Diggory Hadoke of VintageGuns.co.uk looks at the cheapest Holland & Hollands on the secondhand market. Are they worth buying? Are they true Holland & Hollands?
There’s a pair of 20-bore H&H ‘No 3 Grade’ guns coming up at Holts Auctioneers on 21 March 2022. They are single trigger, hand-detachable, back-action, sidelock ejectors (serial no 26417 / 8). Built around 1910, they have 30in sleeved nitro barrels (in 2003), ribs engraved with the Holland & Holland 98 Bond Street address and gold-inlaid ‘1’ and ‘2’ at the breech ends, 2¾in chambers, bored approx 1/4 and 1/2 choke, toplevers gold-inlaid ‘1’ and ‘2’, automatic safeties with gold-inlaid ‘Safe’ details, patent gas checks, hand-detachable lockplates with gold-inlaid cocking-indicators, border engraving, the undersides with ‘Patent Single Trigger’, retaining slight traces of colour-hardening and much renewed finish. The 14⅛in stocks include wooden buttplates, fore-ends with Deeley & Edge patent release catches, gold-inlaid ‘1’ and ‘2’.
Each gun weighs 6lb 5oz. They come in a brass-cornered oak and leather case, relined with blue baize and with oak partitioning
Click here for the catalogue listing
The pair of Hollands in Holt's auction:
