Hunter’s Guide: Classic American Hammer Shotguns

Hunter’s Guide: Classic American Hammer Shotguns

Some of the finest shotguns ever made in America were hammer shotguns produced in the last decades of the 19th century. However, by the end of World War I, most had been retired to gun cabinets to be only admired, not fired. Their barrels had not been designed for the...
Patron Power

Patron Power

What better way to celebrate a lifetime achievement than with a British Best gun. There is no one in the world who doesn’t like being rewarded for hard work. Whether it’s a book well written, service to the nation or success in popular entertainment, the good and the...
Ithaca Doubles: Overlooked Classics

Ithaca Doubles: Overlooked Classics

Like many enterprises of the time, its origins were humble. It began in a rough little wooden structure perched precariously on the steep gorge of Fall Creek near Ithaca, New York. The virtue of the location was its abundant water power, and the building had already...
Holland  & Holland’s Aim for the Future

Holland & Holland’s Aim for the Future

Holland & Holland, long respected for producing firearms of the highest quality, was acquired in 2021 by the Beretta Holding Group from the French perfume company, Chanel. For three decades, the French company tried to redefine and reinvent the venerable old gun...
Shotguns Across the Pond

Shotguns Across the Pond

At one time, controversy raged over who made the finest guns. Americans pointed to Parker, L. C. Smith, Fox, Ithaca, Lefever and late-to-the-party Winchester.  British gentleman would talk James Purdey, Holland & Holland, Henry Atkin, Grant, Lang, Westley Richards...
Early 20th Century Affordable American Doubles

Early 20th Century Affordable American Doubles

If a person wants to hunt with the same double barrel shotgun that his or her grandfather or great grandfather used in the early 20th century, the odds are ten-to-one it would not be one of the premium brands that today dominate side-by-side competitions and shotgun...
Benelli’s ETHOS: One Formidable Beauty

Benelli’s ETHOS: One Formidable Beauty

Benelli’s ETHOS line proves they are nearing perfection in a semi-auto.  “Back in the day,” when we were just beginning to discover the incredible number of gamebirds in South America, gunmakers worldwide were competing to see who could develop shotguns that could...
The Winchester Model 97

The Winchester Model 97

The first time I saw the 97, I knew where it came from: that era, that time around the turn of the century when men just hunted and really did not ask the question, “Why?” That is simply what they did; you can see it in the eyes of the men in an old photograph from...
A Collector’s Guide to Parker Shotguns

A Collector’s Guide to Parker Shotguns

I guess I should tell you up front that I have some misgivings about this column. Not because it’s bad stuff, but because I have a lot of friends who may not be too happy about it. You see, I make an annual pilgrimage to the Southern Side-by-Side Championship in...