Shooting a side by side shotgun

[vash]

What a learning curve!

I’m gonna unload my Silver Pigeon ( I think) I can’t even fake it with that one. Not sure I can hit a slow drifting ballon with that one. I credit the double trigger. It’s essentally a single shot for me at this point

Quick target evaluation, choose a choke, try to remember which choke is which barrel, try to remember which trigger is which barrel, shoot....cuss and laugh. I suck! I don’t shoot enough to get better.

Enter: the one in the back of the gun safe.

Winchester Model 23. I didn’t investigate the choke situation, but what a fast swinging fast pointing shotgun. I was even hitting my tough left to right targets. The single trigger with barrel switch knob was more familiar.

I’m a over/under fan, but it’s a nice change to take out the SxS on occasion.

I think mines made in Japan.

[Mike Andrew]

My buddy has one, a very nice gun. Were it mine, it would be on display. To me, that's all it is good for. I can't hit Crap with the thing. He does very well so I imagine there is a learning curve which he has mastered.
I will stay with my trusty 870.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Mike Andrew

I will stay with my trusty 870.

Yea. For me. 1100 with the shorty barrel. That’s what I’ll use when I’m hungry. Or there’s a bet involved.

[cabmandone]

Growing up I shot a Stevens 20 ga double barrel. When I'd go squirrel hunting if one clung to the tree I'd open up both barrels on it. My friends would laugh when I'd know those suckers right out of the tree.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Growing up I shot a Stevens 20 ga double barrel. When I'd go squirrel hunting if one clung to the tree I'd open up both barrels on it. My friends would laugh when I'd know those suckers right out of the tree.

Sounds like the same gun my dad used when we went hunting.

[jrj3rd]

Love shooting SxS shotguns. Only non SxS in the safe are the kids. Something classic and analogue about a SxS in a dove field or duck blind. Yep, my friends think I am strange.

[Seahawk]

We have a few of each, plus some pumps and an Auto 5.

I have a Citori o/u in 12g and a Fox Sterlingworth SxS in 16g.

Both come up extremely well and are a pleasure to shoot. If I am going to hunt birds with either one, I throw enough clays the day before to get comfortable with the triggers and performance characteristics of each shotgun, which differ.

For Geese and Duck (which I do not hunt) my son prefers the Auto 5, hunts those birds with nothing else.

For Dove, I have a Stroeger O/U .410 I use when I want a challenge

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by tcar

Stoeger???? Maybe???

.410???? Maybe?

My bad: Stoeger Condor Field Shotgun in .410.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

For Dove, I have a Stroger O/U .412 I use when I want a challenge

Stoeger maybe???

.410 maybe???



Used to use a single shot .410 for dove... loved that gun. Was stolen.

Then a side by side 20 ga... my favorite

[tabs]

Have a Parker 28 ga

[Jeff Higgins]

I love my side by side doubles. Just last year I ran into Cabella's to buy a hat, and came out with this "dealer special" (non-cataloged) CZ America. 12 gauge, 3" chambers, interchangeable chokes. It's a joy to both carry and shoot. The double triggers are no problem for me, I've been shooting a double trigger side by side most of my life.



Here is that very shotgun I've been shooting most of my life. Notice it has hammers as well. You get used to them... What is not readily apparent is that it is a muzzle loader. It's a "10 gauge", in that it is bored to use modern 10 gauge components that are normally loaded in a hull, so it's really an 11 gauge. This was my main "go-to" shotgun for everything from geese to grouse, at least until non-toxic shot requirements eliminated it from the blind. Then, to add insult to injury, several years ago all of our pheasant hunting went "non-toxic" as well, reducing it to a grouse and quail gun. Finally, though, I found muzzle loader safe non-toxic shot, so we are back fully in business. This thing will throw a two ounce cloud of shot that you just would not believe...



So, yeah, side by sides rock. I love 'em. They handle like no other shotgun.

[berettafan]

Haven’t shot one yet. More a matter of finding one I like that doesn’t cost $3k or more. The CZ models are popular and a good price but don’t quite turn me on enough to buy.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Haven’t shot one yet. More a matter of finding one I like that doesn’t cost $3k or more. The CZ models are popular and a good price but don’t quite turn me on enough to buy.

The whole "made in Turkey" thing really turned me off. I would never go looking for one on purpose. Or, at least not until I grabbed this one. Like I said, I was only really after a hat. This thing was just so damn cheap, though, and so exceedingly well made - and not just "for the price" - that I bought it completely on impulse. I'm glad I did. It's an excellent shotgun. The only downside so far is that the blueing is already starting to thin where I carry it. But, then again, I carried it a lot that first year, and a good deal the first half of this season, until my hip gave up on me.

[Superman]

A friend at work knows a lot about guns. There is a short-barrel, tactical-type, pistol-grip pump shotgun which I looked at in Cabelas, which is made in another country now (CZ?) which is modeled after an out-of-production USA unit (Remington?). It is dirt cheap and, according to my friend, superior to the USA model which is now something of a collector's item. It has some bright red pin-striping on it. I am likely to buy that gun.

Side by sides look awesome.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Superman

A friend at work knows a lot about guns. There is a short-barrel, tactical-type, pistol-grip pump shotgun which I looked at in Cabelas, which is made in another country now (CZ?) which is modeled after an out-of-production USA unit (Remington?). It is dirt cheap and, according to my friend, superior to the USA model which is now something of a collector's item. It has some bright red pin-striping on it. I am likely to buy that gun.

Side by sides look awesome.

Mossberg tactical...

Benelli Super 90 tactical..but they aint cheap.

I just stick with my Knuckle Buster solid frame riot.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by tabs

I just stick with my Knuckle Buster solid frame riot.

I still have a pretty good scar in the web of my thumb on my right hand from the first time I racked the slide, from the hip, on an old '97 "Trench Sweeper". That was 40 years ago. No one told me the damn bolt came out the back when you pumped it.

[stealthn]

Prefer over/under for skeet/trap

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Sounds like the same gun my dad used when we went hunting.

When we were "old enough" dad would break out the double side by side 12 ga and get a good chuckle as we squeezed off both barrels. Damn! My shoulder hurt for a week. It was one of those rights of passage. After we got done cutting wood for the fireplace at home we'd get out the .22 and the shotguns and plink cans or sticks in the creek nearby. Mom would kick our butts with the .22 which is kinda funny since she never really shot a rifle much. We had a matching set of Stevens 12 and 20. My grandpa had the 16 blow up on him as I understand it.

[fred cook]

The last shotgun that I bought was a Franchi 20 gauge over/under. It is really more of an upland bird gun and is quite light. Almost too light as the 20 gauge recoil is almost like the recoil from my Remington pump 12 gauge! My favorite shotgun of all time is a Winchester Model 12 skeet gun in 20 gauge. Just enough weight to keep the shooting pleasant!

[craigster59]

I have 3 old LeFevers, a 10g, 16g and 20g. The 10 and 16 are Damascus barrels. They are all manufactured prior to 1916, you can get Ithaca LeFevers (Nitro Specials) pretty cheap.