Finally, after reading Steven Todd Hughes two books on doublegun's and custom gunsmithing and seeing what he had done with a SW 12 bore to customize it, I decided to go the 12 gauge route as I really (in my mind) needed a gun to go out west and take on those strong flying pheasants.
However, I decided I wanted to do it a tad differently then STH and go with a 12 Gauge SW ejector with 28" 3 weight barrels (the same as STH's gun). Well, I finally located one (S/N 73622) made in 1913 (I think) about ten days ago on Gunbroker and called the seller and asked more questions then one can imagine. After going through the paces with the seller he answered every question I had about as completely as he could. I even asked him to ring the barrels and then walked him through the process. He even held the gun up to the phone receiver and let me listen as he rang them for me. He also measured the chamber length (2 5/8") and the chokes of both barrels (.698 Rt, .683 Lt) as well as bore diameter of each barrel (.722 Rt and .722 Lt). He even tested the ejectors for me while I was on the phone. The only fault with the gun was indeed the stock had been cut somewhere in the past and a Pach 1" pad installed (LOP 13 3/4"). That certainly didn't deter me, as I was planning on restocking it anyway. Other things we talked about was the gun was tight as a drum, lever well right of center, perfect screws and probably 20-30% case colors with some oxidation/patina on the bottom and one side. As he described it, carried quite a bit but apparently shot little.
Long story short, was I told him I'd bid on the gun and per my norm, I entered the minimum bid ($950) before I left for work. Was accordingly quite pleased to see I had indeed won the auction at my opening bid. Frankly, not sure why others didn't bid, but surmised the lousy pictures of the gun on GB and the fact that the stock had been cut had prevented other bidders.
Gun arrived this past Friday and it is indeed as advertised with perfect bores. While the barrels don't say 3 weight on them, they do weigh on my digital scale 3 lb 7 oz, which I believe places them in the number 3 category. Weight of the gun is 7 lb 6 oz.
Anyway, now the fun starts. I've got several pieces of wood I've acquired over the years. Some California English, some Turkish and a couple of nice pieces of American. I think I'll be handcarrying my wood with me to whomever ends up stocking it. Have some idea's on who is within driving distance of Northern Virginia and will just have to see who is available and who is taking work. Regarding action shaping and engraving, I've got a few ideas there as well. I've also been partial to the type of engraving on the early grade B's. However, one of the main reason's of going the special engraving route is to work my Golden retrievers likeness into the scheme somewhere. She's been my companion and hunting buddy for 9 years and I'd like to hunt with her with this gun out west in very short order.
Here's a few pictures of the old girl:
