Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Best Gun for Ducks over Decoys

I have acquired lately two Browning Superposed. One is a 12 gauge 26.5" barrel IC/M with 2 3/4 chambers. The other is a 20 gauge 3" chamber with 26.5 barrel in M/F. Which gun would you recommend (since I do mostly Georgia quail hunting, which honestly might be best done with a .410) for duck hunting in the sloughs and rice fields along the Mississippi?
Don

First you need to be aware that your superposed wasn't designed for steel shot. You can do damage not only to the barrel near the chokes (and risk separating the barrels) but also the forcing cone if you start running big steel balls into it. You may wish to consult a gunsmith if you are going steel. The forcing cones can be lengthened and the fixed chokes opened up. Granted, you'll hear of people shooting steel in old doubles with no problems, and the damage is incremental not instantaneous.

A safer alternative is bismuth or other 'old steel friendly' shot.

That 12 would be my choice over decoys. The 20 would be adequate as well but I think it's choked too tightly.

grouseman

I tend to agree with grouseman. While the 20 with Bismuth would work, the 12 with 2 3/4" Bismuth would be my choice IF I were to take either of those two to the duck blind. I might just be using my 16GA. NID this year w/Bismuth. That or the 20 ga. 870 w/ Hevi Shot.
Mike

I'd opt for the 12 as well. Don't sweat the lack of using steel, it sucks. I've found Kent's #5 tungsten/polymer 2-3/4" to be an absolute hammer on ducks, and safe in doubles.

Jeff

im with akjeff use the 12 and kent tungsten matrix #5's and ducks to 40 plus yds will fall dead every time

I use the bismuth or tung/poly in my model 12s and find they work as good as lead...I just dont know if I would want to take a Super into a duck blind....Duck hunting tends to bang a gun up a bit no matter how carefull you are..

When I'm not hunting in salt water I use a 20 ga. Superposed Lightning with 28 in. barrels custom choked to tight IC and IM. One ounce loads of kent matrix or bismouth work great and I haven't seen any improvement by going with 3 in. mags.

erich

The 3" Remington 870!

Which you don't have yet, but in defference to keeping those beautiful Browning Superposeds as they are; they don't BELONG out in the swamps!

That 12 ga. sounds about perfect for your Bobwhites, the 20 would be better if it shared the same chokes, and a 28 would be PERFECT!

Forget the .410, it's an ineffective toy...and probably heavier than a similar 28.

docdb,

To further illustrate my previous post, I'll relate a funny story here...

Several years ago, a fellow I know who's a practicing Doctor of Psychology and nationally aclaimed author, was on a local T.V. game show and was the big winner for a number of shows. As a result, he ended up with a fairly nice windfall of "mad money", and had long wanted to take up Duck Hunting.

He went to a local gun shop, that's known for its high prices, but equally nice selection of firearms. The owner "helped him out" by recommending a certain shotgun and selling it to him.

Later, this aquaintance called me up for directions on "how" to start duck hunting.

I inquired about his gun and he told me that this gun store had sold him a beautiful, used, Browning Superposed in 12 ga.

I winced when I heard this, knowing our mucky, muddy and usually wet terrain.

I suggested to him that he go and purchase a Remington 870 "Duck Gun", in this case it was a 26" barrelled "870SP". The less expensive 870 "Express"s weren't available at that time or else I probably would have just recommended one of those.

So, my new to hunting aquaintance went out and ended up joining forces with another hunting friend of mine.

This report came back to me. "Al was out there...he shot his 1st ever duck and it was a cripple, so Al (without a dog as yet) waded out to pick it up. He hadn't gotten 15' from the water's edge when the terrible sucking mud, which this area has quite a bit of, overcame his sense of balance and he and his new 870 took a header into the drink!

He came up with a barrel clogged full of mud and water dripping out of every opening in the action!"

Just for reference, that location was just a short distance from and looks just like this place

http://community.webshots.com/photo/86756348/86762629QhRuzh

My friends helped Al out, got a stick and pushed the mud out of his barrel, and washed the mud out of his action by swishing it in the lake's water. After a good water wash, the 870 proceded to shoot several more ducks that day!

You can't believe how relieved this fellow was that it WASN'T his Browning Superposed that cost about 6 times what he paid for that 870! BTW, a further cleaning and rinsing at home, followed by a nice coat of oil kept that 870 working just fine for many more seasons.