A.J. Rudd Maker:

[Bruce P Bruner]

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.