16ga.com ~ View topic

I already know. I am about to light the spark on this debate.

So, what's better... "side by each" or those "stack barrel" doubles??????

I already realize that the good lord gave us two eyes side by side ,just like our shotguns, but some of you misguided (only kidding) folk may feel different.

I've got a 50" chest and 36" waist so I guess I have broad enough shoulders to accept your compliments, or criticisms. Just keep it light hearted guys. At the end of the day, it's all in fun. (But I'm still right).

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

All I'm going to say on this subject is, if it wasn't for my son. I'd sell every O/U that I own. He shoots them, I have no use for them.
Respectfully, Dave Miles aka: The Parker Putz. Wink

well, we're cut from the same side by side cloth, except for the fact that you must hit the gym pretty hard with that enormo chest and tiny waist.....

PPG - I have shot them both for a number of years. Generally, I have discovered that it is easier to find a SxS that fits me than an O/U. I am carrying SxS guns in the field and shoot them better on live birds, and have a couple of O/Us for clays. My latest O/U is a Marocchi which is a great clays gun but the stock is way too straight - - 1.2" DAC/2" DAH. Plan on having some stock work done on it this spring. My Rem Model 32 has dimensions that fit me and I shoot it well, but it is too heavy to haul around in the field these days.

So to answer your question - - I choose all of the above. Very Happy

Hc

Highcountry, you have a future in politics.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

I have always favored the o/u---just never could shoot a double well Rolling Eyes

Member Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 989 Location: Las Vegas

Got my first SxS about a year ago. Now I'm in the process of getting rid of all my O/U's! Well, I might hold on to my Citori Feather 16. I can shoot steel with it in a pinch.

Matt

For bird hunting, I shoot all four types of shotguns equally well under most conditions. As long as the gunstock has a modern, post WWII field gun configuration, I will hit at least 85% percent of the birds or better under average conditions--usually better. Any bird that gets up inside of 15 to 20 yards in fairly open cover is in very serious trouble.

This is not a brag. It is a fact. Why? Because I spent the time, energy, and money to really learn how. It took me years, not weeks or monthes, and I was reasonably gifted at it to begin with, because I was also a very decent instinctive archer before I ever picked up a shotgun. However, I did not really get going well for at least half a decade until I was coached by a very kind and accomplished shot with a gift for teaching.

Wingshooting is not an exact science like rifle shooting from a rest at standing game. It is an art done by hand/eye coodination and feel at a somewhat unpredictable, moving mark. You must learn the proper way to do it and then practice on a skeet field low gun style until you can break at least 80% of the targets under any conditions short of a wind storm. If you learn to shoot well enough with one type of gun, you can shoot well with another. It is never the gun but the skill. Its not the arrow; its a the indian.

Frankly, anyone with an average build and normal proportions who claims they do far better with one type of gun over another is kidding themselves about the matter. Hitting one out of 3 or 4 birds with a certain type of gun vs. one out of 6 or 8 with another is not considered good shooting anywhere except in one's own mind. If you can't score 75% or more on any type of bird under any reasonable condition, then you just are not qualified to really say one type of shotgun is better than another.

You might have certain preferences. Most folks do including me. We are free to do so, because that is how we do things here in this country. However, when it comes to actual shooting you are not kidding me or anyone else in the know about this matter of one type of gun being better over another.

If you can't shoot well, then make the commitment to learn how. Get thee to a coach. He will help you learn to shoot well and can fit you to a gun that will work for you. Then practice at least 3 times a month and shoot at least 50 to 100 targets per session for a couple of years. That is the bare minimum my friend. Usually, it takes that long to begin to understand the what and the how of it. However, once it clicks in, you could hit them with a straight piece of conduit pipe tied to a board if the board fitted you close enough to let you lookstraight down the pipe with your eyes on the mark. Spending time and money looking for the magic gun is monet and time wasted. you can't just buy your way to success. It takes work-period.

Once you learn to really hit well, gun type is of little importance as long as its a reliable, straight shooting gun that fits you close enough to shoot where you look. Don't kid yourself, because you can't kid someone whose been there. He knows better.

Guest

The first "good" doublegun that fit me and I could afford was an O/U, so I gravitated toward guns with similar fit and handling characteristics. At least four of the five O/Us in my safe probably will be with me forever. They've been great field guns and plenty of fun on low-gun skeet. Hell, I'll probably hold onto the fifth as well ... a Beretta 687 SP II 12 ga. Sporting with 30" barrels and wood that I still can't believe I got on a Grade I. Picked that gun over an identical Grade II sitting right next to it. Nicer walnut. I picked it up years ago and I'd never be able replace it for the same price. Plus, it's durable as all get-out and makes a pretty good gun for recreational trap and clays.

All that said, the next time I have gun money, it will probably be spent on a decent quality SxS, probably an Uggie from AOC or a Beretta SilverHawk. Or maybe I'll keep saving for one of the "laser-beam pheasant killing machine" Merkels I keep reading about. I tend not to save very well, though, when the doublegun lust rises.

MGF, How long have you been shooting? How well do you shoot on average at low gun skeet? on birds?

I understand why divorces are so expensive. It's because THEY ARE WORTH EVERY PENNEY.

I don't think the same could be said about side by sides. Do you side by side fellows still wear jacket, tie, and knickers? And please don't tell me you prefer sailboating over power boating! (he, he, this will start some flames)

I have never shot better on upland birds as I have since I got a Browning Lightning Feather 16 ga. w/28" barrels. I gotta go with what works for me.

Hey, wait a minute. Let me tell you about my almost 50" waist....

And I'm betting you were no slouch with whatever you were shooting prior to the Citori.

True, a favorite gun will add a bird or two to the tally in the long run. we tend to shoot better with a gun that fits us well and that we have confidence in. Hell, we shoot a bit better if we are wearing a favorite hat or our lucky hunting vest, but it is not by a huge margin if we know how to shoot well to begin with. Shooting with confidence can only help.

Do I like shooting an SxS? you'd better believe it. I also love shooting my Ithaca pump. I just love to shoot. So I shoot a lot. And that is why I can hit the mark most of the time-- I shoot a lot, with any gun I happen to have at hand from .410 to 12 ga. and with a lowly pump right up to a Prazzi trap gun.

Its all good. Shoot what you like, but learn to shoot it well and really enjoy yourself. That is what is most important ain't it?

Guest

16gaugeguy wrote:
Do I like shooting an SxS? you'd better believe it. I also love shooting my Ithaca pump. I just love to shoot. So I shoot a lot. And that is why I can hit the mark most of the time-- I shoot a lot, with any gun I happen to have at hand from .410 to 12 ga. and with a lowly pump right up to a Prazzi trap gun.

16gaugeguy, you are a kindred spirit, excluding of course the SxS, LOL. And speaking of Ithaca pumps, boy those 1950's and earlier 37's in 16 gauge sure are great swinging and pointing guns. I've got two 37R's (solid rib) in 16 gauge, one made in 1950 and the other in 1952 that I'll never sell. And skeet guns? You're darn tooting you've got to have from .410 to 12 gauge.

You know, now that I think about it, a 28 gauge or .410 bore SxS sure would be the ticket for some of these vintage skeet shoots. Hmmm.