In the American Southwest, there’s a firearms tradition known by many as the “barbeque gun”. Not to be confused with an everyday carry piece, the barbeque gun is a special sidearm carried for similarly special occasions…think of them as the “dress saber” to some full military uniforms.

What makes a barbecue gun? Ah, that’s the fun of it; there aren’t any rules to this game: an individual is free to make the firearm an expression of himself and to ornament the piece accordingly. As you might expect, the levels of ornamentation run the gamut from exotic wood grips to full coverage engraving to gold plating.

For myself, my own “BBQ gun” is my old, fully restored Series 70 Colt Gold Cup. That handgun and I go way back and, when it rattled worse than my old farm truck, I had it completely rebuilt. Afterward, the boys at Turnbull color-cased the frame and re-blued the slide. A handsome set of mammoth ivory grips rounded out the package: to my eye, it’s an elegant yet understated bit of work. So, what’s any of this got to do with double rifles? A fair question…

Since coming to the conclusion that I’ll likely never hunt elephant again, I recently traded off my Searcy .470 for something a bit more practical for North America. It’s been replaced by a SIACE Alaska model chambered in the stalwart old .45-70 Government round. I’d never even handled a SIACE before this, so I was very interested in how the rifle was built and how it would perform.

I’d been told by the previous owner that pictures didn’t do the wood justice, and after taking it out of the case for the first time, I’d have to agree. As well, the engraving is nicely done, with even a bit of gold inlay around the chambers.





I will say that this Italian import is something of an odd admixture. Built in Gardonne, she is stocked in an almost Germanic style with a mildly hog-backed stock and the barest of a Schnabel on the fore-end. The bottom of the receiver sports a fairly basic engraving of a sheep’s head, though I’m not aware of the double rifle being the preferred rifle of choice for sheep hunting (nor does the .45-70 often come up in conversations about the “perfect sheep caliber”)! But I’m being petty: the rifle is what it is and ain’t what it ain’t. She’s a handsome filly…but could she run? A quick trip down to the barn answered that question!



The rifle was reportedly regulated using Federal 300 grain ammo, and (while I didn’t have any factory stuff available) I had some handloads stuffed with Cast Performance 300 grain FPGCs. Stapling up a target and stepping back 60 paces, I put the first pair an inch apart and right at the top of the bead! Alrighty then…we’ll see what she does when fed other stuff, but I certainly couldn’t complain about this beginning!



I haven’t taken the SIACE out in a foray against the hogs yet, but I’ll get around to it soon enough. One thing is certain, though: if the Sarasqueta .30-30 is my “everyday” double, this handsome SIACE is likely to become my “barbecue double”!

Nice gun. Definitely has many Germanic features including the stippled engraving, the hog back stock etc.

Nice rifle indeed, but I'm sure many here would like to see you handgun. I know I do!
Cal

Thanks, Naki!

You know, Cal, oddly I never took any snaps of the Gold Cup...let's remedy that today. After church I'm planning to throw a rack of ribs on the pit and I can't think of more appropriate timing to photograph a BBQ gun!

Mark

Cal,

As requested, below are some snaps of my "BBQ Gold Cup" that I mentioned earlier. The rig is by Jeffrey Custom Leather. This combo is as close to "bling" as I get!







Mark

That is a really sweet looking 45 and leather!

Fine looking handgun and setup.
My thanks.
Cal

That Gold Cup is about as close to a perfectly executed example of a fine carry gun as you could ask for. Well done!

Very nice!! I have lusted greatly over a double 45/70. Maybe someday. My Gold Cup desires were fulfilled about 3 weeks ago. Nowlin built in the early 90s. Got it from a dear friend who didn't want anybody else to have it. In his 80s he is preparing for the beyond. Beautiful set Bee.

Nice kit.. both

Many thanks to all for the positive feedback on both the SIACE and the Gold Cup. Life truly is too short to hunt (or carry) an ugly gun!

Mark

Beautiful pair.

The "Bar-B-Que Gun" is just one more of the "Texanisms" that folks whether they are actually Texans or not get started just to further the concept that Texans are a breed apart.

Some of the things people come up with really does not help the image Non-Texans, especially those that have never been to Texas or around regular Texans to any extent develop a skewed image of the state and those of us lucky enough to have been born here.