Quote:
Originally Posted by John Dallas
A friend has a 12 gauge D3 built for the European market which is the liveliest Superposed I've ever held. Never had the chance to measure the barrels but they appear to be thinner walled than American guns. Is that possible?
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Absolutely - years ago I bought a spectacular pre-War Grade 5 Superposed from Steve Barnett, 12 ga. 30" Straight grip, small Euro style 'banana" forend, and full coverage Funken engraved. The best I've ever seen. True midbore diameter measured with a Hosford gauge came in at .723, very typical for early Supers.
I never measured the outer bore diameters, but I can tell you it handled almost exactly like the very early (c. late 1960s - early 1970s) Perazzi Comp 1 guns, which had individually tapered barrels. It handled like a fine fly rod - I shot it on live birds, a couple of rounds of bunker, and a LOT of clay birds. Tight chokes (.027 & .038), it was a real killer.
Steve made me promise when I bought it from him that if I ever sold it that I offer it back to him first, which I did a couple of years before he died.