2nd try Lightweight 20ga SxS?

Call prophet river. They were and maybe still are a dealer. I found the alloy frames to be very light and i had my doubts on how theyd hold up on the skeet range and afield with hunting loads. To bad you werent closer id let you try my huglu sxs guns
 
Just watched TGS Outdoor's review of the FAIR Iside. Ooohh. Very nice.

ht tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kaZ-0Osctw

I also watched a few vids on Yildiz, they seem to be well rated.

David
 
cosmic said:
Hmmm... The suggestion to get a SKB is valid. Unfortunately, they seem to have gone up in price recently. Not too many years ago they could be had for under 4 figures. Now they seem to be well into four figures. There is a dealer in P'boro that is listing a 200E for just shy of 2K$:sok2
I guess too many people are recommending them.
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Just sold a very nice skb 100 20ga for 1050 shipped not sure about 1500$ I can never find people to pay that . Huntingfish must of missed that one .
 
brybenn said:
Call prophet river. They were and maybe still are a dealer. I found the alloy frames to be very light and i had my doubts on how theyd hold up on the skeet range and afield with hunting loads. To bad you werent closer id let you try my huglu sxs guns
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I think that's a great idea. I should try to find someone that has a SxS and try to shoot a few to see which ones fit me best. But with COVID, it's going to be complicated at best, impossible at worst.

David
 
Weight of a 20 gauge revolves around the ammo that it's designed for and made to use. If you are determined that your 20 have 3" chambers so that you can shoot inefficient steel loads out of it your gun could be as heavy as some 12's. Why bother? Buy a 12. Trust me you won't find shooting 3" out of a six pound gun pleasant. If your purpose is for upland hunting and occasional clay target shooting your most suitable ammo is 2 3/4" and a gun with this chamber length will be up to a pound lighter than the 3", although hard to find in a new gun nowadays. The prewar English 20's are lightest of all, sometimes only a little over 5 pounds but these were intended for 2 1/2" cartridges and light loads. They are scarce, very expensive and are a treat to hunt with. They were never intended for heavy waterfowl or turkey loads nor all day pounding on clays.
 
cooey43 said:
I believe Accuracy Plus has the Ithaca SxS 20 ga. for sale now. Close to $2000.,,,,,,,, good luck.
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That of course is a model 200, not a 100 and it’s appears to be in exceptional condition. Not surprising a retailer is asking $2K.

A 100 in average condition should be at a substantially lower price.

Struff selling a 100 for $1050 is I think more representative of the current market. I sold mine about 8 years ago for $700 and it was in VG condition. Got it from original owner who was a friend.
 
Ashcroft said:
Weight of a 20 gauge revolves around the ammo that it's designed for and made to use. If you are determined that your 20 have 3" chambers so that you can shoot inefficient steel loads out of it your gun could be as heavy as some 12's. Why bother? Buy a 12. Trust me you won't find shooting 3" out of a six pound gun pleasant. If your purpose is for upland hunting and occasional clay target shooting your most suitable ammo is 2 3/4" and a gun with this chamber length will be up to a pound lighter than the 3", although hard to find in a new gun nowadays. The prewar English 20's are lightest of all, sometimes only a little over 5 pounds but these were intended for 2 1/2" cartridges and light loads. They are scarce, very expensive and are a treat to hunt with. They were never intended for heavy waterfowl or turkey loads nor all day pounding on clays.
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All solid points!

I did try shooting pheasant loads (3", 1.25 oz I believe, not sure, 1500fps) out of my Stevens 555 (6'ish lbs gun) and recoil was significant. Not pleasant at all.

My goal is to have something light to bring along for mainly grouse and various small game. A few rounds of clay shooting would be fun as well. Mostly as a way to practice wingshooting to be ready when hunting season comes along.
2 3/4" shells should be plenty
 
Where would you look for used side-by-sides?

I've checked the EE, but not a whole lot going on at the moment. I've had a look at ####### and as well as townpost.

Anything else worthy of checking out?

David
 
VictoryXC said:
To the original poster, what do you want to use it for? (I didn't see that info in your original post)
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Small game and some clay.

Never tried clay shooting. Would love to do a few round here and there. Not saying I'll go every weekend. I have too many other obligations to be able to pull that off!

David
 
Based on your intended use, 7/8 ounce or 1 ounce loads and 2 3/4" chambers will be plenty. 3" shells or heavy loads in a lightweight gun will be hard on you and even harder on the gun. Good luck in your search.
 
huntingfish said:
Where would you look for used side-by-sides?

I've checked the EE, but not a whole lot going on at the moment. I've had a look at ####### and as well as townpost.

Anything else worthy of checking out?

David
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I certainly had this problem when I first started 15 years ago. And the lack of guns shows in the covid world compounds things. But......

First, the EE

Second, I would make a note of every gun store i hear of. Go on their website, check their used guns and see what their SxS assortment is. These are older, used guns. There is no clearing house and they pop up erratically. So the wider your sweep, the more effective at finding a specific target. Or range of targets.

I know it's not a SxS but a friend just got a lovely 50's era Superposed 20 gauge from a gun shop that has no on-line presence and usually has 50 used guns......none of which are SxS or O/U.......usually beat up rifles and pump guns. We go in and look because it's five minutes away and who knows what he might have. You just never know where you will find the gun you are looking for.

The best gun in my collection came from a small east coast dealer that I just happened to chance upon. The 20 gauge I posted here was a referral from someone I don't even know but because of my on-line presence, knew I knew a bit about the make of gun. I am now at the point where I see more SxS for sale that I'd like to own without even trying than I could possibly afford. And I literally don't look. Ask VictoryXC. He'll send me a text "have you seen gun xwz on the EE. And I say nope. I go months without looking unless someone directs me to a specific gun.

What is a mistake, IMHO, is to imagine that you can check 1-3 sources (EE, Epps and Prophet River for example) and get what you want. You may, but you may go 4 years before what you want appears.

Edit to add: This difficulty in finding what you are searching for in older used guns, especially SxS caused me, years ago, to fundamentally alter my approach. I originally did what you are doing....asked around for a good make and model and then started looking for that gun. Since then I have radically changed what I do. Which is I never pre-select the gun I'm after. I pre-select the qualities I want and then I just look at whats for sale, waiting to come across one that has the combination of features, appearance, condition and handling characteristics that I was after. When I do that, the number of options explode. However, to do that successfully you must be able to judge a SxS, original quality and current condition. And that's a whole other topic.
 
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