My first 16g - a belgian sideplate.

[Brian Dudley]

I have worked on plenty of 16g guns, but never have owned one as a personal gun. I pretty much liked to just stick to 12g and in the last few years have added a couple 20g guns to the fold. But still stayed away from 16g gun. For a little bit I considered picking up a 16g sauer hammer gun a few times since I figured, if I wanted to have a hammer gun to shoot some, it may as well also be a 16g. But that never happened.

I recently saw this belgian “guild gun” and it just spoke to me as being both interesting and of good quality. I worked out a fair deal with the seller and I got it last week. I also had the chance to shoot it and it seems to fit me pretty well.

It is a 30” 16g extractor gun that is a sideplated boxlock of sorts. It is kind of like a Lefever in that all of the mechanics of the gun are mounted to the frame, and the plates are just for aesthetics, access and inspection. The plates on this gun are hand detachable, but each independent from one another as the screws go into the large central block that extends into the stock head. I have not tore into the action at all to explore its mechanics. But it should be an interesting journey.


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[Michael D Hankinson]

Just kind of a fact of life, everyone should have a 16 Gauge at some point in their life. Hope you enjoy this one

[Dean Romig]

Looks to be well made Brian.

Most of my Parkers are 16's.





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[Rick Losey]

welcome to the club- nice gun

[Rick Roemer]

I like it. Any idea of the year of manufacture?

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Very nice gun, I currently have 12 16 ga's. I think you will enjoy it. Does it have 65 or 70 mm chambers.

[Bill Murphy]

Harold, it's time for you to go shopping.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

On the contrary, Bill--I need to start selling.

[Brian Dudley]

Very nice gun, I currently have 12 16 ga's. I think you will enjoy it. Does it have 65 or 70 mm chambers.

65mm. So, 2-5/8”

[Brett Trimble]

Brian,

Lovely and interesting gun!

You may grow to like the 16; many find them to be a little handier than a 12b. They also usually pattern 1oz beautifully.. To me a Goldilocks combo in an upland gun. :)

Best,
Brett

[chris dawe]

Yeah I would have had to buy that as well ,too interesting not to!

[Brian Dudley]

Yeah I would have had to buy that as well ,too interesting not to!

Exactly. And I like that it is in such great condition and untouched. It could use a little cleanup, which I will give it as I find time.

I was looking at another belgian sideplate 12g that had beautiful engraving. Though I need another 12g like I need a hole in the head. The major reason I did not go for it was because the seller had already recut the checkering and though it was not horrible, it was not up to my standards on how I would have done it and I did not want to live with that for a gun I would have wanted to keep.

[David Noble]

That is an interesting action, Brian. I’m having a hard time figuring out where the sear engages the hammer.
Since my teens I have shot SxS guns. I bought and used mostly guild guns in my early endeavors because I thought they offered excellent quality for the money, which is exactly what I needed. Most were in 16ga but I also had several in 20 and 12ga. I still own a couple, but as my financial situation increased I started collecting mostly American made doubles, however I still have a soft spot for the quality made guild guns.

[Joe Graziano]

Be careful, Brian. The purple shells are addicting. Once you go purple, you’ll never go yellow again. Haha

[keavin nelson]

Nice gun Brian, and certainly unique action. One of my favorite 16s is a Belgium gun made for Wm Reed & Sons, a Boston retailer. Does yours have the Krupp barrels?

[Brian Dudley]

It is not specifically marked as krupp. And there is no makers name on it at all.

[James L. Martin]

Brian, one of my all time favorites that I have had for 30 years + is a 16ga Merkel with barrels just over 29". In the Uplands a 16ga will do it all.

[davidboyles]

My first real gun was a Savage Fox 16 ga vent rib single trigger 28" barrels which my dad gave me for Christmas, I was 13 which makes it a 1959 gun. Several years ago on this site a gentleman sold me the exact gun like unfired. With my original gun I shot everything from doves, quail ducks, geese , varmints including coyotes and fox, snipe you name it with my original Fox. I now own 5 Parker 16 gauges and a Clabrough 16 hammergun! Think I'm married to that gauge!!! Brian enjoy the ride. Best David

[Arthur Shaffer]

Brian

Nice gun. First gun I ever had was a 16 ga single Bay State bought out of a pickle barrel display in a country general store for $4, bartered down from $5 (absolute truth). I have never looked back; my favorite gauge. You are forced to go old since it has been pretty hard to buy a true 16 for many decades. If made properly for the gauge, there is little they won't do as well as a 20 or 12 (except waterfowl pass shooting).

Here is one I bought about 6 months ago that is a belgium guild gun but marked by Manufacture Liege, which was a huge manufacturer that marketed guns made for them by the guild makers. The gun is marked on the rib as Grand Prix Milan 1906 in reference to first place award in an International Industrial Design competion. The Catalog of the competition ran about 400 pages. The Acier Cockerill of course refers to the barrel steel and Poudre Blanche (white powder) to the first smokeless powder proof. I think this gun was made in the 1908 to 1910 range. It appears to be an honest 90% gun, likely not used due to the gold descriptors etc. Only flaw is the little chip visible at the rear of the fore end. Dimensions are very shootable. If anything, this gun needs a little more drop unless you use a very tight cheek.

https://i.imgur.com/PMewUBa.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lWO9wfe.jpg

These are a little unique in being guild guns that are identifiable due to catalogs from a major retailer. A lot of people refer to them as Acier Cockerill guns, but that isn't correct. They do have an interest to buyers but at a price that makes them very attractive as shooters. They are well made, steel barrels and nitro proofed. They are both hammered and hammerless and 12's and average 16's are available for very modest amounts. I gave just under $1000 at auction for this one, but most can be picked for less. A lot of people wanting a good hunting gun would be well served by these.

I too have never seen the action type of the one you bought. Really unique.

[Brian Dudley]

Here are some photos of the action with the stock off of it. I was mistaken in saying that the gun was a sideplated boxlock. It is in fact a sidelock, but it is a reversed sidelock, I guess you would call it. The plates that the lockwork mounts to are internal and removable from the frame. And the outside covers are just that, covers. I have seen similar to this before. But not this specific action design.

The sears are part of the hammers and engage with a solid block attached to the internal plate. The last photo shows the gun cocked.

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[todd allen]

That is an extremely interesting gun!