. You can email me if you want his number.

nitro proof · Post by **nitro proof** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:48 pm

Researcher and everyone else, thank you. Yes the gun is serial number 202285. I bought the gun from Boyd Corliss and he said he just did not know if it was legit or not but he priced as though it was not. The gun does letter as an HE 20, not a special etc. and weighs about 8 lbs. I will still take pics just for the fun of it. I asked the salesman from Connecticut Shotgun about the gun and he said he knew the gun for the last 10 years and that it was not done in their shop. The gold animals just look like some of the pics of Gough's work so I thought I would get expert advice. At the least it is a beautiful shooter. Thank you all for responding.

Foxnut · Post by **Foxnut** » Thu May 01, 2008 11:23 pm

Nitro Proof, it would be great when you get a chance to post some pics. Upgrade or not, It is a rare bird!!

nitro proof · Post by **nitro proof** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:38 am

Foxnut: I am trying to figure out how to download pics. I have some nice ones taken and could mail them off to some one who knows how to scan and download them. Just let me know a mailing address.

I weighed the barrels last night and they weigh 2015 grams which is 255 grams heavier than a typical adj. rib Perazzi 32" O/U trapgun barrel. My main curiosity about shotguns has always been barrels so I was very happy to get this one. It is the 1st HE 20 I have seen in 30 plus years of gunshows and trapshoots. I have a #3 Frame Parker 12 w/ 34" barrels that weigh 2030 grams (1/2 oz. more) so in perspective these 20 bore barrels are just massive.

Shooter · Post by **Shooter** » Fri May 02, 2008 10:16 am

It seems to me I recall that the HE guns had dimensionally different specs in the frame than a standard frame. And I think McIntosh's book references them. Perhaps that could be checked against this gun.

Then again, I recall I once had a life, and I can't remember it that's true or not either.

mike campbell · Post by **mike campbell** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:28 pm

nitro proof wrote: I am trying to figure out how to download pics.

Go to www.photobucket.com and open a free account.

At the very bottom of the homepage is a tab called "site map"
Click on that and you'll get a menu page. The second bullet is "register for an image hosting account".....click on it and go.

Once you have an account you'll have a "My Album" tab at the top of the homepage. I actually added the "My Album" page to my Favorites folder so I go there directly when I log on. The first thing on your homepage will be a section for uploading. There's a box that says "reduce to" and a menu of choices. Select 640x480 (large). Then click on "Choose Files" and find your pic on your computer. Click on your pic once to place it in the "file name" box, then click "open" and the pic will automatically upload it as a size suitable for posting. Some people use other hosts and post pics that are bigger than the screen, so you have to scroll across the page to see it. That's considered poor etiquette. No need to worry about that with PB. At this point you should see your pic on PB.

To post the pic, you need to have both internet pages open at the same time....PB and the bulletin board message box where you're typing yopur message. On the PB page your pic will look something like this...

click to add title
ok
move | tag | edit | share | delete

YOUR PICTURE HERE

Email & IM
Direct Link
HTML Code
IMG Code
customize links

Put your cursor over the "IMG Code" box and left click once....you'll see "Copied" appear briefly and the image code will stay highlighted.

Go into your message box, right click and choose "paste". This should appear in your message...

[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d82/Y ... ic.jpg[IMG]

Now click on "Preview Post" and see what your post will look like. It's really easy to do and once you're experienced the whole operation takes less than a minute.

Researcher · Post by **Researcher** » Fri May 02, 2008 2:29 pm

The special 20-gauge HE-Grade Super-Fox frame is discussed in McIntosh's column in Sporting Classics beginning on page 16 of the January-February 1996 issue, Volume XV, Issue 1.

nitro proof · Post by **nitro proof** » Sat May 03, 2008 12:01 am

Mike Campbell: That was really helpful, thanks.

Shooter: I don't know about the differences in frames between a 20 HE and just a regular 20 but the letter from Callahan lists it an HE w/ 32" F&F bbls. I carefully miked the bbls and it is overbored to .627 with .035 and .040 chokes. It is not listed as a special in the letter. I have not looked carefully for an engraver's mark and so far have not been successful.

R.R. · Post by **R.R.** » Sat May 03, 2008 10:36 pm

NP, I can post your photos. olddoubles(at)comcast.net

nitro proof · Post by **nitro proof** » Sat May 03, 2008 10:56 pm

RR: Thank you, before I take you up on that offer I am going to try to follow the recipe for downloading photos, again, thanks.