Ornately engraved shotguns are clearly a fine confluence of art meeting function. The examples above are just a few representations of the wonderful engraving, hand-chequering and woodwork presented by fine field pieces.
Of course, these are not the type of Shotgun one takes out to the duck blind or goose pit. The marsh mud one encounters while duck hunting can get into crevices and never be removed.You do not take a $20,000.00 Parker or Churchill out to bang around in a duck blind or heaven forbid fall out of a duck hunting boat along the Eastern Shore.
A finely engraved Over and Under is fine for a day of Upland game hunting or for shooting Skeet or Trap or Sporting Clays. I have a 12 ga. Side By Side Ithaca with fairly nice engraving. I use it for field shoots only and it never touches the ground after being taken from the sheepskin lined "leg-o-mutton" Orvis break down case in which I keep it.
Sportsmen eagerly await the arrival of the magazine "Shooting Sportsman" for the high quality glossy photos of engraved Purdys and Churchills and Holland and Holland double guns. We longingly stare with salacious and covetous intent at the guns in these pages.
Stunning! xx
ReplyDeleteA relative once explained it in a letter to me this way:
ReplyDelete"The collection of guns goes back to when we defended our parcel from within palisades. As generations passed, we used them to keep that which we had made. When the hard work paid off, we purchased very fine [gun] specimens as reminders of our efforts. Be wise with your decisions and never take anything for granted, because it didn't come free. Entitlement will lead to undoing, and the gun will symbolize the loss of it all, when a squandering heir attempts to soften his total loss by putting the guns either on the auction block or in his own mouth."
Don't forget "The Double Gun Journal". I discovered early on that I can miss an incoming bird with or without engraving on the gun!
ReplyDeleteDoes a gun mind being called gorgeous? xoxo
ReplyDeleteMS,
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy reading about this gun:
http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/the-immortal-ernest-hemingway-s-westley-richards-0-s-hzukd09lah
Best Regards,
LD
You know, back in '73 I could hold a Sear's catalog, opened to the bra section, with my left hand for about 6 minutes. Which is how long I needed to. But my laptop is too heavy.
ReplyDeleteJames, Double Gun Journal is a damn fine Mag as well.
ReplyDeleteYWP-Thanks for that quote...interesting
LD-Thanks...good read
Tin Man-Uh...OK...
Prep 101-Of course a gun does not mind the compliment...nor does the owner.
That's good. But I've got some better stuff...on my phone.
ReplyDeleteI love these! My cousin is a huge gun enthusiast and I spent the weekend on his farm shooting recently! Happy St. Patrick's Day! You've been tagged in my post! I would love to know what your favorite green things are!
ReplyDelete