A comment by my friend Jim Bode of Beretta Paralleli led to this image intensive discourse. The point in question is the wedge shaped bar and its role in the overall elegance of a side by side. The comment brought to memory discussions with the late Geoffrey Boothroyd and correspondence with Gough Thomas. Both were contributors in the British Shooting Times magazines and prolific gun authors. Geoffrey had contributed dozens of articles to a magazine I published in Greece from 1985 till 1999.
Some of the discussions with these two learned authors concerned the fine lines of a shotgun. Not in the sense of "appreciation" but the more arcane details of how they might be a matter of calculation and replication so as to give grace to a not so expensive double. What follows is a personal distillation of those discussions and of personal observation and study of the side by side both as a much loved hunting implement as well as a product. The web having no restrictions on space and image content it is a good opportunity to use as many pics as possible to illustrate the point.
Nature might hate a straight line, engineers love it. It is not love pure and simple. It has to do with production, which brings us to the wedge shape in side by side action bars. It is a topical subject now that the new Beretta 486 is sporting a rounded bar combined with a wedge shape.
The wedge shape seen in many, if not most, boxlock profiles is no accident. It is the option chosen by engineers and machinists, succumbing to the sirens of cost cutting.
It starts with the top strap. Traditionally it was curved. When the British had exclusive rights to the Anson-Deeley they made curved top straps, they still do.
Curving the top strap was obviously not a machine friendly job. Neither was the subsequent stocking that involved smoking-in the curves.
Mass producers apparently decided to straighten the curves to make the design machine friendly. The top strap became straight. The trigger plate followed suit and in straightening out it provided an additional benefit, it allowed the abolition of the split bottom plate.
A split bottom plate, as my gunmaker Fabbio Castellani patiently explained, mandates hand fitting of the bottom plate and drilling an extra screw hole in an action body. Screw threading is slow and expensive.
"We do not discuss" was his solution to the problem. A Gardonian way of saying take it or leave it. But even so, he did make the bar parallel albeit with no split bottom plate.
Taking the straight advantage further, the stockers often draw a near straight line from the toe of the stock to the bar. Merkels are excellent examples of such a rational approach to SXS design. This straightness is facilitated by the wedge shaped bar. In their straight stocked models you can almost lay a straight edge from toe to the front of the trigger guard where the stock meets the action.
Taste is a personal thing and there may be a majority of shooters who like a SXS with a straight underbelly. My experience is that when given the choice, and other things like fit, choking and price are equal, shooter tend to instinctively pick the gun with more graceful lines.
The recipe for beauty is well known even if some makers pretend not to know it and some actually do not know it. The parallel depth bar is the first and easy part. Then comes the curved top strap. In some cases the top strap flows from the action body in curved sweeps rather than sharp corners. This is how AYA went with its new rounded boxlock, taking a hint from Westley Richards and Dickson (not a boxlock but a good reference point none the less).
More involved is the line of the trigger plate. The traditional and more elegant line retains a straight line, an extension of the bottom of the bar till it meets the triggers. The trigger plate then curves at the back of the triggers and flows into the stock. The trigger bow is in line with an imaginary line extending downwards from the action back edge.
All of the above can be seen in the photos that follow.
Handling wise the curve behind the trigger guard has an edge. It is easier for the hand to manipulate the triggers when the stock bends behind the triggers. It is like a hidden semi pistol grip layout. When the stock is broomstick straight through the hand and triggers it forces the wrist into an awkward position. In good guns "pretty" is seldom the primary choice, it tends to follow and complement function.
An explanation of the term Blitz action and a comment on the exaggerated curve where the stock of the 486 meets the action might also be useful.
Blitz I think means lightning in German. In shotguns it denotes a lightning fast action, ie fast lock time. Blitz actions are based on the trigger plate, behind the action bar with springs that push the hammers forward towards the firing pins. The Over Under McKay Brown is the archetypal British adaptation of the Blitz action, it meets all the requirements regarding location and spring placement. The main advantages of the Blitz action are crisp trigger pulls, retention of bar metal, accessibility for servicing and regulating, and above all evasion of the boxlock-sidelock argument!
The curves at the stock to action juncture are an old way of adding both beauty and function to a double gun. Whether in the traditional form of scroll back favored by the British, or more elaborate lines like the Beretta 486 and the Cockeril pictured below, the line is said to be pleasing to the eye, presumably because it avoids the severe straight line joint between wood and metal. The intricate joint also serves to keep the wood steady on the metal, the curves acting as "brakes" of sorts to counter any movement between the two. Personally I visually prefer the straight line.
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