Grouse hunting guns

Galipo said:
Are screw in chokes important at all? Or should I focus on finding a gun with a cylinder/modified combo?
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I had screw in chokes in a CZ I owned for a couple yrs. I never changed them. I would rather have fixed in IC/M or SK/IC. The older guns with fixed chokes tend to be nicer guns anyways.
 
I've been carrying my Poly-Choked Ithaca 37RD this fall

bldnP


Cory
 
SKB 100 25" barrels IMP CYL x MOD, dog is a must, two even better. Recently picked up a Beretta Silver Pigeon on the cheap. It has factory IMP CYL under IMP MOD with 26" barrels. Gun was made in or around 2000 according to the serial numbers and must have been a special USA order of some sort. It is every bit as fast and light as the SKB and throws awesome patterns. Either one is perfect IMO.
 
Been using an old Savage 24 .22/..410 ,a Cooey 840 .28ga and yesterday on a alpine mt. hike, a Cooey 840 12ga with the barrel cut to 21" for bear deterrent.Removed the 00 buck and swapped in #8' s on several spruce hens and a big blue grouse just below the treeline.Harold
 
Galipo said:
I also have flocks of turkey that walk through my property occasionally. Would a 20 gauge be capable of taking one of them?
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Best turkey hunter I know, Adrian Hare, who posts here and who has been a signed hunter with Quaker Boy in the past, hunts with a 20 gauge. Carefully patterned and with special chokes. A friend in Georgia hunts them exclusively with a .410. You just need to know what you are doing.
 
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I've been hunting ruffed an spruce the last two seasons with an IGA O/U .410, it's a very compact gun and fits me well...
3" #5 Remington seems to be the ticket for wing shooting and it's absolutely lethal to 30 yards and perhaps more without wasting meat, I took a fair size rabbit two nights ago with it as well at 25 yards and it worked surprisingly well compared to the .22 I typically use...
And at 25 yards the barrels shoot slugs within 3" of one another... Im quite happy with it.
 
K-Roc said:
20 gauge over under shorty... I wish my dog could go grousing with me but she is a sight hound.
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This is what I use as well, and my other two hunting partners have flipped over to the same from their .22s as their eyesight has diminished. I used to enjoy letting them take the first shot, and then me having the opportunity to shoot if they flew away.
 
I use a Beretta Silver Pigeon 20ga or an 870 Wingmaster in 28ga and they are great but I must say my best wing shots were made with a light handling, ultra fast swinging Franchi 20ga semi auto I owned a few years back. It was a 620 and boy did it shoot nicely. I've never been able to shoulder, fire and hit as quick with anything I've owned since that gun. Oh well, the other two are prettier,

Patrick
 
I use a Beretta BL3 20 guage. I had the bottom barrel reamed out to skeet and kept the top barrel choked full. 28 inch barrels I find better for me than shorter ones. I had the piece weighed on the post office scale. It weighs 5lb 13oz a beautifull little gun. I also have a cross between a purebred springer and a purebred Britainy. She flushes grouse and points bumble bees. Go figure.
 
If a person is not presently hunting upland birds over a pointer or setter then can at least regain some style points by walk-up wing-shooting using a 20 ga. external hammer gun. Sorry, need to take a photo in natural light.
This one 6 lbs 3 oz., 26" barrels, splinter fore-end and Prince of Wales grip. With no fancy frills, just great lines and balance, this gun is mechanically excellent and I shoot it quite well.
Of course engraved grouse on a receiver never hurts either - gives you motivation and occasionally a reminder of what they look like.

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Mossberg 500 12ga 20ga or 410. Different one each time I go. Or my new to me Savage 24 . .22/410
Or I take my old reliable Remington semiauto model58. Wintertime I go 12ga pump only as I can run into sitting flocks of white grouse (ptarmigan) and I need lots of shot. I have gotten 10 birds with 2 shots many times.....if they line up right. Just bounce the lead off the ground in front of them. Direct hits with a 12ga leave little for the table or the imagination. And no......I do not shoot at ground at close range or on road surfaces. Most of this is at 25-30 yards or more. No chance of a #7.5 or #8 shot coming back that far via richochet.
 
10/22 (22LR)
We don't have a dental plan to fix teeth split by crunching down on bird shot.
Lead is a cumulative poison and builds up in your system so swallowing shot (other than the alcohol kind) with your meal is not a good idea.
I line the vertical crosshair up with the neck and head and squeeze.
About 99% of the time I wind up with a dead bird.
No wounded birds. It's a hit or miss situation.
Either a dead bird on the ground or it flies away healthy to contribute to the grouse gene pool.
Either way no lead shot in the meat.
 
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