Go with the 690 if you like it best, as it's really not an heirloom until you build the history around it. As for the sub gauge I have a couple that I never shoot as they just don't fit my needs.

Good Luck

 

I know I could always get a Browning in my price range but I don't feel that they would have the nostalgia of a SKB 30+years down the line.

There isn't much SKB nostalgia and whatever there was ended when SKB closed its doors in 2009.

SKB-branded guns are relabeled Turkish shotguns. That hardly makes them bad, but there rate about zero in the heirloom department.

 

How about a near top condition original Browning Auto 5, 20 gauge Lightning with a 26 inch IC vent rib barrel?

Or on opposite spectrum, a future heirloom in a new FABARM L4S Deluxe Hunter that will knock you out with beautiful wood and be available to use with any ammo for many generations to come?

Both available around the $2K mark with some searching. See below.

https://fabarmusa.com/l4s-deluxe-hunter/

A Browning Superposed that you say you don't want, that is in great condition or made to be that way via a restoration, has much more heirloom panache than anything else for the $2K amount you specify. Good luck!

 

My family heirloom shotgun is a V.G Bentley Spanish made shotgun my Grandpa bought new in 1953 for €50 from the famous Smiths sporting arms in Sydney and was the only new gun he ever bought in his life.
It's nothing special, it was a 30" gun choked 1/2 and full but after a cousin tried some steel shot in it by accident it's now a 24" with cylinder chokes.
I leant to shot with that gun, it got me Rabbits, Foxes, Hares, Ducks, pigs and Kangaroos. Not one barrel occasionally missfires and it's got marks all over the stock.
I love that gun more then anything else I own, not because of the value of it but because of them memories it holds.

You don't need to buy a gun with a big name or one that's pretty, get one that is solid and dependable, that you will want to hunt with and can take hunting with your kids and grand kids.
Memories aren't made in a gun safe with a once or twice a year hunt, they are made with use and good times with friends and family.

 

There is seems to be some confusion as to what the word "heirloom" means. By definition, it has to be something of great value.

 

There is seems to be some confusion as to what the word "heirloom" means. By definition, it has to be something of great value.

Nothing is more valuable then memories, you can loose money and it's not the end of the world, but if you loose your memories then you truly have lost everything.

 

That has nothing to do with heirlooms. When things are passed down through generations, many people die. There is no easy way around that.

No matter what is done with it, a Bic pen cannot be an heirloom, nor can an 870 Express be an heirloom. It hardly means that literature and poetry cannot be memorialized with a Bic pen, or that memories cannot be formed from the use of an 870 Express. Regardless, they are not heirlooms.

 

Get the best quality you can afford. For $2,000 you can get a Rizzini which is nice looking, & well made, a Beretta, which is well made and well known, or various others new or used. Maybe you'd be better served by adding your own money to that fund and getting a Caesar Guerini, or a higher grade of Beretta. I would add money and get more gun if I was interested in hair loom material.

 

What I was thinking of when saying the shotgun would become a family heirloom was that it would be one that would make me think of my grandparents. The history of the gun itself (other than the memories I will have with it) have no bearing on how it's valued as an heirloom.

The SKB's initially caught my eye as they have SxS models that are in my price range. Then after looking some more I ran into the 690 .410/28g combo.

 

Heirlooms and keepsakes are in the eye of the beholder.

 

F.A.I.R. makes the Iside, which has some good reviews and is probably a better gun than the Turkish SKB. Price is substantially less too.
Nice idea by the way, to get something as a rememberance.

 

I own a SKB 200 HR and have put a down payment on a SKB 200 28ga/.410 set.
From my experience the new SKB's are the Best buy in the $2K price range. I get comments on mine every time I take it out.
Most all the SKB SxS's come with gorgeous wood.
I looked at a F.A.I.R and it wasn't for me, swamped rib, plane wood.
If you like case coloring the SKB can't be matched.
Personally I would buy a Dickinson SxS before a F.A.I.R. But that's my opinion.

 

I had to touch up the finish on a friends new SKB SxS due to water spotting.

I wasn't impressed with the finish it had.

Nice looking gun though.

 

I love my SKB, but any nostalgia around them are centered on the older Japanese made ones. Even then, it is a very niche brand. I only know one person who shoots a new Turkish SKB. It looks nice and seems reliable in that I have never seen it fail, but the guy is not a high volume shooter so who really knows. I think the jury is still out on them, but most of what's been reported appears positive and service is top notch. I do agree with Randy's post regarding the wording. If you want a family keepsake the SKB can be a good choice, I believe the Turkish ones may have a good chance regarding reliability and longevity. But they will never be collectible or highly sought after once their day as gone. Even the Japanese made ones now, as well regarded as they are, have nearly no recognition. I shoot mine every week and only one person (the only other SKB guy) knows what it is, and many who I would characterize as serious shooters have never even heard of the name.

 

I'd love one of the older Miroku SxS guns, my cousin has one and it's just such a nice thing, but I think I would really love a Greener blue rock, but I'd be more inclined to take the Miroku out and use it.

 

I really don't consider my SKB as a high volume shooter.
Hunting gun and occasional clays.
Knew that going in when I bought it.

 

Neither!
SKB will NOT be an heirloom in 30 years.
Buy the best you can afford which maybe an heirloom in 30 years.

 

There is seems to be some confusion as to what the word "heirloom" means. By definition, it has to be something of great value.

I doubt a lot of the A5's and 1100's grandpa handed down to the family would qualify as having great value. But they would qualify as heirlooms to the family.

 

heir·loom
/ˈerlo͞om/
noun
noun: heirloom; plural noun: heirlooms

a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations.

Words mean things. That's one of the reasons we have dictionaries, so everyone doesn't just make it all up as they go along. It isn't a matter of opinion, it is well-defined.

If Grandpa gives you $2K and you just go out and buy something, that does not and cannot create an heirloom. It takes several generations for an heirloom to be an heirloom: there is no such thing as "insta-heirloom."

 

Words mean things. That's one of the reasons we have dictionaries, so everyone doesn't just make it all up as they go along. It isn't a matter of opinion, it is well-defined.

If Grandpa gives you $2K and you just go out and buy something, that does not and cannot create an heirloom. It takes several generations for an heirloom to be an heirloom: there is no such thing as "insta-heirloom."

Randy,

Seems to me like you're beating the guy up unnecessarily over a single word. If you read his original post, he's not saying that whatever he buys will instantly be an heirloom just because dear old granddad paid for it. He says he looking to buy something with granddad's money that can BECOME an heirloom because HE starts a tradition of passing it down through the generations. Perhaps that's a distinction without much difference, but it is different than what you are faulting him for suggesting . . .

This is what he wrote:

My grandparents gifted all of the grandkids $2k to buy something nice for us to remember them by. I am looking at getting a nice over/under or SxS . . . to be passed down to the next generation . . .

So, jump ahead two generations and imagine a older man sitting down with his teenage son. The conversation goes something like this: "Your grandfather bought this gun with money his grandfather gifted him. My dad hunted with this for years and then he gave it to me. I'm giving it to you . . . "

So, the used SKB that had no family connection when 'lil Jake bought it has BECOME an heirloom . . . which is exactly what the OP said he was wanting to accomplish.

It is true, though, that you can't just buy something and put it in the closet and have it become an heirloom. There has to be a whole lot of use and memories invested in it first. So, whatever the OP buys, the purchase is just the first step. If he wants an heirloom to pass down to his kids, he's going to have to commit a lot of weekends, vacations, hunting trips and range days with his children to create the memories that give the thing meaning.

 

I wasn't addressing the original poster.

We've all seen this movie before, at least I have. Sure, I have been told that memories are important. Well, no kidding. My mother died from complications due to dementia. I don't need to see that ever again. No one should.

What happens all too often is this. Grandpa dies, and guess what . . . the wife hates guns. All the stuff goes up for auction. How many estate sales have you been to, or heard of? Heirlooms are often just marketing terms, like classics. Surely you have heard of "its an instant classic"?

I hunted with my great-grandfather, my grandfather, and of course my father as well. You can't buy heirlooms, they become heirlooms (or not) of their own accord over many years, through many hands.

There is a big difference between a keepsake or a souvenir, and an heirloom. I have my grandmother's "Hog-Oiler." It's the real deal. It is a tremendous keepsake and conversation-piece, but hardly an heirloom.

I also have my Great-Grandfather's .38-55. Sure, it is important to me, but it isn't an heirloom-quality piece, nor is my Mom's 28 gauge. And, I'm not particularly worried about someone attempting to steal my Hog-Oiler. :lol: :lol: :lol:

This is all fun stuff, not remotely the "Family Jewels."

 

I still consider my grandpa's old VG Bentley an heirloom, it might only be worth a couple of hundred bucks but I wouldn't sell it for $10,000.

When I use it, even when I pick it up I can smell the old farm house, remember his story's and remember the early days of learning to hunt and it makes me want to share the same experiences with my grandkids one day.

 

Just keep your hands off of my hog-oiler!