Licensed to kill
CGN Regular
- Location
- Peace Country Alberta
No worries with intersurplus. I’ve bought several sxs’s there and all were better than described.
Help me pick a double?
- Thread starter yidava25
- Start date
I don't have a hard and fast budget in mind but basically the cheaper the gun the sooner I'd buy it. Rather than buy the perfect gun for a few thousand dollars based solely on research and theories, I'd buy a cheap version or two of different flavors from Intersurplus or the like and see how I liked this or that feature over the course of a couple of seasons. Then I could make a better informed choice when it came time to buy an actual nice gun.
Single triggers and ejectors on a SxS double offer no real advantage, and they are unnecessary complications that once they go wrong, and they eventually will, are difficult and expensive to fix. A straight stock lets you adjust the grip when using a double trigger (sliding from one to the other). A half-pistol grip can also work with double triggers, but less so, and a full pistol grip, even less. A true Prince of Wales grip is halfway between a straight stock and a half-pistol grip, and I can't say that in all my years of SxS collecting, here and in Europe, that I've actually seen one.
One gets used to a double trigger very quickly. And the single trigger will almost certainly fail you at just the wrong time when it comes to split-second flying game chances, ask me how I know. A single-trigger is a great idea on a target gun, where one's stance and shouldering are practiced and predictable. Add hunting clothes, walking on uneven ground, and sudden flushes, and the chances are good that your double just became a single-shot. Engineering cleverness is not always an advantage.
A splinter fore-end is for looks, not function; one is expected to grip the barrels, not the fore-end. On over/unders, you grip the fore-end wood, and the beavertail fore-end lets you grip the wood similarly on a SxS. I personally am revulsed by the look of beavertail fore-ends (it makes the gun look all wrong and out of proportion), but that is a personal choice. If you're used to an O/U, a beavertail isn't much of a change. If you grip the splinter fore-end, the gun will not naturally point, which is kinda missing the whole point of a straight-stocked game gun.
To over-generalize, a SxS can be sleek or clunky, depending on one's choice of stock and configuration, and a O/U is clunky and very rarely sleek.
For a clay gun (moderate use), I'll let others make recommendations. For an upland hunting gun (lots of carrying, little shooting), I would recommend a used SxS with a straight stock, splinter fore-end, double triggers, non-ejector. I would certainly not discount 2 1/2" chambered guns, as the amount of shooting one does when hunting is not much, and a flat of 2 1/2 shells will last a great many hunting seasons. 2 3/4" is of course very versatile, but with old doubles I would always recommend using low-pressure shells (the birds fall just as dead, and it is less of a strain on the gun). On an old SxS, I would ignore the stated choke, as these were meant to be used with felt wads, not plastic cups; pattern the gun with hunting shells, and see what the actual choke effect is; the actual difference between marked chokes might be less than expected (assuming lead shot is used).
You could be very technical and unyielding about choices, or... just pick the most gorgeous double gun that makes your heart beat faster. Maybe the wood is stunning, the engraving beautiful, the balance just right... Then, whether it has 30" or 28" barrels, ejector or non-ejector, short chambers or standard, or sports any combination of chokes, becomes immaterial to your enjoyment. There are great bargains to be had from the popular importers (I think Intersurplus is fantastic). Even a well-used double can have more than a lifetime's enjoyment still in it, as long as the barrels are sound and the action tight. And you can get these for much less than a new Turkish-made entry-level gun. Don't miss out on great guns and shooting pleasure because of a perceived lack of 'features.'
British-made, by William Ford (retailed by Duncan):
Belgian-made by Janssen Frères, but British-proofed:
Best part? Both were sub-$400 guns.
One gets used to a double trigger very quickly. And the single trigger will almost certainly fail you at just the wrong time when it comes to split-second flying game chances, ask me how I know. A single-trigger is a great idea on a target gun, where one's stance and shouldering are practiced and predictable. Add hunting clothes, walking on uneven ground, and sudden flushes, and the chances are good that your double just became a single-shot. Engineering cleverness is not always an advantage.
A splinter fore-end is for looks, not function; one is expected to grip the barrels, not the fore-end. On over/unders, you grip the fore-end wood, and the beavertail fore-end lets you grip the wood similarly on a SxS. I personally am revulsed by the look of beavertail fore-ends (it makes the gun look all wrong and out of proportion), but that is a personal choice. If you're used to an O/U, a beavertail isn't much of a change. If you grip the splinter fore-end, the gun will not naturally point, which is kinda missing the whole point of a straight-stocked game gun.
To over-generalize, a SxS can be sleek or clunky, depending on one's choice of stock and configuration, and a O/U is clunky and very rarely sleek.
For a clay gun (moderate use), I'll let others make recommendations. For an upland hunting gun (lots of carrying, little shooting), I would recommend a used SxS with a straight stock, splinter fore-end, double triggers, non-ejector. I would certainly not discount 2 1/2" chambered guns, as the amount of shooting one does when hunting is not much, and a flat of 2 1/2 shells will last a great many hunting seasons. 2 3/4" is of course very versatile, but with old doubles I would always recommend using low-pressure shells (the birds fall just as dead, and it is less of a strain on the gun). On an old SxS, I would ignore the stated choke, as these were meant to be used with felt wads, not plastic cups; pattern the gun with hunting shells, and see what the actual choke effect is; the actual difference between marked chokes might be less than expected (assuming lead shot is used).
You could be very technical and unyielding about choices, or... just pick the most gorgeous double gun that makes your heart beat faster. Maybe the wood is stunning, the engraving beautiful, the balance just right... Then, whether it has 30" or 28" barrels, ejector or non-ejector, short chambers or standard, or sports any combination of chokes, becomes immaterial to your enjoyment. There are great bargains to be had from the popular importers (I think Intersurplus is fantastic). Even a well-used double can have more than a lifetime's enjoyment still in it, as long as the barrels are sound and the action tight. And you can get these for much less than a new Turkish-made entry-level gun. Don't miss out on great guns and shooting pleasure because of a perceived lack of 'features.'
British-made, by William Ford (retailed by Duncan):
Belgian-made by Janssen Frères, but British-proofed:
Best part? Both were sub-$400 guns.
Ha! I did that just now. Same reaction.
Just started to scroll through their double guns and one that jumped out on the first page is a Navy Arms 12ga muzzleloader @$400. Certainly not a vintage classic, but if anyone wanted to get into hunting with a muzzleloading shotgun, one could do a lot worse. Italian made, sturdy, with none of the concerns involved with using something 150 or 175 years old.
