Looking for a dedicated woodcock gun

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Br00ss

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Hi everyone,

I am looking for a woodcock gun and it seems that everything I see is either too expensive for me right now(2500$+) or is just made for European market and not sold in Canada. Maybe you guys know better than me and can help me out find something more affordable. I will be hunting woodcock with my Brittany spaniel next season so I am looking for something light that will be fast to get to the shoulder and that will have a wide spread. I know that there is the Verney-Carron becassier with the lower barrel rifled for a wider spread but those are out of range for now. Is there other SxS or O/U shotguns that have rifled barrel for this shot within 15 yards? Or perhaps I should forget the rifled barrel idea and get one of those skeet/rifled choke tube that are designed to have wider apres then cylinder chokes? What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

Thanks.
 
Somebody here on CGN did a pattern test of shot through a rifled barrel. It basically made the gun useless beyond 6 yards or something ridiculous like that, IIRC.

I guess a custom rifled barrel with a very slow twist rate might change things.
 
Every critical analysis that I have read suggests that rifled shotgun barrel doesn't work as a spreader, but makes for disrupted patterns. Nothing works better than cylinder bore for open choke, and a few points of choke evens up patterns.
 
A double barrel gun with cylinder, and skeet or improved cylinder would be absolutely suitable for your intended purpose. Woodcock flush quickly and zig zag quite a bit. 20 yard shots and beyond are normal, and you'll need that second shot more often than not.
Practicing skeet or sporting clays would represent time and money well spent.
 
Thanks for the input here guys. I am looking for a point and shoot type of gun. My uncle and dad always used those rifled spreading barrel as it allowed them to hunt with a 12 Ga and allowed for less precision on those close flush. I know that the faster the speed of your shell the wider the spread is too with some pattern test they did. Do you guys use special shells for those close encounters?
 
Spreader loads are not readily available in Canada, but you can load your own.

I have had some modest success with shortened wad petals in 16 gauge, or fibre wads instead of plastic one-piece. I don't think highly of the Ballistic Products X spreader. Spreader loads will have a denser core pattern and a thinner fringe in all my experiments so far. Polywad spreaders have a good reputation in the States but I have only a few of them, and have not tried them yet.

Spreaders work better on guns with more choke in the barrels, and appear not to be very effective in cylinder bore.

Rifled barrels and rifled choke tubes probably have some effect with Euro cartridges with fibre wads, but the effect is by dispersion of the damaged shot, and not contributing to good killing patterns.
 
Thanks for your advice guys. I'll look for a imp cylinder over cyl or the equivalent in SxS then and see how it goes. Next summer if I have time I'll do a few pattern test and let you know how it turns out if you are interested.
 
A typical slug barrel twist rate is 1 in 30", or 2.5 feet/rev. At 1,200 fps, the shot cup is making 480 revs/sec at the muzzle. Or 28,800 rpm. There's no WAY that the pellets will do anything other than fly away from the barrel axis in an extremely rapid fashion. The only thing that would hit the target beyond 5 yards would be the wad.
 
You have to remind that those woodcock gun made by rizzini, fair, Bretton Gaucher, Verney-Carron have all a twist rate that is even faster than that. The pellet will not twist like a bullet as they are not all held together. However those are for the shots when you hunt in my type of wood over a pointing dog. Most of the shots are within 15yard as passed that you can't see the bird anymore. Maybe I will go with the old saying, pay once cry once and get the Verney-Carron, unless I find someone that can add those light rifling on the barrel of a shotgun.
 
I have two French Britts and have shot a lot of wood #### over the years with conventional shot guns and 28ga. Anything from a ruger o/u to a wingmaster all worked just fine in I would say thicker or just as thick woods as you have in QC unless something has changed since we moose hunted there and it hasn't IMO

Suggestion never mind the gimmicks , pattern your gun and spend your money at a club breaking clays with a conventional upland gun and the wood #### will fall
Cheers
 
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Woodcock cover for me was mainly thick tag alder lowland creek bottoms. Cover went up 20 ft and gone. Woodcock (Timberdoodle) would usually flush pretty much straight up, level out and were gone. Needed a short fast swinging open choked gun to have any chance. The double side by side gave that instant wide sighting plane for me. Loved the game. Sadly not many timberdoodles where I hang my hat these days.
 
Well I kept digging guys and maybe I'll go away from a 12 Ga and get a 20g open choke and proper load. I have access to the reloading equipment so I guess if I take time to pattern it properly I will end up saving money and with a more versatile gun. Thanks for your advice everyone I really appreciate it.
 
Some very good points mentioned thus far.

Double triggers are preferred as it gives you instant choke selection. They are easy to get used to and work fine. I wish my 20 had them. Don't get to bent on choke tubes. Fixed IC & M works fine but SK & IC would be better. Mod can be a bit tight at close range. I messed up a ruffie yesterday with a mod choke. Don't look for bbls too short 26" or 28" on a sxs is fine. My old SKB had 25s but my current SKB has 28s. I prefer the 28s for better handling and it still goes throught thick brush easy. I would never go shorter than 26. 12 ga is too heavy for all day carry. I use #8 shot early in the season and switch to 7.5 later when the leaves are off.
 
From my few experiences with woodcock if I were to be pursuing them regularily and decided on a dedicated woodcock gun I would be looking for a nice lightweight 20ga SxS with 25”-26” barrels choked skeet/skeet and would be shooting Winchester AA’s with 7/8oz of #7.5’s. The 7.5’s are heavy enough to get through leaves and still retain enough energy to kill.
 
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