Fox Collectors

I was 15 years old when I last hunted with a percussion muzzleloading shotgun. My friend’s Dad had an English caplock double shotgun, and George and I hunted quite a bit with it using homemade black powder, newspaper for wadding and steel air rifle BB’s. Percussion caps couldn’t be had and we improvised with the centers of roll caps as used in the toy “cap guns” that were common back then. That shotgun was effective on rabbits and squirrels within 25 yards or so but that’s about all that kids on foot could hunt nearby.

I’ve had fond memories of those adventures and have been looking for a good lightweight percussion double-gun over a few years now. I connected at the Vintagers event last month. She’s a 14 bore with 29” barrels. Made in about 1845-50 by Joseph Harkom who was the premier Scottish gunmaker, located in Edinburgh. Bores are super clean showing proper cleaning after use over the past 170 years and she comes up and points really well.

Today was her first outing with me. Grouse have been tough here in northeastern PA for several years now but a friend and I managed to find three birds in some grape patches. Leaves are still pretty thick and two birds were basically just glimpses as they flushed. I heard the third bird flush and it crossed a opening in front of me to meet one ounce of 7’s. The smoke obscured the bird dropping but the trashing of feathers was pretty distinct. Man, what a rush after all those years.
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That looks like a heck of a good time!

I used to have a Browning commemorative 16 gauge percussion O/U but stupidly traded it away years ago.

Very nice Frank!

She's very beautiful what's her name? I always liked Scottish girls.

That's a nice one, Frank. Well done! Congrats on the first bird with her.

I know the feeling of taking game with m/l shotguns and rifles. I used to shoot doves occasionally with my 16 ga. Manton (not Joe) S X S, and have used m/l effectively on wild quail as well. M/l shotguns work well for doves as you can more often see if the bird is hit or not, but with quail I learned to quickly squat after the shot to see if the bird fell and to mark it down. I haven't used mine in awhile and your pics makes me want to get her out again.

abner wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2023 1:48 am She's very beautiful what's her name? I always liked Scottish girls.

Ralph, no name as yet but I'm leaning toward Mazzie, sobriquet for Mary Ann Z. Sorry, her surname isn't Scottish. I was pretty hot over her back in those years. One fond memory leads to another. . frank

Congratulations Frank! Beautiful pictures.

Very nice. I like the story. Genuine ingenuity in shell loading.

Beautiful by all means & under stand your fasination with a revival of technique in guning world.

Beautiful by all means & under stand your fasination with a revival of technique in guning world.

Very nice Frank. I like your style and what a beautiful gun.