side by side vs over under

It really is a personal choice. Many like the over/under for clay shooting because of the single sighting plane and many can be had with 32" barrels. The over/under for clay shooting is often heavier thus less recoil. The SxS many feel is the ultimate upland gun, especially if it is light weight and quick swinging. Some also like the wider sighting plane of the SxS. Some can only hit with one or the other and for some it doesn't matter. As far as difference in cost, you will find many SxS's that are more expensive than over/unders, especialy when you get to top end guns and especially if it is a sidelock gun. You can also get dirt cheap of both style of guns, but you get what you pay for.
 
What do you mean by "Tactical Advantage" ?

I can say that in the clay target games, the O/U is considered better suited due to differences in sight picture, recoil vectors and construction.
At entry level, the O/U may be slightly more costly. However, at the apex of no limit custom guns, the SxS is generally much more expensive.
 
I primarily shoot an o/u for clays and a sxs for upland hunting. The o/u is heavier, more sturdily built and meant for constant, high volume shooting. The sxs is lighter, easier to carry in the field and configured for faster, instinctive shooting than the more deliberately shot target gun. Both have a "tactical advantage" for the specific activity.
 
Some people may find the sxs easier (faster) to reload,
when hunting/shooting from a shelter or confined space.
Generally speaking, the o/u needs a larger angle to break-open
(to clear the bottom chamber).
 
Its funny that in argentina the rental guns on the dove hunts are almost always o/u's. My buddies beneilli broke down the second day so he finished with a rental beretta. I prefer sxs over o/u. I shoot both well however. As said the only tactical advantage is the shorter swing to load and unload the sxs. As for sighting planes I never notice a difference. The only problem I find with some sxs's are the ones so fitted with splinter forearms in the heat. After 100 quick shots with old krupp steel barrels and 95 degree day it burns the hell out of your tips
 
Tactically, the O/U is better at shooting zombies who are on each other's shoulders, and the side by side is best against zombies when they attack in three-legged race format.

Sorry, it just needed to be said.
 
struff55 said:
actually the SXS are more expensive when you compare quality guns.
Click to expand...
True but it's easy to see how o/u would appear to be more expensive to the average shopper because there isn't that much of a middle market for sxs. The typical gunshop would carry mid-range Guerini, Beretta and Browning over/unders in the 2-4 thousand dollar range and lower-priced sxs such as Stoeger, Baikal and perhaps CZ.
 
I'm a hunter not a clay sports guy, so a SxS suits what I do better. It has a shallow opening angle, making walking with the action open a breeze even with long barrels, reloads are more ergonomic, and the shotgun is lighter. I also prefer the wide, flat sight plane on quick moving, erratic and close birds, which is what I've shot the most of.

For clay sports, O/U's single sight plane, vertical regulation, durability and weight are the no question winners. That said, being different and going SxS is good fun too.
 
The vertical regulation of the barrels and larger bearing surfaces of an over under is what makes them so well suited to shooting the innumerable rising birds that emerge from trap houses. A side by side does not intrinsically have the ability to throw a pattern higher out of one barrel than the other, and is instead a flatter shooting gun, ergo its prevalence in wingshooting.
 
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