# Small CT company making semi-custom "vintage" shotguns



## Carol (Feb 19, 2009)

If you like double guns...check it out...  

Connecticut Yankees - how a little company up north brought the tradition of making beautiful shotguns back to America



> The double guns made in America from the 1890s until World War II evoke an era when gentlemen hunted in neckties, when clouds of ducks filled the skies, and when coveys of bobwhites lived on every Southern farm. The A.H. Foxes, Parkers, L.C. Smiths, Ithacas, Winchesters, and Lefevers built in the Northeast combined sturdiness and grace in a distinctly American way, and their makers proudly and aggressively advertised their wares as  Old Reliable (Parker) and the Finest Gun in the World (Fox).





> Durable though they were, American doubles couldnt survive World War II. The mass-production techniques that helped win the war ushered in a new era of stamped, pressed, and cast parts. Gunmakers could offer pumps and autoloaders that held more shells and cost less money to postwar consumers who had learned the value of firepower in Europe and the Pacific. All the old doubles except the Model 21 disappeared in the late forties.
> 
> 
> They would exist today only as memories, collectibles, and heirlooms if not for the vision of Antony Galazan, whose Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company builds gorgeous versions of the Fox, Parker, and Winchester Model 21, as well as the high-grade Galazan over-and-under, the Round Body side-by-side, and the RBL (round box lock), a new, affordable double.


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## David Weatherly (Feb 19, 2009)

Thanks Carol, you had to go and post another temptation!


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## Deaf Smith (Feb 19, 2009)

Carol,

I'm afraid to ask how much they are! I bet, being made simi-custom they are priced accordingly.

But if any of you guys have ever got a pre-war gun made by a top maker you will just be astounded at the workmanship (just get one of the C&R Swiss Schmidt-Rubin 1911s or K-31s and you will see what I mean.)

I have a few of them and I can say, literaly, 'they don't make them like they used to'! Not saying current manufacture makes poor ones, Glocks are more reliable than handguns made pre-war, but the workmanship just isn't the same.

Deaf


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## searcher (Feb 19, 2009)

I am with Deaf on this one.  I would love to have one, or any double, but I cannot afford one.


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## Carol (Feb 20, 2009)

A picture is worth a thousand words...

http://www.connecticutshotgun.com/

They have used doubles and Damascus blades as well.

Why don't you take a bite of my apple while you're at it... :lol2:


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## terryl965 (Feb 20, 2009)

Very nice Carol


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## Deaf Smith (Feb 20, 2009)

Carol,

The photos show some very good doubles, including rifles (or maybe it's a shotgun with a leopould scope.)

Whoa... look at the 'used guns' section. A Purdey for only 125 Gs. Think I should click 'add to cart' and use our Visa? Surely my wife wouldn't mind as it's an investment.

I'll say this, I sure wouldn't go crawling under barbed wire fences with these gems!

Deaf


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## Carol (Feb 20, 2009)

Deaf Smith said:


> Carol,
> 
> The photos show some very good doubles, including rifles (or maybe it's a shotgun with a leopould scope.)
> 
> ...



Awww just go ahead and do it.  Its quite the piece of work!  

They are stunning.  I have neve seen a gun like that in person...I found that I was spent nearly an hour on the site just going through the different images and staring at the engraving patterns..the workmanship is just astonishing.


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## seasoned (Feb 21, 2009)

Thanks Carol, very nice site, thanks for sharing. Also the fish symbol is very cool also.


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## Sukerkin (Feb 21, 2009)

To misquote Hudson, "If you like that, you'll love this!":

http://www.purdey.com/

There is no substitute . The little symbols in the header of the site are for appointment to the royal house and I love the inference given by the fact that they don't put prices on the page; you have to ring up and ask :lol:.

If you want to hunt down {yeah, shotgun based pun-attack !} a distributor in an American locale, look amongst these:

http://www.purdey.com/store/international-retailers/


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