Not too surprising not to see the SxSs in this segment; the current rage in GB driven shooting is very high pheasant and partridge shooting with long-barreled, small gauge guns, the vast majority of which are modern built of course as opposed to SxSs. Some of the current favorite makers are not even British! Browning has always enjoyed a brisk trade in the UK, both FN Custom Shop factory new as well as the classic early post-WW II Superposeds, mostly 12s and 20s. FN is building some 20 and 28 ga. 32" O/Us that are artistic joys as well as superior handling guns.
One of the great joys of shooting over there is the number of FN SxSs as well as O/Us that were never imported to the US. When we shot there in 2002 the majority of our shooting party shot English SxSs (Purdey, Greener, Woodward, Dickson, Boss, H&H, etc.). I was the only one with a great 1950s vintage Grade 5 Browning Superposed, and took a lot of ribbing about it, believe me! By the time I was able to return in 2006 I shot an 1891 H&H Royal Grade and heard nary a snicker.
Regarding the fibre wad ammo, on both trips we were provided with Eley 2 1/2" Gold Elite in both 12 and 20 gauge, 7/8 oz. of hard, high-antimony content shot and fibre wads. At 40-45 yards, they would fold a duck or large rooster pheasant up like a fresh tamale.
|
Threaded Mode