Based on my service center experience, here are my thoughts:

1 - Research your purchase and buy the best you can afford.

2 - Buy a brand that has factory support. Be aware it will eventually end and likely sooner than you think.

3 - Buy all of the perishable small parts you can, such as:

Sears, Top Lever springs, Firing Pins, FP springs, Hammers, Hammer Plunger/spring assy's, Locking blocks, Safety/selector springs, and most importantly Extractors/Ejectors/cams. Two of each.

4 - Make sure buttstock fitting is correct and keep stock bolt tight.

5 - Never buy Turkish made anything!

I have a rack full of otherwise good guns next to my bench that are likely to never see the field again due to lack of small, critical parts. They'll probably end up parted out on E-Bay.

YEP, buddy has a Mossberg/turkey O/U first year, broken FP and more, no parts available.

The Chas Daly (japan) had a FP similar to a Citori.

quote:

Originally posted by richj:
YEP, buddy has a Mossberg/turkey O/U first year, broken FP and more, no parts available.

The Chas Daly (japan) had a FP similar to a Citori.

Chas Daly guns from Japan were made by Miroku who also make many of the Browning models, Miroku are owned or in partnership with Browning. Apart from wood selection and engraving Miroku shotguns and Brownings are the same mechanically with interchangeable parts.

Many actually prefer the Miroku models because of the darker wood used (or maybe the it's other way round).

It’s been my experience that you can pretty much always get parts- but they sometimes need to be hand made, and the cost becomes part of it.

I have an old family heirloom gun that I spent way more money than it was commercially worth to get it fixed… because it was a family heirloom. It is a SXS gun, by the way…

They don’t become impossible to repair, they become not worth repairing.

If I buy a commercially available double, at this point I will never feel like spending what I did on the heirloom. Maybe someone else will, that I pass the gun on to, but I won’t.

That collection of broken guns that you will part out are just not worth the money it would take to fix them to whoever owns them, not that it’s impossible to fix them.

We live in a firearm abundant society.

Where we can talk about not fixing other wise useable firearms.

Because we cannot fine or make small parts.

Trouble is with parting them out is. Every one else most likely needs the same broken part.

try to find a tang safety slide for a ruger 77 -- a trivial part to make, if you have another one or a drawing to make it look original, but not hard to make -- a vise and file is all you need

My experience with SxS's, and I have a heap of it, is to buy the best condition, lowest use British gun you can find. A Brummy boxlock in fine condition can be had for under 2K. I can make pretty much every part in one, but in reality, if you buy something with high amounts of condition, it will likely not need a thing. Nothing built today comes close to the quality of a vintage gun, and certainly not at the price point a good used gun can be had for.

YMMV, but that is the best advice I can offer.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:
Based on my service center experience, here are my thoughts:

... 5 - Never buy Turkish made anything!

This for sure.

I hope none confuse that statement with Turkish walnut

My advice on two barrel guns, the entry level guns should be Beretta or Browning. They’re reliable, and supported. There’s lots more expensive guns that are great.

Yildiz make a good shotgun.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
I hope none confuse that statement with Turkish walnut

Shhh, Duane .. that might drive the price down!!

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
try to find a tang safety slide for a ruger 77 -- a trivial part to make, if you have another one or a drawing to make it look original, but not hard to make -- a vise and file is all you need

Jack Frist's gun parts in rapid city SD used to make a all steel one

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
try to find a tang safety slide for a ruger 77 -- a trivial part to make, if you have another one or a drawing to make it look original, but not hard to make -- a vise and file is all you need

Jack Frist's gun parts in rapid city SD used to make a all steel one

yepers -- I might have bought the last one about 15 years ago -- hope they still are, as that's a SUPER easy one to disappear into the corners of the shop