W&C Scott 8 Gauge

[Arthur Shaffer]

Looking for any info I can find on a single shot 8 Gauge W&C Scott & Son I purchased. It is scheduled to be delivered Monday. I found it on GI and really liked the overall look, condition and concept. I have always been a sucker for the odd ones. It was pretty pricey for a single, I thought, but I really liked it and have always been a fan and owner of quality single shot rifles. I mentioned this gunin the Reloading Forum a few days ago.

The problem is that I can find no info about it. I have a copy of the Scott book by Crawford and Whatley, but there is only one mention of a single shotgun in the entire book. It is a picture of the Model 100 marketed by Webley and Scott for many years but that is a rather plain and in my opinion lower grade gun than the earlier W&C guns.

According to the serial number, this was a 1872 gun. That was the first year they opened the Great Castle St. office in London. According to the book, only the top two graded guns were marked with that address from 1872 to 1897. This gun is either an A or B grade gun. It is an 8 gauge single barrel gun, 32" that weighs 9-3/4 pounds. Condition is very good. It came from a home in Boston where the family had owned it for 100 years or so. 8 and 4 gauge production was low compared to 10 gauge and below, and ended soon. There were four 8-bores built after WWI and no 4's.

I obtained a copy of Scott's 1872 Breechloader Catalog. It goes to great lengths explaining their patents, their styles of locks, actions indicators etc. It includes their double express rifles and their Martini based single rifles. It also contains numerous endorsements. In the entire catalog there is no mention at all of single barrel shotguns. It is interesting that all the U.S. based endorsements were addressed t0 Wm.Read and Sons in Boston who was believed to be the sole US importer at that time.Two of these endorsements came from here in Lexington KY. It is also interesting that this gun came from an old family in Boston.

I have not been able to find any references to a gun like this. None listed for sale that I can find, none mentioned in the contemporary literature, and non discussed on Discussion Boards. I would appreciate any info someone could add. I am posting some pictures from the dealers website for information.

[Arthur Shaffer]

Forgot to mention, this would have been perfect if it were a bore rifle.

[John Campbell]

If I were you, I'd post this info/request on the DGJ Facebook page. There is a host of insightful British collectors and experts there that will surely help.

[Arthur Shaffer]

Tried that. Got a few comments concerning British singles, mostly the low end variety and much newer. Several comments in ganeral but no real information. This whole area seems to be a real blank area. The Europeans seem to have been dedicated to singles in a big way, especially the germans, but Britian seems to have been pretty much only single shot rifles.

The thing that drew me to this gun is that it is obviously based on a double action, but the sculpting and conversion to a center barrel must have taken an incredible amount of work. In profile it reminds me of some of the earlier muzzleloading large bore rifles.

[charlie cleveland]

nice gun and it definitely bot a field grade gun...the turkeys will line up to be took with this gun...I like the weight and length of barrels on this gun...whats the chamber length...charlie

[Arthur Shaffer]

I'll let you know for sure tomorrow. It is supposed to be 3-1/4.
Like a lot of places the 8 gauge isn't legal here. In Kentucky the pressure is probaboy because of all the waterfowl hunting in the West end of the state around Ballard and the Mississippi area. That along with dove shooting being another hunting effort probably would make it difficult to be reversed in this state. However, we live on 30 acres full of doves and turkeys, with hundreds of acres of woods and pastures around us, so with a gun that looks like a 10 ga, one might sneak one in with no problem.

[CraigThompson]

I’ll not discuss legalities here . But if I owned that bad boy and wanted to smite a deer or Turkey I’ve got a decent parcel of real estate with my home . So I’d .......... ! Carry a couple 10 gauge shells in your pocket should the bunny warden visit while you’re hunting .

[Jim McKee]

Possibly post your questions and photos here.
There are or were waterfowlers using 8 bores (SXS & singles) there
a photo of the barrel flats might also help
Jim

pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums
-Guns & Equipment
-Wildfowling

[CraigThompson]

Possibly post your questions and photos here.
There are or were waterfowlers using 8 bores (SXS & singles) there
a photo of the barrel flats might also help
Jim


-Guns & Equipment
-Wildfowling

I didn’t see any threads there that were active after 2020 , although I didn’t check them all .

[Arthur Shaffer]

I’ll not discuss legalities here . But if I owned that bad boy and wanted to smite a deer or Turkey I’ve got a decent parcel of real estate with my home . So I’d .......... ! Carry a couple 10 gauge shells in your pocket should the bunny warden visit while you’re hunting .

I have Black hulls in both persuasions. I don't think anyone could tell them apart. If I happen to lose the shell in the chamber, who would know. I'm an old guy and clumsy.

[Kevin McCormack]

I suggest you contact Dr. Bill McPhail. He is a walking warehouse of knowledge about both British and American 4-, 6- and 8 bore guns, particularly those made in or imported from Britain to the Boston MA and Baltimore MD areas. I do not have his contact information unfortunately; other posters on this or other BBSs may.

[CraigThompson]

I have Black hulls in both persuasions. I don't think anyone could tell them apart. If I happen to lose the shell in the chamber, who would know. I'm an old guy and clumsy.

Yes sir , that’s one them there old 10 gauge guns :whistle:

[Arthur Shaffer]

Well, my new 8 arrived today and I was very pleased. It looks even better in person than the pictures. I believe it is in absolutely original condition, but the design, feel and balance in person is incredible. It looks like a small gun until you lay it beside my Parker 10 gauges. It feels like a heavy 12 guage trap gun, but it handles like a dove gun. It is much more dynamic than my frame 2 10 gauge lifter. It balances exactly 1/4" behind the hinge pin. Barrels ring like a church bell and lockup is incredibly tight. One thing that threw me is that the firing pin strikes theprimer from about a 45 deg angle down and also to the left. However, the lock is non-rebounding and doesn't have an intercepting sear. I was taken aback, thinking it would hang ithe primer and I didn't think it had a half cock notch. After fooling with it a few minutes, I realized that what I at first thought was full cock was the half cock notch. It is about 2/3 of the distance from the uncocked position to the half notch and then a very short movement to the full notch. The whole thing is very controllable and secure, I just took a little while to figure it all out. It is one of the easiest hammers to cock even though the strike is very strong. At half cock, you can hook your thumb over the hammer without moving your hand on the rest. A 1/2" pull and it is cocked.

I don't have a bore gauge that large, but I turned a piece of 1" bar and used it as a gauge. By slight reductions, I found that .840 wouldn't pass, neither would .837 but .835 would. From that, I believe that the bore is .835 to .836. However, the muzzle is also the same size. I honestly believe it was made this way, from the condition and amount of use. This was just a few years out of the muzzleloader era, so it's not outside the realm of possibility. I have three Parker 10 gauges from that era, and all three of them have from zero to not much choke and all have standard barrel sizes. One possibility this opens is a full bore round ball for large game, or one seated tightly in an SP8 type wads as a sabot. The barrel, for a sub 10 pound gun, are quite sturdy. The thinnest part of the breech is .37 inches. The point 2" in front of the chamber is well over 1/4"; 15" down the barrel is almost .2" thick and the muzzle is over .1" . The barrel is smooth and polished and doesn't have one pinprick anywhere inside. I suspect you could drive a big hunk of lead at a pretty good speed with no ptoblem

[CraigThompson]

I’ve got a hollow base slug mold for a .775” 730 grain slug I’ve fired out of a couple 8’s . I’ve also got roundball molds from Tanner’s in the UK for .775” , .785” and .795” roundballs . I do something that a lot of folks told me wouldn’t work . I take plain old masking tape and puts wraps around them to be just slightly tight thru the choke . Does well enough for deer at thirtyish yards . Hopefully I’ll plunk one with a punkin ball this coming season . I will say however I only use a slug or punkin ball in one barrel and buckshot in the other . Usually when I’m fiddling with one I’ll shoot three from the right barrel on one target and three from the left barrel on another target . Whichever one has POI closest to POA gets the single projectile round and the other barrel gets buckshot . My strategy isn’t perfect but it’s done very well for me so far in all the gauges I’ve tried it in .

[charlie cleveland]

I like your thinking on the slugs and buckshot...my mold fpr round ball is .836 myend of barrels measure .842 yep my barrels been cut to 27 1/4 inches it was a 34 inch barrel before being cut...it really handles good with short barrel...charlie

[Arthur Shaffer]

Ifound a roundball at .820 sold by Octobercountry. I was thinking of trying that nestled in a plastic shot cup wad in my .835 barrel when I get started loading a little.

[CraigThompson]

Ifound a roundball at .820 sold by Octobercountry. I was thinking of trying that nestled in a plastic shot cup wad in my .835 barrel when I get started loading a little.

All four of the 8's I've fooled with had plenty choke in them hence the reason for the sizes I ordered . I also took into acount the petals on the SP-8 wads . By no means did I wanna get it to tight .

The PH 8 I have left the factoru for a lumber company in the pan handle of FL and in the letter it says "to shoot close with buckshot" . I assume they had a gator or possibly black bear problem as this woulda been before the sub species of black bear in the FL pan handle became endangered .

Anyway that PH is the most open at the muzzle of any I've had . And I ordered the .795" specifically for it . Since then I screwed up my nerves and tried that ball in the others with pleasing results .

I suppose I'm overly cautiouse with the cannons , but it's a darn site easier and cheaper to order another $40 mold than it is to repair a ruptured barrel .

[CraigThompson]

Something else !

When I first started messing with 8 gauge medium/large game loads I fold crimped everything .

Later I got an 8 gauge roll crimper for my drill press and started using the new REM hulls I had on hand . I also do roll crimps exclusively on my buckshot loads . Anyway my accuracy increased a bit with the roll crimped open end ball/slug loads as well as the roll over card buck loads . Not saying the fold crimp buck was bad but the roll gave a bit more room especially when used with the somewhat shorter Gualandi wad .

[Arthur Shaffer]

Well,I got around to trying the gun. The first thing I shot was a round ball. I got the .820 inch balls from OctoberCountry and they were a perfect fit through the barrel. Just a few thousandths clearance. I was lucky (or unlucky enough) to get my third or fourth big bore with almost cylinder barrels. In my estimation, none have been reamed or honed, particularly this Scott 8 Gauge. The 820 balls weigh 1-7/8 oz. If they were .835 (which is what the bore measures) I am pretty sure they would be exactly 2 oz. I also discovered in measureing that the chamber is cut to exactly the dimensions of the enlarged section of the head of the Remington industrial shells. After making a die, I found I didn't need one.

I looked in Tom's book and found several 1-3/4 and 1-7/8 loads with different types of Clays powder, all with reasonable pressures. My reasoning is that a round ball without patching has to exhibit way less drag in the barrel than an equivalent shot load. I took a 1-7/8 oz load at 1250 fps and 8200 psi and reduced the charge about 15% for a trial. I suspect these are around 1050-1100 and down in the 7K's range.


I tried one by shooting into a clay dirt berm 20 yds away. A piece of cardboard with a circle served as a target. Recoil was mild in the 9-3/4# gun and the ball hit where aimed. I made the load up with a new Remington industrial case, the reduced powder charge, followed by an SP8 wad with the petals cut off. I thought this would seal the gas, cushion the ball and center the ball in the bore. The ball was coated with lube and a lump place under it in the cup. I cemented an overshot wad over it to contain the ball.

The ball hit a strip of grass in front of the target, cutting a 3" wide depression for a foot, hen went through the target and into the heavy clay. It literally drilled a 2" hole perfectly starigh for 15". I confirmed the measurement with a wooden dowel inserted until it touched the bullet. You could see the ball by looking into the "wound channel".

The case fell from the chamber, with the only change being the espansion of the thin part of the head to near the same diameter as the larger section. There was no measureable expansion of the head.

I was pretty impressed. I think this load would shoot completely through a deer. Since there is no choke to contend with, a similar ball cast of hard lead should do major damage to even a large animal.

I plan to try about 5% more powder, then shoot for accuracy.

I also am going to try the PolyWad approach to long distance shots with open chokes. My favorite was their 28 ga Gram Cr'ker. I still have a bunch. The concept was use medium size (5 or so) niclkel plated hard shot, well packed in a good buffer. I have a 30" 28 ga bored cykinder and skeet. For quail I shoot the first shot from the cyl barrel with a spreader load and the second from the skeet barrel with a 5/8oz gramcr'ker. They are devastating. I have patterned them out to 40-50 yds. They seem to almost never open up. I can kill doves and quail consistently at those kind of ranges with only 5/8 oz. It seems that the protection of the shot along with the hard shot and buffering avoids any damage at all to the shot to cause dispersion. I am going to try, as time permits, to adapt the concept to open large bores.

[CraigThompson]

Art , FWIW most of my 8 gauge stuff are target loads 1 1/2 ounces of 7 1/2’s pushed with Clays . Same as what Armbrust has in his manual except I use red beans instead of nitro card wads to displace space . I also loaded a fair amount of 1 3/4 ounce loads using Universal Clays they thump a bit more but still work pretty well . I used International Clays some but saw nothing better so Clays and Universal Clays pretty much cover my needs in the 8 gauge . I’d say the heaviest payload I’ve done was maybe a slight bit over 2 ounces when I made up the 000000 buck ten pellet load , seems to me each pellet was about 90 grains so an ounce is 437 grains so 900 grains roughly equates into 2-2 1/8 ounces . I know when you touch that off from the bench or from a treestand it brings you to attention :rotf:

[charlie cleveland]

art it sounds like you have got a really good deer or bear gun...I have killed deer with the ball loads and deer with buckshot in the 8 ga...your gun seems to be more accurate than my gun...mines only good for 30 yards with slugs and buckshot only about 25 yards....hope someday to get the round balls shooting better....charlie

[Arthur Shaffer]

I think my gun benefits with the ball from being a cylinder bore, allowing a round ball very close to the bore size. I want to test the bore riding slugs I picked up for the 16 ga combo gun in my other thread. I think they may do well too. If not, I will find a a near bore size ball. As I said, I have several 10's that are cylinder or close to it and they all were built before 1875. The 8 gauge Scott was built in 1872.

[Mike Franzen]

That’s a great looking and deadly looking gun. Could that have been made as a single shot smooth bore rifle?

[Arthur Shaffer]

Hard to tell. No sights but short barrelled and with heavy chamber and barrel walls and cylinder bore. My guess it was built as an all around gun to use for upland game and waterfowl. It was sold in Boston by Scott's only N.A.distributor at the time.Doubtful someone there bought it as a rifle. The odd thing is that I have a reprint of the Scott catalog from that year, and with all the many models they cataloged, there were no single shotguns. I don't know if it was a one-off special or not, but I haven't been able to find a reference to anything similar at all.

[Mike Franzen]

Try asking John Campbell. He goes by Kensal Rise on the forum. If anybody would know it’s probably him. Keep us posted on what you find out. I live just up the highway from you in Alexandria. We should get together and shoot sometime.

[Mike Koneski]

Art, I'm curious as to what the LOP and DAC/DAH are? Cool looking gun. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Arthur Shaffer]

Try asking John Campbell. He goes by Kensal Rise on the forum. If anybody would know it’s probably him. Keep us posted on what you find out. I live just up the highway from you in Alexandria. We should get together and shoot sometime.

Long drive. I live in Lexington KY, not VA.:rotf::rotf::rotf:

[Arthur Shaffer]

Art, I'm curious as to what the LOP and DAC/DAH are? Cool looking gun. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Drops are about 1-3/4" and 2-3/4". LOP is 14-1/2".

It weighs less than 10# and balances rignt on the hinge pin. It feels incredibly good, sort of like a SBT with more drop, but it is more dynamic because there is no forward weight bias. It really would make a nice all around gun.

The two things in my mind that really stand out are the action sculpting and the lock/hammer. The action appears to be a double forging that has been totally sculpted in an asymmetric pattern. The left side was reduced in three distinct steps, and the right side left closer to original to match the lock, but the firing pin angled to strike the center barrel. The hammer is massive compared to my 10 gauge Parkers, but comfortable and very easy to cock. The feel of cocking has that certain smoothness and precision you feel with really high quality lockwork. The operation itself takes some getting used to. Due to the double angled firing pin and the period of the lock, you need to return the lock to half cock before opening the action. It will open without it, but it is hard on the mechanism. The move to the half notch is probably 75% of the total travel. This seems odd, until you realize that the half cock is a safety notch and the movement on to the full cock position is only about 1/2" and is very light and fast to accomplish.

One other thing to note is that I have seen several comments over the years that British and European 8 gauges seem to have larger chambers than the Parkers etc. I spent quite a bit of effort getting ready to try this gun and finally came up with a die to reduce the industrial shells. I also tried removing the outer brass layer from the Winchester industrials, but this left them with a thin rim. After shooting a couple of slug loads I, like an idiot, tried the industrial shells and found that they fit perfectly without alteration. The condition of this gun is incredibly original and the bore diameter is correct for an 8 bore, so I have to presume that this was the normal chambering.

All in all it is and interesting gun, and I want to shoot some trap and clays with it. Being a rifle kind of guy since I was a kid, every time I pick it up and cock it, an image goes through my mind of a guy in sweltering heat with a pith helmet, a large blackpowder bore rifle and an elephant with huge tusks. It is from an era not long after and related to a gun that a colonial hunter would have used. It makes you pause to think that U.S. Grant was the president when this gun was delivered to it's owner.

I have only owned two guns I thought might be worthy of a magazine article.

The first was the absolutely highest quality Collath I have ever seen, in person or in print. It was covered everywhere in high quality engraving, a briar stock, numerous gold inlays and lettering. The barrels were a work of Damascus art, struck to an extremely light weight, and with longitudinal reinforcing ribs on the back 8 inches of the barrels. These were milled into the barrel surface and the metal removed around them.I thought when I bought it that it was a 14 Gauge and that someone had opened the chambers to 12 Gauge. I found out after I sold it that it was likely one of the proprietary Collath chamberings, of which that was the most common; a 12 guage shell designed for a 14 bore barrel.

This Scott 8 gauge is the other due to it's quality, condition and "oddness".

[Bill Murphy]

I didn't reread the entire thread, but "This is a pigeon gun". I will wait for further comment.

[Mike Koneski]

Drops are about 1-3/4" and 2-3/4". LOP is 14-1/2".

It weighs less than 10# and balances rignt on the hinge pin. It feels incredibly good, sort of like a SBT with more drop, but it is more dynamic because there is no forward weight bias. It really would make a nice all around gun.

The two things in my mind that really stand out are the action sculpting and the lock/hammer. The action appears to be a double forging that has been totally sculpted in an asymmetric pattern. The left side was reduced in three distinct steps, and the right side left closer to original to match the lock, but the firing pin angled to strike the center barrel. The hammer is massive compared to my 10 gauge Parkers, but comfortable and very easy to cock. The feel of cocking has that certain smoothness and precision you feel with really high quality lockwork. The operation itself takes some getting used to. Due to the double angled firing pin and the period of the lock, you need to return the lock to half cock before opening the action. It will open without it, but it is hard on the mechanism. The move to the half notch is probably 75% of the total travel. This seems odd, until you realize that the half cock is a safety notch and the movement on to the full cock position is only about 1/2" and is very light and fast to accomplish.

One other thing to note is that I have seen several comments over the years that British and European 8 gauges seem to have larger chambers than the Parkers etc. I spent quite a bit of effort getting ready to try this gun and finally came up with a die to reduce the industrial shells. I also tried removing the outer brass layer from the Winchester industrials, but this left them with a thin rim. After shooting a couple of slug loads I, like an idiot, tried the industrial shells and found that they fit perfectly without alteration. The condition of this gun is incredibly original and the bore diameter is correct for an 8 bore, so I have to presume that this was the normal chambering.

All in all it is and interesting gun, and I want to shoot some trap and clays with it. Being a rifle kind of guy since I was a kid, every time I pick it up and cock it, an image goes through my mind of a guy in sweltering heat with a pith helmet, a large blackpowder bore rifle and an elephant with huge tusks. It is from an era not long after and related to a gun that a colonial hunter would have used. It makes you pause to think that U.S. Grant was the president when this gun was delivered to it's owner.

I have only owned two guns I thought might be worthy of a magazine article.

The first was the absolutely highest quality Collath I have ever seen, in person or in print. It was covered everywhere in high quality engraving, a briar stock, numerous gold inlays and lettering. The barrels were a work of Damascus art, struck to an extremely light weight, and with longitudinal reinforcing ribs on the back 8 inches of the barrels. These were milled into the barrel surface and the metal removed around them.I thought when I bought it that it was a 14 Gauge and that someone had opened the chambers to 12 Gauge. I found out after I sold it that it was likely one of the proprietary Collath chamberings, of which that was the most common; a 12 guage shell designed for a 14 bore barrel.

This Scott 8 gauge is the other due to it's quality, condition and "oddness".

THAT IS AN AWESOME GUN!!! :clap: :bowdown:

[Arthur Shaffer]

I didn't reread the entire thread, but "This is a pigeon gun". I will wait for further comment.

That's the first mention I have heard of a Pigeon gun. I have never run across mention of such a model in the catalog reprints I have access to. In fact, I found no listing for any high grade single barrels. From the address on the barrel, this is one of the two high grades they made at the time. It is true it has no safety, but being a single I don't know if that would be an indicator. It was my belief that all pigeon shoots at that time used a two shot rule to down the birds, precluding a single. I that was not the case, it may well be. I would be puzzled by the cylinder bore barrel however. From the condition of the gun,measurements and examination of the bore, I believe it was made this way.

I still believe it was sold as an all around gun someone in the northeast US could use for small game, decoyed water fowl and deer or bear with ball or buck. The chambering/choke would be amenable to all of these.

[Bill Murphy]

Two shot Hurlingham rules came later than the big bore pigeon gun era. The big bore era started in the UK during the percussion period. The latest Holt's auction has several guns from the big bore era. I think choke was not heard of at that time. Holt's does a good job of identifying a "pigeon gun" versus regular sporting guns.

[CraigThompson]

Long drive. I live in Lexington KY, not VA.:rotf::rotf::rotf:

I think he meant Alexandria KY just south of Cincinnati.

[Arthur Shaffer]

Sorry Mike. For some reason I had read your posts and always thought you were from Virginia. Old man brain phart.

[Mike Franzen]

Sorry Mike. For some reason I had read your posts and always thought you were from Virginia. Old man brain phart.

It’s understandable. Virginia copied all our great cities names.

[Arthur Shaffer]

Two shot Hurlingham rules came later than the big bore pigeon gun era. The big bore era started in the UK during the percussion period. The latest Holt's auction has several guns from the big bore era. I think choke was not heard of at that time. Holt's does a good job of identifying a "pigeon gun" versus regular sporting guns.

Good information. I didn't know about the timing of the rule change. Just in the last 2 days, I took another look at the catalog from 1872, then at the book (can't remember the author; don't have it with me) that is a history of W&C Scott. Pertinent facts from combining both sources, some of which I remembered, were that:

1)Scott, while they would build whatever you wanted, only listed three qualities of guns, designated A, B, and C in 1872. The Premier designation for top grade and special guns was introduced a few years later. A and B quality guns were the only ones that carried the full London Castle Rd. address. The more common guns were labeled just London. I am inclined to believe by the engraving, wood and rib address that this is a B quality gun,

2)Scott recognized 5 classes of shotguns. Basically Upland, Light Upland, Pigeon, Waterfowl and Light Waterfowl. I am sure they always built guns for these purposes, but the actual designations according to the history were implemented in 1876, I believe. Technically, there were no designations at the time the gun was sold. Collectors often classify guns on a retroactive basis, even though they didn't exist at the time of manufacture. Sort of like the use of the Daly Empire and Superior tags applied to guns made decades before the designation was implemented by the company.

3)Most telling, I was showing the gun to a visitor last night and took a closer look at the engraving. I used a good light and magnifier and examined it carefully. I noticed that the only engraving on the gun was floral style engraving, except for a small figure under the hammer pivot on the lock plate, It turned out to be a well executed figure of some sort of retriever coming out of the water carrying a duck dangling from it's mouth. Careful reveals that the duck even has a ring around it's throat.

To me, that was the tipping point. It can't be a coinsident that the only non-floral piece would be a retriever with a duck instead of a pigeon in flight or something similar. I am going with a light waterfowl style of gun. This would make sense for a gun sold along the seashore of New England where waterfowl hunting over decoys was a major sport.

Of course, that's just my guess.

None of this explains the fact of a single barrel style mentioned neither in the company full catalog from the year of manufacture nor the history book of the Make.

[Bob Brown]

Art, what is engraved in the oval on the trigger guard? I can't make it out. Thanks.

[Arthur Shaffer]

Well, I'm glad you asked that. When you di, I got the magnifier out again and it turns ou it too is a duck. I had always thought it was a forest scene of some sort with a tree trunk to the left and a plant to the right. Turns out it is oriented longitudinally and is a duck taking off over what appears to be a swamp scene.

You'll have to give me a little leeway here. I had cataract surgery on both eyes over the last few weeks, and i have made some real visual blunders over the last few years. My vision is now much, much improved but I have just today recieved a new prescription for the modified eyeballs so within a week or two I may have normal vision for the first time in a long while.