Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Side by Sides - Easier or harder to shoot ?

I'll simplify the above....Today. you have to make an effort to acquaint yourself with SxS's. It wasn't that way in the past.. Most often you will not find many in most gun stores. You will most likely have to make an effort to find a couple to shoot. I shoot at many ranges that rent shotguns....none that I know of have a SxS to try out.

As far as fit, some will tell you...McIntosh for one....that because of the muzzle flip of a SxS, what one sees over the rib of a single or O/U will not be the same as what one needs to see over a SxS...I have a Parker Repro that fits me well...and two original Parkers that are stocked much lower...I shoot all three about the same on game in that they are close enough...Look at the Bird hard, let your brain do the math and hit the trigger.

Best to find a couple to shoot.,.,,then make a decision if they are a direction you want to go....

There is something special about a well made SxS and the craftmanship that went into it....I can also find something special in a Model 12 16 Gauge pump...Something I can't find in a Semi-Auto...can also find it in a O/U...unfortunately the only one has been a Perazzi 28 Gauge on a true 28 Gauge frame...An itch I should have scratched when I was much younger.

And no they are not overpriced for what you get....when you get a good one....The craft or dollar value that goes into a "good" SxS far exceeds a mass produced pump or autoloader....The latter are essentially throw away shotguns in the long term....A good SxS is for someone to use and admire in the next century....

Pushing 80, if not already there and still killing Roosters......

Beautiful...

😎

Who's shooting it for you to kill the roosters?

Brister loved SxS's, but when he competed seriously (pigeons, usually) he used an O/U.

If SxS's were as "easy" to shoot accurately as single-barrels you would see more of them in competitions (American trap, International trap, skeet, sporting or flyers). You almost never see one in use by any top competitor.

However, they do work better for some hunters, and they are undoubtedly nicer to carry than an O/U or auto. They also reload faster than an O/U because you do not have to open them as far.

I know some top shooters who don't think they shoot their SxS's quite as accurately as they do their O/U's, but difference is slight, and they don't care about it.

My Sherpa....😀 Since he has to carry it...he might as well do the shooting also... only time I shoot is when we are shooting driven at Trumps place in Scotland.

So, this is what i mean by “too much made of the difference.” And am not attacking rimfire artist but the often said notion. Sure, in elite competition where one essentially expects a perfect game and dropping just one bird in 500 could eliminate one, yes it becomes apparent a slight advantage exists in single plane guns. But for every guy/gal that shoots at that level and here and there pick up a bird because of the gun, there 1000+ mere mortals whose every miss has everything to do with fundamentals, and field conditions/feet, and no gun is going to make a hoot of difference.

Compound that with upland hunting with a firearm on uneven earth, obstacles, weather, over dogs for miles and miles, etc vs. standing stationary if marathon shoots, outside fitasc probably mounted, addressing birds on repeated if not more/less known trajectories, and the balance of hunting gun additional considerations overwhelms simply what technically, rarely, could be a more precise gun shape under ideal conditions. Give me the light, nimble sxs, please, and will come by mosses honestly; won’t be the sxs’s fault! To wit, like rimfire artist said, fair number of those elite competitors carry sxs’s hunting.

Recoil reaction with SxS is the main reason more don’t shoot them in competition. Because of the barrel position the SxS tends to rotate in the hand on recoil and it messes for a second shot...while an O/U is more straight back with both barrels and the eye position is more consistent.

Other than that a top gun in competition could shoot either equally.

Years ago, some top competitions like the Grand and Skeet Worlds were won with SxS’s when single barrel shotguns were available. They mainly fell out of favor due to the cost to make them. And after WWII Americans wanted firepower...and the repeating shotgun being less expensive to make overshadowed the SxS..


Today there are “easy” to carry Semiautos and O/U’s, and the SxS has no advantage when it comes to carry.

As far as fast loading , even the O/U has taken the place of the SxS for most who can afford to shoot driven Birds. In the field, one shoots a SxS because they want to....and appreciate the qualities and aesthetics of a well made shotgun. Same can be said for a good O/U..

Ive had guys tell me the wide plain of the SxS was confusing to them. I’ve known very few I’ve grown up with and hunt with who’ve ever used one. Nine out of ten are SA guys with an occasional pump thrown in. And, you’re right, the impetus comes from WWll impressions of > 75 years ago.

Even now, I’ve had guys ask why I would also choose to shoot a Ben UL with one less in the tube than any another SA.

I went from a break-open H&R 16 ga. to a Stevens 311 in a 20 in my teens and was met with, “well if you think that’ll work, ok” looks from buds. It did fine. I have and do love SxS’s today.

The birding culture here in the ‘60’s was pheasants in corn rows, predominantly, where they could run and get up at 20, 30, 40, 50 yards and the thinking was 30” full choke 12’s with five shots at the ready. That weighed eight pounds.

Those European driven pheasant shoots would really test one’s on-coming bird, scattergun abilities. I like about everything else too but would leave the tie off and maybe the knickers..🙂

I’d gladly wear the tie, knickers, rubber boots and waxed canvas if I could afford the admission.

Knew a gal once who went with the beaters and flushing Dogs to move the Birds to the guns.....she said it was a hoooot!!!!!


Addition: Trumps Turnbeery is only 2K per day to shoot driven....tips are extra😀

For upland birds I seem to hit better with my SXS. I wonder, besides fit, if the barrels give me a better idea of lead side to side. No expert here though. However my only perfect round of skeet was with a O/U, but I notice I do better with the crossing shots with the SXS on average.

I think fit and balance are a HUGE part of how successful a shot a person is - at least is it with me.
Originally I was thinking about how the sight picture would influence that... but I think you guys are right, it’s secondary compared to fit and balance.

Of course there is always the 2 different vs. one Choke efficiency as well.

I'd even foot the bill for Montana Creek Hunter.....If I could find a hat big enough for his pumpkin.....We would make a pair for sure....."Ayyyy Mate, the Birds today are fantastic.." "Ayyyy Archangels they are!!!!" "On to the next peg...cheers!!!!"

That be me chatting up the cute Scottish lass....

Need two triggers to really work the two different chokes....Something else that confuses most Americans...

They don't....

Two triggers and two chokes is the main reason I got one. It worked well for me and my purposes and didn't take long to get used to using it effectively.

I could be happy with fixed Mod in a single or Mod/Mod in a 2 barrel and then forget about chokes......

Years ago I went in for that Barbour waxed canvas stuff. Did it keep you dry? Yes, if you were standing still. If moving it was a walking steam bath — that stuff breathed as well as a plastic shower curtain or a rubber boot. 😅

I’m kind of a jacket and jeans type — I keep eyeing those Orvis tweed sports jackets for $500-$700. One would get some strange looks in central SD decked out in Orvis wools, knicks, and rubber boots. 😳😀

$2k per day. A nice $10k plus tips for a five day week, plus flights. Rivals Africa but actually isn’t too bad. Great food no doubt and wine.

My Beretta 470 SH 12 is M/IM and I wouldn’t change it at all.

A modified choked pump works fine for me 90% of the time. I got the sxs for killing rabbits in front of my hounds. Reamed it out to modified and cyl. choke. With light loads in the open barrel could kill the 15-20 yard bunnies without turning them into spaghetti strainers and could still kill the 45 yard bunnies with the modified barrel stuffed with nickel plated #5 pheasant loads.