A.J. Rudd Maker:
 

I checked out the local Armslist this morning out of boredom and a pawnshop advertisement caught my eye. Listing was for a 16 gauge double. I drove to town and followed my phone instructions to a location that I had never visited. As I viewed the shotgun it sure wasn’t a 16, it was a 20. I explained the obvious to the counter help and the fact that it had had been refurbished in the past. As I was continuing my examination he said it came with a case. He brings out an intact but somewhat ratty leather trimmed canvas makers case, hmm, it was the original case. The 28-3/8” fluid steel barreled gun must have been a featherweight, barely 5 pounds. We dickered on the price and it came home with me. A. J. Rudd went out of business in the 20’s and is a fairly obscure maker. It has the Greener cross bolt and locks up as tight as it gets. A 14” LOP and 2-1/4” drop at the heel makes for modern dimensions. Chambers are 2-1/2”, 7/8 ounce proofs with pristine bores. It’s not everyday you find a 5lb. side by side. They covered the tax, background check and came down $300 on the price. Without letting on the price tag, it wasn’t very much. Not too bad for a close to 100 year old vintage English lightweight. Interesting that the shotgun has been stamped from both Proof Houses, Birmingham and London. My guess is when the barrels were refurbished it was re-proved. The photo of the barrel flats have all of the proofing details.
Have you ever seen one of these?
I have an abundance of 12 and 16 2-1/2” brass shells but no 20’s. Any good suggestions on what to feed it? Some folks here have no problems with 2-3/4” shells in a 2-5/8” 12 bore but 2-3/4" in a 2-1/2" 20 gauge? I’m checking out RST next, availability is probably nil.

boy are you lucky better go buy some lottery tickets....nice gun....charlie

Nice find!!





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Nice score, never heard of Rudd though.

Me either. My research of gun manufacturers of the turn of the century revealed one entry for Arthur James Rudd, 54 North St. Norwich, England. Norwich is in the District of Norfolk, once a Saxon trading center about a hundred miles Northeast of London.

Bruce, do you reload? you could shoot lite 3/4 oz loads using AA or Gun Clubs--they are not quite 2 3/4" to begin with( I use 20/28 powder.) I might also have a bunch of 2 1/2" RST/cheddite I'm not using.
Or, you could just sell me the gun!

re: Harold
 

Harold, you just made me laugh. I'll send you a PM about those hulls.

It pays to check up on ads that seem off. I saw a gun listed on GB last week advertised as an LC Smith 16 ga. One look at the pictures revealed it wasn't. I went through the pictures and realized it was an NID Ithaca 20 ga from 1935. Decent barrels, lot of original color in hidden places and decent, good quality wood. The only thing it needs is some freshening of the butt finish and replacement of the recoil pad. I contacted the seller to see if the pictures or the description was correct and he answered that the pictures were of the gun being sold but he wasn't sure of the gauge (it is stamped in the pictures.)

I waited until 10 minutes before the close and bought it for the opening bid of $750. I felt pretty good about it.

Sweet gun. You made quite the find. Those "North Country" guns are hidden jems. My Armstrong hammer gun is a North Country gun and I love it. I also found it at a steel price and with fluid barrels proofed for heavy loads although it is light enough that I shoot light loads in it.

Enjoy the gun.

Frame Comparison:
 

I measured the center distance of the firing pins, exactly 15/16's. In Parker terms the frame is a dainty size OO. I'll be taking this one to our rural Post Office for an accurate weight soon.