Combo gun are they as great as I imagine?
- Thread starter nwtbolthunter
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I've got a Merkel B4 in 223 / 12g. I really, really like it. It is not heavy, weighing in at 7 lb, and is incredibly comfortable to aim and shoot. I don't find it at all burdensome or awkward to carry, and the versatility really lends itself to being a truck/tractor/hiking gun.
The rifle barrel is quite accurate, keeping a 1 moa group for the first 5 shots or so. The group opens up a bit once the barrel gets hot, however. The barrels are well regulated, with point of aim being the same at 40-50 yards. I now have a 1-8x scope mounted, and with the rifle sighted to a 100 yard zero, the shotgun is perfectly on at 30-40 yards.
The triggers are incredibly crisp, and are quite light. Which is also something to pay attention to: it is quite easy to lose track of your triggers. Unless I am hunting only ground game, where I will always have the ground as a backstop, I only keep a rifle or shotgun cartridge in. This generally means the shotgun is loaded, and if I see ground game, I can fairly quickly load up a rifle round.
Overall I think combination guns are an awesome concept. Some people obviously don't find a fit for them in how they hunt, which is quite understandable. I personally really enjoy having one, and it is my go to tractor gun. As someone else mentioned, you almost have to have one to find out if they work for you. You also very much get what you pay for. Lots of reviews on less expensive having poor regulation and triggers, which is generally solved by spending money, unfortunately.
I still have an urge for a gun like a 6.5x57R or 7mm over a 20ga. Seen a few nice guns over the years, just never really saw one that flat out said buy me. Only thing with the 22cal ones, is they are built with the slow twist, if a person could get one with the fast twist to handle the heavier bullets suitable for bigger game, they could do well with it.
I always thought they were an appealing idea, and eventually owned a couple and tried to like them. I'm sure that in countries that restrict the number of firearms that one may own, they make good sense. But for use in Canada, I have completely given up on them. The closest I came to managing to rationalize the idea of owning one was for coyotes; a lovely Blaser 20ga/.243 that was, in typical Blaser fashion, blisteringly accurate with the .243 barrel. I shot a few coyotes with the shotgun barrel, but I doubt that any of them would have escaped if I had simply used another rifle cartridge on them. And, frankly, a nice Mini-14 would have been a superior choice for most of them, and for many others I encountered.
As for using combo guns for grouse while big game hunting...I just don't get it. If I am seeking deer or moose, I have zero interest in distracting myself with shooting a dang grouse; I don't "need" to kill something, I am not starving for camp food, I don't want to make the noise (despite seeing much evidence that it doesn't matter), I don't want to spend the rest of the day with fresh blood on my hands and/or in my game pocket, and since I normally stay out all day I am not enamoured with eating meat that has been dragged around in my pocket that long. I've arrowed a few coyotes while bowhunting deer, and then agonized over either disposing of the carcass and disturbing the area, or leaving it in place and having it stink up my spot. Now I just let them pass...although that really bugs me...
If I ever decide that I must absolutely slay a grouse on a given day of hunting...a slingshot is cheap, weighs nothing, fits in my pocket or pack, works like a charm. Even that's not something that I have bothered with for at least ten years. If I am hunting moose...I am focused on moose. Grouse are safe from me.
And if I am hunting grouse...well, I will be using a shotgun, which means they are still pretty safe from me...
As for using combo guns for grouse while big game hunting...I just don't get it. If I am seeking deer or moose, I have zero interest in distracting myself with shooting a dang grouse; I don't "need" to kill something, I am not starving for camp food, I don't want to make the noise (despite seeing much evidence that it doesn't matter), I don't want to spend the rest of the day with fresh blood on my hands and/or in my game pocket, and since I normally stay out all day I am not enamoured with eating meat that has been dragged around in my pocket that long. I've arrowed a few coyotes while bowhunting deer, and then agonized over either disposing of the carcass and disturbing the area, or leaving it in place and having it stink up my spot. Now I just let them pass...although that really bugs me...
If I ever decide that I must absolutely slay a grouse on a given day of hunting...a slingshot is cheap, weighs nothing, fits in my pocket or pack, works like a charm. Even that's not something that I have bothered with for at least ten years. If I am hunting moose...I am focused on moose. Grouse are safe from me.
And if I am hunting grouse...well, I will be using a shotgun, which means they are still pretty safe from me...
I wouldn't say that gunshots attract game but I'm not so sure they really get put off by them either.
Many times at the range we have been shooting and had deer or bears walk out onto the range.
One day a mother bear and her cubs were walking across the range when we pulled up in the morning. Over several hours we shot about 1500 rounds of centerfire pistol, rifle and shotgun then walked the 100 m to a different part of the range to see the same sow and cubs chowing down on the grass, no problem.
Years ago I fired 10 rounds of 50 BMG and then had a few deer walk out of the treeline right in front of us about 150 m away.
I've also been driving to a destination for an afternoon hunt, stopped and shot a few grouse with a 20g on the way and turn the corner and run into deer and moose.
On the other hand if I was stalking an animal or still hunting in the timber for deer I'm not going to stop and shoot a grouse. I think that how much animals are spooked by gunshots differs on the circumstances of where you are, what you are after and how the animal processes information about loud noises. For instance If they hear a vehicle but can't see it they may not care about it. But if they both see and hear it they may want to move away from it.
I don't think there is any hard ands fast rule .on how animals react to gunshots, it's mostly circumstantial
But to the topic of combo guns, I've always sort of liked the idea but never seen a place for one for my hunting. If I'm on foot after large game I'm holding a rifle. On foot after grouse I have a shotgun. I keep a few slugs handy just in case but I don't expect to use them. If I'm in a vehicle weight is not a concern so I may as well have both shotgun and rifle. I could see a combo gun being useful as a tractor gun or similar I suppose. And I'm sure other people hunt in different circumstances than I do so the combo might be a top choice for them.
On backcountry hunts I have often carried subsonic rifle ammo for those days you are walking back to camp and run into some grouse you want to eat for dinner. I guess that is about as much of a "combo" that I need. I try to load them in nickel plated brass or mark them in some way so they are easy to identify.
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I almost shot a lynx last winter using that exact “call”
For many individuals, hunting has as much to do with hunting with a particular type of firearm more than it does on actually killing an animal .If killing something was the main focus for me I would be doing all of my hunting with big cartridges in long range scoped rifles and all of my bird hunting with a 12 gauge semi!
My drilling is an early 1900's back action hammer gun, and I like it for bird hunting as well as for carrying when deer hunting .it is not unusual for me to jump deer when hunting for partridge in tight cover when I am not using a dog, however, and if that is the case I will take the shot on a legal animal if I am not too far away from the truck.
Cat
My drilling is an early 1900's back action hammer gun, and I like it for bird hunting as well as for carrying when deer hunting .it is not unusual for me to jump deer when hunting for partridge in tight cover when I am not using a dog, however, and if that is the case I will take the shot on a legal animal if I am not too far away from the truck.
Cat
I was target shooting at 100 yds. The noise woke up two moose in a nearby bush. They wandered out and then planted themselves in the muddy field right behind my target. I had to go out and chase them away in order to resume shooting.
Lol imagine the POI difference between 12 gauge and .223. How could you possibly have any form of sight that could be even remotely useful for both.
I never really saw the point of these goofy combination guns. But whatever floats your boat I guess.
I never really saw the point of these goofy combination guns. But whatever floats your boat I guess.
Lots of combos utilize QD scope mounts, so you pop the scope on for rifle use, remove it for shotgun use. Some of them have rear sights that fold up for rifle, down for shotgun. And even if you used the same sighting system for both, it's not hard at all to imagine a sight setting that works at 100-200 yards for the .223 and also at 30-40 yards for the shotgun.
I don't care for the combos, but it's not because they don't work...it's just that I don't want or need to do the kind of stuff for which they do work.
I haven't got an immense amount of experience with them but I haven't found a combo gun that wasn't a puzzle to figure out. The shotgun portion may shoot well enough while the rifle protion is so far off (with irons) as to be unusable for hunting. Not an issue with optics but I have never been much for scopes.
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I have an older drilling made about 1890ish in a formerly Prussian state. There's a flip up tang sight in the upper part of pistol grip. It's zeroed seemingly for about 60-70 yards for the rifle. You flip it down out of sight when one is using the shotgun barrels. There's a small blade sight out front and a really shallow rear sight. It regulates both shotgun patterns quite nicely. And at twenty five yards is just fine for the rifle bullet impact.
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I had a Brno model 802, 12 guage over 30-06.
It was very accurate with the irons. It was a bit utility grade, but well made and solid. I liked it alot and it made a handy woods loafing gun. Pretty light too!! At 25m this was the POI for both barrels using the same sight settings ...
It was very accurate with the irons. It was a bit utility grade, but well made and solid. I liked it alot and it made a handy woods loafing gun. Pretty light too!! At 25m this was the POI for both barrels using the same sight settings ...
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I have a BRNO Combo gun in 30-06 and 12ga and which I like. The gun is pretty light in comparison to my 12ga pumps and semi-autos. Barrels are very thin and will heat up quickly .... but this is the gun you carry all day ... and maybe only fire 1 or 3 times that day ....
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sillymike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I've used a 12G/7.62x54R... my rationality (if you can call it that) was
- The 12G was used to chase grouse
- Since there are plenty of bears in the area, the 7.62x54R would have taken care of that potential problem
- The gun was pretty That's got to count for something...
- The 12G was used to chase grouse
- Since there are plenty of bears in the area, the 7.62x54R would have taken care of that potential problem
- The gun was pretty
That's got to count for something...
