mickey – even the experts are divided on the issue of third fasteners as a reading of the following references will show;

“The Gun and its Development, 9th Edition”, WW Greener, pp. 157

“The Modern Shotgun, Vol.1” Burrard, pp 45

“The Double Shotgun”, Zutz, pp 67

“Shotguns and Cartridges for Game and Clays”, Gough Thomas, pp145

I would lump them into three broad categories, viz;

* Those that might work if they were fitted properly.

* Those that will never work.

* Those that worked when the gun was new.

I tend to go along with Gough Thomas, who said (quote);

“The upshot of all this, in my opinion, is that the action body of a drop-down gun should be designed, as well as can be, to withstand the whole of the pressure acting on the breech, and with an adequate factor for safety. Better an external bolster, which can be neatly contrived, than a top extension of doubtful efficiency”.

So, if there are no up-sides to top fasteners, why do we put up with the down-sides, and they ARE numerous;

* They make a double guns more expensive to produce.

* They interfere with unloading and manual extraction

* They frequently jam with foreign matter like grass seeds, rendering the gun inoperable!

* Finally, is there anyone who HASN’T skinned their knuckles on them while scrubbing bores???