Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best SxS shotgun for hunting under $1000

I just bought a nice Ithaca N.I.D. 12 gauge for $400.00 off GB which I thought was a steal for a nice old American made double. The Lefever Nitro Specials and good doubles at reasonable prices.

Consider a Winchester Model 24

Though a huge fan and long time owner of Ugartechea's I would look here.

http://www.757arms.com/

If I were in the market again for another double in 12 bore, it would be a Fox Sterlingworth. The 12 bores are still reasonably priced. You won't get a mint collector for your price, but it will be a great field gun that carries nice, handles like a dream, will give you great service, and the pride of ownership, the Finest Gun in the World.
Bfly

I have a 12 gauge SKB 100 that I might consider selling. I would rate it at about 90+ percent. PM me if interested. It is a great shooting gun.

The SKB is a very good choice and a bit of a sleeper to most folk who don't know them. That said they are starting to go up in price. I would put them on par or better than a Browning BSS or O/U for fit and finish. I've owned a 500, 200E and 2-100s. I currently have one in 20ga choked IC/M. I like the 100 best as it is priced better and doesn't have auto ejectors. I'd rather just pull the empty from the chamber than pick it up or have to cover the breech to keep it from flying. My only dislike for the SKBs is that they do not come with double triggers. They are a very good deal for what they sell for.

I would consider an L.C.Smith Field Grade, or a Fox Sterlingworth. An honest example of either will leave enough money on the counter for a pile of shells if you have $900 to spend.

I too like the German and Japanese box locks, and will concede that perhaps they offer the biggest bang for the buck. I've owned a couple over the years. The field grade Smiths and Foxes (not to include the faux-Fox Savage/Stevens 311's) possess that little bit more nostalgia factor tied to American hunting traditions, IMO, and for me that's the tie breaker. (Sorry 311 fans- they are hell-for-stout but lack grace, IMO.)

Sauer model 60: cableas

$799 - and that's with Cabelas $700 mark-up!

Hater.

But I will acknowledge they lack everything save for function (most times). It makes it easy to carry them into nasty places in nasty weather to do dirty deeds dirt cheap. In the real world I think they are worth about $250. Maybe.

My other SxS is a Webley & Scott 20.

Have handled a few of the SKBs off and on over the years and they have earned a reputation of being well built.

However, like most American made SxS the fly was barrels that weigh more than necessary. Most are short and fat. Some longer, but still fat, which does nothing for balance or liveliness. Lean barrels-and for myself they would be at least 28in and 30s wouldn't make me run away-are what make a field SxS or O/U come to life. Quick enough for the snap shots yet still smooth for crossers.

Unfortunately few American doubles of recent manufacture were made with any serious thought towards balance.

Then again, they gave us what most wanted in that most have never handled long and lean.

I dunno how stout 311's are in general, but I shot a 20-gauge loose during the 80's.

I love the old American doubles myself, and have owned a bunch, including Foxes, Elsies and Ithacas--and have a very nice Ithaca Flues 12 right now. But the early ones (like the 1911 Fox I had for a while) often don't have modern buttstock dimensions. The 12's also tend to be on the heavy side compared to European guns.

Another I should probably mention as a possibility is the original Beretta Silverhawk. They were basic but very good boxlocks, and you can still find them for under $1000.

I use a CZ Bobwhite 20ga. I thought the screw in chokes were a nice feature. It handles well and looks pretty nice (from about eight feet away .) Yes, they make nicer shotguns but the CZ gets the job done.

You can occasionally find the Fabarms Lion for $1000 or less. They're in various configurations: Pistol grip, straight grip; single or double trigger; 26, 28, or 30-inch barrels. They have a hell-for-stout locking system and very good barrel regulation, which sometimes seems to be an overlooked virtue.

Yeah, the Lions are pretty darn good guns. Not the most graceful in the world, but good guns nonetheless.

Oddly enough, I've encountered more poorly regulated over/unders than side-by-sides. Both can obviously be out of whack, but I suspect many manufacturers take regulating over/unders less than seriously, because it's supposed to be easier with them.

Some around the thousand dollar mark and some a little more. I'd save up the extra $600 or so. The unadorned Urgartechea is an excellent SxS.

http://www.doubleshotguns.com/ugartecheagrade1boxlock1.html




http://www.doubleshotguns.com/used-shotguns-side-by-side.html

A lot of votes here for SKB, I just want to caution buyers to pattern the barrels before you go hunting with it. The barrels did not hit near the same place out of my SKB that I bought new in 1972. Of course it could have just been a lemon and they have had a lot of time for quality control since then.

I have not priced used SS shotguns in a long time, can you still find a Beretta for a reasonable price?

Depends on ones definition of reasonable and compared to what.

Beretta semi-autos are going for $1400 these days.

An old Dr. buddy of mine has a 26" S/S 20ga Ithaca that he bought new in the early 70's when he was a big Quail Hunter. It's choked Imp. & Mod. He let me hunt with it quite a bit when I was in High School & I could always hit pretty much anything that flies with it.
I've been trying to buy it from him for 35 years & he still won't sell, even though he hasn't hunted with it for 25 years. I just love that little S/S 20 ga Double! Maybe someday he will sell it. I keep hoping....

I'm just too cheap to buy a new Merkel, but I'd love to have one of their little 20 or 28ga SxS. I don't bird hunt much any more except for the opening week of Dove Season, here in TX, so it's just hard for me to justify spending a lot of cash on a shotgun that will just set in my safe 95% of the year.

I've got an old Savage 311 12ga SxS that I had cut down to 20 inches for a house gun for the ranch house. I hate the double triggers, and it kicks like a frickin Mule!
I use it about once a year when one of my Nephews wants to go Duck or Geese Hunting. 3" steel shot doesn't seem to have done any damage to the barrels after all these years. It's a shooter, and works well, but damn it's ugly

Most readily found would be the skb mention here several times. I have had a couple and found them to be very nice guns. For upland the lighter 100 and200 models are the choice. For SC I liked the heavier magnum model I had. Tried a fox model B and an earlier 311 and both as mentioned were stout but clubby. Recently bought an older ugartechea model 30. A pretty nice light 12ga upland gun with nice handling properties. Of current guns my buddy bought a 20 ga CZ bobwhite and it shoots and handles well. He's had it about 5-6 years and hunts and shoots casual SC and hasn't had any issues. Just my .02

Several folks have mentioned the SKB doubles, and I've shot a couple of M100s - a 20 and a 12. In fact, I probably have fired over a thousand rounds thought my wife's 20ga which was originally choked M&F. Soon after she got it, I had the chokes opened up to IC & Mod. This double has held up extremely well and seems to be very well built - my main complaint with the SKBs is that they're missing the second trigger. Another thing to consider, IIRC, is the bores are chrome lined and some 'smiths may not want to work on chromed bores.

Others have mentioned some of the older, less prestigious European doubles and IMO they can be good deals if you shop around. Besides the ones mentioned, I suggest you keep an eye out for one of the Husqvarna 310 doubles, either the A version or the slightly fancier AS model. These doubles were very well made, especially those from the earlier 1900s up until WWII. I have a 16ga 310AS that still locks up like a bank vault and it was made in 1914! Yes, they were built choked tight and tighter with the short & steep forcing cones typical of that era, but a competent shotgun smith, like Mike Orlen, can open up the chokes or install tubes, plus lengthen/polish the forcing cones so it patterns better with modern shotshells. That's what was done to my 16ga 310AS and it works great! Here's a pic of my Husky taken on a pheasant hunt last year:


BTW, there is a 12ga Husqvarna 310AS currently for sale on GunBroker. It seems to meet several of your criteria. Disclaimer: it's NOT my sale, nor do I know anything about the seller or the particular gun, but if you want to check it out, here's the link:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=369446183

Good luck with your search!