What side by side?

cosmic said:
Well - I think its fair to say that guns like those import Webley and Scotts are sub-optimal for waterfowl hunting. Between the 2 (1/2 or 3/4) inch chambers, light weight, tight chokes, and splinter fore-end (heavy gloves??), there is little to be desired. Have you written off your Huglu? In a functional state it would certainly serve for waterfowl.
Click to expand...

Any SxS is "sub-optimal" for duck hunting. If one wanted to optimize things then likely a 3" chambered modern semi auto shooting Kent TM would be the likely choice. But when someone says they want to shoot waterfowl with a SxS, it's clearly not about the optimization of things. There are other factors involved.

I've spent a lifetime hunting waterfowl...over 50 years......I own a 250 acre duck hunting property at Delta Marsh in Manitoba. I've got pumps, semi autos, OU and SxS. I've never, ever used 3" shells and it hasn't materially affected my take.

I think our OP is in Saskatchewan. I'm from Manitoba. Similar weather. Different than southern Ontario. Wearing gloves is not unusual. It's colder there. The heat generated by the barrels under heavy shooting likely isn't much of a problem.

Tighter chokes are kinda standard for waterfowl, while more open is kinda standard for various types of upland. This may be the first time I've ever heard someone imply, generically, that tighter chokes for waterfowl is a problem.

What you did get right is gun weight. As it relates to felt recoil. That's why some of us have recommended a SxS on the heavier side. But the OP also said he wants an all round kind of gun. Getting the right balance of weight and handling is really only a decision the OP can make. Personally I don't think "all round" and "SxS" fit together. He says he wants to mostly shoot waterfowl. IMHO he should be looking for a big, heavy waterfowl SxS. Absolute minimum of 7.5 pounds and the closer to 9 pounds the better. If he wants to also shoot upland, get another gun.
 
Agree with everything CB said ,I use my Jeffrey on hunts that do not involve climbing in and out of punts ,for that Browning Cynergy o/u fits the bill.I also have a 3" semi 12g that works perfectly but prefer my 20g Browning Gold and in fact am going to try my 28g Beretta semi this year over dekes for the late widgeon. One gun to do everything not for me and it's worth the chuckles when partners see me hunting pheasant (on nice days) with my old Dougall :)
 
I guess different individuals have a different view on what's "optimal"... is it faster cycling time? Being impervious to the elements? Being able to shoot 3.5" shells?

To me, being out hunting is kind of important. I could use just about anything, and I'd still enjoy it. Doing it with a gun I like, is a big bonus, that will take precedence over a more technically-efficient firearm.
- Eh, as long as we're having fun, it's all that matters
 
I'm waiting on the huglu's return.

I haven't written it off, but may replace it with a higher quality gun in the future. I was wondering if they existed with similar styling and an ~2000-2500 price range, doesn't seem to be the case.

Maybe if I want to continue water fowling after leaving sask I will buy a synthetic semi auto gun. Right now it doesn't seem worth it considering how busy I am and how many weekends I will put in.

For now, for a few weekends pass shooting a year with not many shells expended, a side by side seems just fine. Potentially an over under may be on the table if I decide to replace the huglu, probably a better option for an all around gun

I don't even own decoys, let alone a blind. If I was engaging in some fast and furious snow goose hunts with 50 birds on the ground a day I would probably re-evaluate what kind of gun I want.

Like I said, not much of a shotgunner, I am interested in the aesthetics and design of british style side by sides. For me, I think one shotgun is very possible. I intend to move back to northern bc or the territories in the near future, and will likely go back to shooting grouse with a 22...
 
conor_90 said:
I'm waiting on the huglu's return.

I haven't written it off, but may replace it with a higher quality gun in the future. I was wondering if they existed with similar styling and an ~2000-2500 price range, doesn't seem to be the case.

Maybe if I want to continue water fowling after leaving sask I will buy a synthetic semi auto gun. Right now it doesn't seem worth it considering how busy I am and how many weekends I will put in.

For now, for a few weekends pass shooting a year with not many shells expended, a side by side seems just fine. Potentially an over under may be on the table if I decide to replace the huglu, probably a better option for an all around gun

I don't even own decoys, let alone a blind. If I was engaging in some fast and furious snow goose hunts with 50 birds on the ground a day I would probably re-evaluate what kind of gun I want.

Like I said, not much of a shotgunner, I am interested in the aesthetics and design of british style side by sides. For me, I think one shotgun is very possible. I intend to move back to northern bc or the territories in the near future, and will likely go back to shooting grouse with a 22...
Click to expand...

You are likely close to prairie pot hole country. I spent 25 years successfully jump shooting ducks in potholes across southern MB and SK without a dog or decoys. No blind, no boat...just me and my brother. One of us always had waders and you learn where to drop ducks so they become accessible when they drift to the shore line. Dog makes it easier in some respects, harder in others. 3" shells or larger not required. Not much gear required....jump in the truck and go. I spent half the time using a Wingmaster 12 ga that weighed about 7 pounds. The other half was with a M12 16 gauge that weighed about 6.5 pounds.

In today's world neither was "optimal". But the hunting was! Laugh2
 
^ that's what I was doing last year, jump and pass shooting ducks in sloughs. The numbers are so high it makes it easy on a newbie. I remember every time I thought of moving some days more ducks would fly overhead.

Distances of engagement were short too. I actually did better when I switched from an "extra long range" choke to a normal mod. I bet cylinder would have worked to be honest.

Issue is my gun has not even arrived at PR yet. Might need to "rent" one and sell it at the end of the season
 
SuperCub said:
That's more or less what I have here, mine being an earlier Sterlingworth pin gun (1911 -1913). It was a beater when I got it so got Chris Dawe to spruce it up a bit and open the 30" bbls to IC/M.

I like it.

vvmksDgl.jpg


jHbU1Abl.jpg
Click to expand...

nice pictures Paul.
 
Well I listened to you guys unlike last time. Maybe I learned from last seasons single snot duck hunting. Bought a franchi affinity
 
One of my sons shoots an affinity the other a SBE 2 .They are twins and have swapped them back and forth ,they claim no diff.>>
 
Well I got the Huglu back from warranty

As a preface, Prophet River as always are amazing to deal with.

The huglu warranty centre, whoever they are, are on my ####list.

The gun sat in limbo waiting for them to reappear from the ether for a few months. They "fixed" it relatively quickly.

I requested PR test it and see that is was no longer doubling (which probably seemed needy and excessive). Guess what, they did it, and did it quickly. They shipped it quickly and well packed as they always do. They even left an empty shell in one of the chambers to prove it had been done.

But after a few paranoia induced cycles of safety on/off, dry fire, open and #### repeat it went back to "firing" both chambers when the safety went from safe to live. It also now will not go off safe if the safety is engaged when it is opened/cooked. At this point that's practically a value added safety feature though.

I am absolutely done with huglu. I am done with Turkish guns. Irrational? Maybe

I want to love this gun. It fits and swings well. It looks very, very cool. My beloved mother made a wonderful roll for it that fits it perfectly that I now have no use for.

I'm aware makes from many countries have issues. I'm aware many use huglus very happily and they are considered a good choice as far as Turkish guns go. I do not care. I am done. I may renounce sujuk and eggs and doner kebab as well.

Does anyone make an English grip, Birmingham style looking gun with chokes, 3 inch chambers, 26ninch barrels and a modern recoil pad besides the Turkish? What are they? How much do they go for? Bonus points if it is a country that was involved in the fall of the Ottoman empire or supports Greece financially...
 
conor_90 said:
Well I got the Huglu back from warranty

As a preface, Prophet River as always are amazing to deal with.

The huglu warranty centre, whoever they are, are on my ####list.

The gun sat in limbo waiting for them to reappear from the ether for a few months. They "fixed" it relatively quickly.

I requested PR test it and see that is was no longer doubling (which probably seemed needy and excessive). Guess what, they did it, and did it quickly. They shipped it quickly and well packed as they always do. They even left an empty shell in one of the chambers to prove it had been done.

But after a few paranoia induced cycles of safety on/off, dry fire, open and #### repeat it went back to "firing" both chambers when the safety went from safe to live. It also now will not go off safe if the safety is engaged when it is opened/cooked. At this point that's practically a value added safety feature though.

I am absolutely done with huglu. I am done with Turkish guns. Irrational? Maybe

I want to love this gun. It fits and swings well. It looks very, very cool. My beloved mother made a wonderful roll for it that fits it perfectly that I now have no use for.

I'm aware makes from many countries have issues. I'm aware many use huglus very happily and they are considered a good choice as far as Turkish guns go. I do not care. I am done. I may renounce sujuk and eggs and doner kebab as well.

Does anyone make an English grip, Birmingham style looking gun with chokes, 3 inch chambers, 26ninch barrels and a modern recoil pad besides the Turkish? What are they? How much do they go for? Bonus points if it is a country that was involved in the fall of the Ottoman empire or supports Greece financially...
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear, we will make sure you get fully refunded... :(
 
conor_90 said:
Well I got the Huglu back from warranty

As a preface, Prophet River as always are amazing to deal with.

The huglu warranty centre, whoever they are, are on my ####list.

The gun sat in limbo waiting for them to reappear from the ether for a few months. They "fixed" it relatively quickly.

I requested PR test it and see that is was no longer doubling (which probably seemed needy and excessive). Guess what, they did it, and did it quickly. They shipped it quickly and well packed as they always do. They even left an empty shell in one of the chambers to prove it had been done.

But after a few paranoia induced cycles of safety on/off, dry fire, open and #### repeat it went back to "firing" both chambers when the safety went from safe to live. It also now will not go off safe if the safety is engaged when it is opened/cooked. At this point that's practically a value added safety feature though.

I am absolutely done with huglu. I am done with Turkish guns. Irrational? Maybe

I want to love this gun. It fits and swings well. It looks very, very cool. My beloved mother made a wonderful roll for it that fits it perfectly that I now have no use for.

I'm aware makes from many countries have issues. I'm aware many use huglus very happily and they are considered a good choice as far as Turkish guns go. I do not care. I am done. I may renounce sujuk and eggs and doner kebab as well.

Does anyone make an English grip, Birmingham style looking gun with chokes, 3 inch chambers, 26ninch barrels and a modern recoil pad besides the Turkish? What are they? How much do they go for? Bonus points if it is a country that was involved in the fall of the Ottoman empire or supports Greece financially...
Click to expand...




Well you got me laughing even if it was cynical and possibly not an attempt at humor.

That said, it's a shame that they couldn't/wouldn't make your purchase right. I'm still on the fence about Turkish guns and the Huglu 202B I purchased several years ago now had problems that I fixed easily enough. The stock just hadn't been inletted enough to let the left side trigger fall without getting hung up on the wall of the stock. First time out it failed to fire the left barrel but went off after I took the gun down from my shoulder... luckily it was still pointed downrange at this point. An easy fix with a dremel, I just didn't want to face the prospect of sending it back to the manufacturer and so did it myself quite easily. Wood moves with humidity, I get that and I'm not saying that I could fix your gun's problem but I was able to fix mine. You can have problems with just about any brand of guns produced these days and unfortunately the QC is a bit lacking on a lot of them... maybe a bit more on the Turkish or Chinese guns but they all can have issues.
Can't say I blame you for swearing off Huglu, the market is theirs to lose!
 
Sorry to hear, we will make sure you get fully refunded...
Click to expand...

Never doubted it. Wish everyone did business like you guys do

Well you got me laughing even if it was cynical and possibly not an attempt at humor
Click to expand...

Absolutely a joke, though I may picket the Turkish restaurant block over this weekend...
 
Sorry to hear about you're mis-adventure. It appears that Turkey is into the shotgun business. I believe that they make very good shotguns, you happen to purchase a lemon. I don't hear much of these inexpensive guns having issues. Many shotguns made in Turkey, such as ; Yeldiz, Fed Arms, Dickinson, Tristar, CZ-USA, Churchill, Khan Arms, Pointer and there are probably others.
Here is a $50,000 rifle that doubles.
https://youtu.be/jJSDG8_3c1Y?t=3
 
Last edited:
You think the warranty centre for that double fixed it incorrectly?

don't hear much of these inexpensive guns having issues.
Click to expand...

Clean out your ears, there's a whole thread full of stories of them breaking on this forum

Anyone make something like this available in Canada?:

https://www.franchi.com/en/products/esprit-doppietta/

Around 2800 pounds in the UK. Guns seem to go for as many pounds as CAD in my experience. Not unreasonable
 
Last edited:
conor_90 said:
Anyone make something like this available in Canada?:

https://www.franchi.com/en/products/esprit-doppietta/

Around 2800 pounds in the UK. Guns seem to go for as many pounds as CAD in my experience. Not unreasonable
Click to expand...

Hopefully we see it at SHOT in January.
I have a Franchi SxS older model (Highlander) and it is a good gun.
Another to watch for is the FAIR SxS models are they will be more readily availbe at Canadain dealers now. Distribution has changed for 2024. Prices are quite resonable.
-Clay
 
Hopefully you guys bring in some of the FAIR safari fxw rifles in the future.

When I have the funds for a sxs I'll be sure to give you a call.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom