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Regardless of the £ or $ or even $ value of old doubles, be they rifles or shotguns, the real value, and the one that will be remembered is the joy that they bring when in the field. Old doubles will have many stories to tell and we can just add to them. Many still in regular use were made before we had motor cars, or we could fly and communications was by quill pen and ink on a letter and our correspondence across the Atlantic was by steam ship. And the American Civil War was still as close as the first Gulf War.

And yet here we are in a forum contributing from all parts of the world discussing these wonderful rifles and how they lead to many adventures , and hopefully are grandchildren and great grandchildren will be doing the same in 50 or a 100 years time.

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Excellent post.

I love having the honour of using a rifle carried by generations of hunters before me. A rifle over a hundred and ten 6ears old. Worn but still does the same task.

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One factor in the DR market is many buyers have no idea. Sort of like buying a bow and thinking it will be the same as their brand new scoped modern rifle sighted in at the shop with factory ammunition. The same, They buy a vintage big bore DR and take it to Africa to hunt buffalo. Sell it as soon as they return home. Probably can't handle the recoil, it was unfamiliar, didn't perform as expected, probably double discharged it (my PH said it often happens when I did! But no one else admits it. ). At the very least, these guys should buy a new modern dr where it does need special regulating handload. The factory can set everything up for these newbies.

Less safaris, less buying of drs. Simple.

During World economic problem times, luxuries always suffer except for the super rich. They buy even more.

One of our members had a Purdey .369. purchased it maybe for A$7000? Over the years we saw it resold and resold till it was US$70,000 or more. Since last track of it. Maybe gathering dust in a collection. To me it wouldn't be worth half or a third of that ending price as a using dr.

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