A Good Day in the Bald Eagle Valley

Of good-enough guns and hunting like the old days

Yesterday in the thick and thorny coverts at the public hunting area, Carl carried his Charles Lancaster 12-bore. The gun has beautifully fashioned Damascus barrels, with a glossy brown finish that lets the pattern of the intertwined steel and iron show through as a series of repeating silvery rosettes. The barrels are 30 inches long. The gun weighs 6 pounds, 6 ounces and is so well balanced that it feels lighter than that. It's not a pristine piece-scratches and scars cover the stock, the checkering is worn nearly flat and the action's steel has been abraded to a soft silvery color.

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