According to popular wisdom simple things please simple minds. Well, my mind must be simple considering I have a lifelong fascination with simplicity in mecahnical things.
There is something uplifting in seeing a simple contraption with a minimum of parts doing something efficiently with no fuss. Hence my enthusiasm on seeing the simple action ot the BSA Single XII.
As the name indicates, it is a single barrel, relatively obscure, but fascinating for anyone who likes simple guns. Or to someone simple minded, depending on your point of view.
The internals of the Single XII are fashioned from flat, fairly thick steel. From memory I would say they are about six millimeters thick. There is a hammer, a sear-trigger in one piece, a main spring, a main spring guide and an elbow that channels some of the spring power to the sear.
A unitary one piece action with a simple yet safe and easy to manufacture action, things to please simple minds.
The action was invented by William Baker, a prolific arms inventor. Baker invented the Baker ejector (in Boss doubles), the action sold as the Lancaster 12/20, a self opening single barrel, an over and under, and a simplified sidelock action among other things.
Baker’s genius was in getting a spring to do several things. In the Single XII the single main spring powers the hammer, it provides the rebound that brings the hammer back into the safe position, and it also powers the sear-trigger. At the safe position the hammer is blocked by the sear, it cannot travel forward to contact the firing pin unless the trigger is pressed and kept pressed.
The Single XII has an inboard hammer with a serrrated spur to aid cocking. The spur is cleverly housed in a depression in the top tang, thus providing a safe location while also giving the gun an almost streamlined look compared to other inboard hammer shotguns.
Solid steel action with replaceable cross pin and discrete inboard hammer make the Single XII more interesting than most single barrel shotguns
There is no denying the plain looks of the Single XII. The receiver is a slab sided hunk of steel. No use trying to be nice about it, the aesthetics are those of a brick. The barrel profiling does not help either. It is a chunky barrel that leans towards generous wall thickness rather than delicacy. In short the Single Xii is an ugly gun.
The barrel of the Single XII is chunky at the breech end. The ejector is a clever conical over center system powered by a coil spring. Another indicator of Baker’s design talent.
But I cannot help but see beyond he exterior and see what is hiding in this metal brick. If the action body was rounded a little. If fences were chiseled and shaped. If the barrel were reprofiled to take a delicate line. If there is money to spare a new barrel in a smaller gauge (the single XII was as the name says strictly a 12 gauge) would be nice.
The process of perceiving and revealing the beauty hidden in a plain gun is evident in the personal Over Under of Richard Casleton, former production manager of Holland and Holland, currently with Manton in the UK.
The Casleton OU started life as a plain, the plainest in fact, grade of the Beretta 686, the Essential. The photograph shows what knowledge and good taste can do to revela the beautiful gun that lives inside the plain Essentail.
Richard Cssleton’s personal Beretta with aa round body, scalloped action back and neat engraving. A similar approach to upgrading the SIngle XII might yield a pleasant surprise.
Something similar done to the SIngle XII would bring out the lithe yet rugged and ultra realiable single barrel that resides concealed in the Single XII. A little engraving in the Blanch creeping vine style and a decent stock would complete the project.
Is it worth doing all this for a single? For those that have overcome the psychological hurdle of not having a second or third shot, yes, it is worth it. WHen done right the single trounces the best side by side for handling, balance and pointability. A few minutes with a quality British single, one of those sold by the best makers, is a revelation.
Plain, unadorned, slab sided, wtih not much handwork, is the Essential, the Beretta model from which Richard Cssleton carved out his superb round bodied OU.
In addition to superb handling, the single provides ruggedness despite the light weight. The single barrel allows plenty of barrel wall thickness, which translates into safety and logevity, but remains light up front. I have miked old quality singles with ethereal handling tha barrels of which were forty thousandths thick before the choke. A double with twenty four thou is regarded as adequate.
A gunsmith in an internet forum likened the Single XII to the Yugo car. Who cares if it has a clever action, he said, it has no hand work and it is simple. Well, I it is no Bentley for sure, but if I were to draw a car analogy I would say it is the gun equivalent of the Morris Minor which gave stellar service to millions and more pleasure to more people than any luxury car. Obviously it does not have much hand work, neither does the Beretta Essential which Richard Casleton used as canvas to create a really pretty OU.