Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Side by side shotgun recommendations

Very nice! I have not found anything in a Cabela's gun room even close to reasonably priced, though. And I go in fairly often.

If I buy a firearm from the Gun Library, I always make a lower offer. More often than not, they accept.

There are many more American made SxSs than what's been brought up. How about Remingtons, Lefevers, Ithacas, or L.C.Smiths just to name a few. I have Parkers, Lefevers, and a dozen or so Remingtons. They all have double triggers. Buying used doubles is more like a crap shoot if you don't know what to look for. Dangle the barrels with you finger under the under-lug and tap them with a quarter up and down the barrel. Somewhere around the middle it should sound like a bell ringing. This will tell you the ribs are tight against the barrels. See if you can wiggle the barrels up and down or sideways when it's closed. If tight it's "on face." Put a couple of empties in the chambers, close the gun and pull the triggers. Are the trigger pulls ok and did you hear the firing pins hit the empty shells ? Look at the muzzle and see if the barrels are touching. This is a good indication the barrels haven't been cut which would remove the chokes. Not bad if you want a grouse gun and a good bargaining point to lower the cost. Check for cracks around the sidelocks or receiver. L. C. Smiths are known for this. These items should get you around most problems with older doubles. I probably shouldn't say it, but Damascus barrel guns are safe to shoot. All my doubles have Damascus barrels except three 1894 Remington trap guns. I reload and keep the pressures under 9000psi, more for respect for the 100+ year old wood in the stocks than for the barrels. If you're interested, the Parker web site [ www.parkergun.org ] in their reloading forum has many safe loads for the old SxSs. RST and a couple of other shell manufactures also make low pressure loads. Good luck. Paul

The Stevens 311's never seemed that heavy or ill handling to me. I have one in 16 gauge choked IC/M . . .

I looked for 3+ years off and on for a light, double triggered, 16, mostly looking at Simson and Sauer. I kind of lucked into this one on gunbroker a few months back. 5# 15 ounces of non 2x4ish wand. If I said the price I’d look like a liar.