Do Europeans use pump shotguns??My Father and uncle had no idea how to use a pump and they are in there 60's..It just feels really awkward to them in there hands.All they used were single shot or side by sides in there years of hunting and shooting
Hunting and shooting in Great Britain is much different than here. Comparing the two would be like comparing apples to oranges or pumps to side by sides. Shotguns are crude devices to begin with. Delicate mechanics, fine walnut, and hand embellishments don't make an English shotgun anymore accurate than a simple utilitarian single shot, pump, or crude bolt shotgun. You're shooting little balls of lead down a pipe and aiming with a little ball of brass. Not exactly a precision tool.
I can see how someone could think a pump gun is crude, but these are still very effective tools. A traditional double shotgun is a think of beauty and I would never deny that.
Lever guns never really caught on elsewhere in the world either.
That statement ought to be revisited.....inaccurate in so many ways!
As far as slide actions are concerned, they have their uses, more prominently in this Continent. Some of those, particularly the sub-gauges do handle nice in the matters of Wingshooting. However, when all is said and done, no matter how well made and embellished a pump action may be, it is still, as the saying goes - "a crow dressed in Peacock feathers."![]()
The pump shotgun is an American invention and was never popular in Great Britain or Europe. Most consider it pretty crude though I would take a quality pump any day over an economy European double. Many shooters in Great Britain barely consider an over and under double a shotgun.
However, when all is said and done, no matter how well made and embellished a pump action may be, it is still, as the saying goes - "a crow dressed in Peacock feathers."![]()
they may not like pumps very much overseas, but semi-autos are popular, including in the U.K.
I've never understood the notion of a "custom" pump action. I've seen Model 12's and Model 37's done up in beautiful high-grade walnut. They still looked like pipe wrenches.
I think you slightly misunderstood what I meant.
I understand that pumps are crude in comparison both mechanically and in fit and finish (traditional double gun vs generic slide action) but at the end of the day shotguns are simple in principle and one design is not more accurate then the next.
My $4,000 Beretta, $350 SXP, and $75.00 cooey all shoot remarkably similar with the same choke. I can feel the difference of quality in my hands but neither paper nor game can tell the difference.
There is also the mention of accuracy performance - regardless of action types, what has that got to do as far as a smoothbore shotgun is concerned? Nobody selects a shotgun type over the other based on that factor alone.
There is a considerable amount of "precision" put into a British "Best" gun. Customers fly to England to be fitted with a try gun to make sure the length of pull, drop at heel and comb, pitch at butt stock and cast on or off are perfect for their body and face shape. Plus building and fitting a pair of sidelocks is not a job for anyone but an expert. Not to mention regulating a set of barrels for the same point of pattern center. It isn't hard to see how Europeans could be snobby about pump shotguns.
Fellas,
Your taking Old Savage's reference to shotguns as "crude tools" far too seriously and literally. Relax, he clearly appreciates finely made shotguns![]()
I've got to agree that, at some price point after say several thousands of dollars, the law of diminishing returns take a very steep nose-dive in terms of what you get for your money. Then again, he who can afford a Boss or a Holland & Holland isn't exactly what one would call a "value-minded shopper".![]()



























