Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Combination Guns and Drillings Advice on potential drilling/combination gun?

There's a particular application for a drilling or combination gun for some hunting I want to do so I would appreciate your suggestions. Application is bear (under 200 yards and probably under 75 yards) and grouse hunting in mountainous terrain (don't want a heavy gun). Would prefer a .308 Win or other 30 caliber for bear (from .30-30 to .30-06) but would consider a 7mm or larger, with caveat of I don't currently use anything in 7mm or 8mm. Shotgun-wise would prefer 20 gauge for grouse, but would consider any standard gauge (no .410 bore). Other priorities: left handed function and low power scope or red dot capable. If looking strictly for a hunting tool, not a collectible, what are some options (brands and models) you'd recommend looking for?

If you have the money you could get just about any combination of calibres. What is your budget?

If you are looking for a drilling on the used market then 7x57R under a pair of 16 ga barrels is probably the most common. It is a good combination too, and there really isn't any difference I could see in killing power between the 7x57R and .308 on game up to hefty pigs and deer (I've never hunted bears though). 16/16/8x57JR or 8x57JRS is also a combination you'll see. Other calibres and gauges are rather less common.

If you want lightweight and handy, look for a drilling with a Dural frame, rather than steel. This saves a fair bit of weight. My drilling is a Krieghoff "Waldschutz" model, with Dural frame and 22" barrels, and it is 6 lbs bare. I also have a 1.5-6x scope set up on claw mounts, which I think is ideal, and works well even for flushed birds when set on 1.5x.

Left handed function is not usually an issue, as far as controls go, but you'd probably want a gun stocked for left hand use. A gun for a righthander will not only have the cheekpiece on the wrong side but also may well be cast off to suit a righthander, which might affect how it points and kicks when shot left handed.

HTH

A 20 gauge will come at a real premium if it's a reasonably modern gun, as will a 30-06. 308 is very uncommon, and the 8mm JRS is not used much anymore. 7X65R has taken over as one of the most popular rifle chamberings, and 16 gauge guns have been replaced with the 12ga as the common chambering. The 7X65R is essentially a 280 Remington-rimmed. 16 gauge guns and 20 gauge guns share the same frame size, usually.

I'd suggest a Dural frame 16ga and 7X65R with the safety and selector on top, like the later Kreighoff Trumpf and Merkel/Simson 90s and 95s. I much prefer the model 90 set up with it's two distinct selectors, safety and rifle selector.

This Kreighoff Trumpf Dural is an outstanding upland gun with the relatively light Zeiss 1.5-6 in a three claw light mount. It's 16-16-7X65R with 25" barrels. The rifle cocker/selector and the safety are on top, so a lefty can use it easily. Grind off the cheek piece and oil bend the stock. It's easy for any decent stock man.




Albeit heavier, this Merkel 90 in 12ga and 7X65R with a 3.5-10 Leupold VX3i is strong and can take "healthy" rifle loads. It has my favorite button set up with the rifle selector in front of the safety, both on top. Do the same with the stock.

I like old vintage ones with long, thin barrels and short shotgun chambers because the balance and handle nicely. Another big plus is many were made at time when optical sights hand no magnesium flouride coatings, were not waterproof or dust proof, therefore, they were not mounted. This is wonderful because during mix bag hunt there is no scope to get in a way of bagging bunny, or a birdie. The rare ones with three triggers would be wonderful for ease of barrel selection. One thing to watch out for on old ones is chambering of the rifle barrel. You do not want something originally made for Junker, Graf,....where he had custom kaliber for which shop loaded ammunition for him/her.

I've bagged plenty of bunnies and birdies with a scoped drilling and scoped combination. I've even successfully shot trap with them. The trick to it is to have a low-magnification scope, mounted so that you can easily look through it without moving your head. A lot of Euro drillings and combos come with scopes which meet neither criterion, but it can be fixed. For a bolting bunny or flushing birdie, with your correctly-mounted low magnification scope you simply focus on the target - looking through the scope but ignoring it - swing and bang!

If you see something sitting a bit further away, it is easy enough to wind on a bit more magnification if you need to do so.

+1 dan

I went from this


To this and it changed the whole handling characteristics of the drilling


A low mounted scope with a large FOV turned this one into a great coyote calling rig, the shotgun barrels for the fast action in close work and the rifle barrel for when one decides to hang up out there a ways.


I have my combo guns set up the same way.

For the uninformed,,,

Dreilling is 3 barrels

Zweilling is 2 barrels

Drilling is three barrels, not "Dreilling". The word literally means "triplet".

The corresponding word for "twin" is Zwilling, not "Zweilling", but I've never seen it applied to firearms. Two barrel combinations are named by the layout, for example a Büchsflinte is a shotgun and rifle, side by side. A shotgun and rifle combination over and under is a Bockbüchsflinte. Two rifle barrels, over and under is a Bockdoppelbüchsflinte, though a light version with two rifle barrels of different calibres is commonly called a Bergstutzen.

Is “Dural” an aluminum alloy?

The short answer: yes.

The somewhat longer answer: Dural is also known as "Duralumin". It is an age-hardening aluminium alloy, whose main alloying element is copper. It was developed in Germany shortly before WWI and has a long history of use in applications including aircraft and racing bicycles, as well as in certain firearms. In drillings it is used for parts like the receiver body, typically with steel inserts for the high stress/high wear areas, and it enables a significant weight saving compared to an all-steel receiver.

There are more modern aluminium alloys of course, and some of these may in fact be used in more modern drillings, but "Dural" has a pretty long history.

It is interesting about my experience with dural drillings. I've only owned a few. I have had more steel BBF'S and drillings than Durals, but I never had an off face or problem dural, but had a number of steel ones that were off face. I never thought about it until just now. I always sort of thought dural wasn't as tough as steel, which only shows my ignorance. They sure are a lot nicer to carry and come up quicker. Probably just coincidence, but interesting.
Bfly

Very interesting.

I wish someone would build something like a dural Ruger no. 1

Just a hunch, BF. The Dural may be more elastic than steel, allowing it to return to shape.

This gold plated Dural receiver 16/16/8X57JR drilling was proofed 06/1924. The hinge pin is of course steel, as are the firing pin bushes. It's been well used and taken care of well, and it's rock-solid tight. I used it for several years as my principle deer rifle.




This is my modern Kreighoff Trumpf Dural in 16/16/7X65R. It has the same exact configuration regarding steel hinge and bushes, and it shoots the more powerful 7X65R, a rough equivalent
of the 280 Rem. I use it a lot, and it had been used regularly by its previous owner. It's rock-solid tight.




This wonderful Sauer LUX Dural I sold to a good member here in a moment of temporary insanity was rock-solid tight when it left here. This is one I wish I had back. Its new owner scoffs at that idea. It's also a 16/16/7X65R.





This 16ga and 8X57JR Dural drilling I let go was a fast and nimble pre-war gun. It was rock-solid tight when it left here.