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

The SKB's are nice, and stout too, but I prefer twin triggers. My boys use the two SKB's I own.

Another somewhat obscure American made double that can be had relatively cheap is the Iver Johnson Hercules. It was Iver Johnson's attempt to break into a higher grade of gun than what they were known for. Nicely fitted and finished wood with 'modern' dimensions, color case hardened boxlock receiver, a simple mechanism that guaranteed reliability, and pretty good balance. Unfortunately the gun buying public never got past the Iver Johnson name and sales lagged until it was discontinued during the Depression. Nowadays one finds them either "rode pretty hard and put away wet", or in pristine condition. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. Nice ones can be had for $4-500, and are IMO a great value for the money. The one I have is a delightful shooter, and I find myself sneaking it out of the house often even though I have a bunch of more 'prestigious' shotguns. Don't ignore it if you spy one for sale.

CZ Bob White and the Best is the Ringneck and can be had for under a grand

Reading through this thread makes me think I should dig out some 16 gauge shells and my Merkel or Fox Sterlingworth, put the dog in the truck and head out to the farm.... I'll bet if I called my brother he'd close the office and grab his Elsie or Ithaca and his dog, and meet me there.

I am a huge fan of SxS doubles and have shot them since I began hunting (some 50 years ago). I believe you will be best served in the used gun market.

My first choices would be the L.C.Smith or A.H.Fox guns, but I am a real admirer of the Spanish doubles. AYA is probably the best known and top quality, but many of the less expensive and lesser known guns are a great value as well (and can be had for a song). The down-side to the Spanish guns (for me at least) is that they typically come with an exaggerated "beavertail" forearm. I much prefer the traditional "slinter" forearms or at least a milder form of the beavertail (I know they call it a "beavertail", but does it have to look like it was just cut off the beaver).

This may come as a surprise, but I really like the "brand name" guns made by Crescent Arms. Best known is the American Arms Knickerbocker, but you will find them with lots of different brand names. These were very well made, but inexpensive guns when originally made. The "trick" is that most have been used very hard. If you can find the rare, less used Crescent....you will have a true prize.....for very little money.

My own upland game gun is a super clean Crescent in 16 gauge. Nice checkering, sidelock action and light weight. In fact, for your intended purpose the 16 gauge might be something you should consider. Ammo is harder to find and often a little pricey, but the cost of 16 gauges is likely much less than a similar 12 gauge.

The Crescents were pretty darn good guns! My wife has a 16-gauge sidelock that's a "genuine" Crescent, marked that way.

I'm also an admirer of Spanish side-by-sides, but AyA's have gone up considerably in price, even used boxlocks, having been "discovered" by shotgun loonies in the past couple decades. Better bargains these days are the less-known makers, especially those who went out of business due to the Diarm deal. My 10-gauge is a very nice Armas Erbi I picked up for such a low price I was almost (though not quite) embarrassed about the deal.

My wife loves her CZ Canvasback OU 20Ga.
If the Side by sides are anything like their Over-unders then they would be a great buy for the money.
One nice thing about CZ is they use a receiver properly scaled for the cartridge.

Too many people turn their noses up on guns like the Crescent's and lesser known Spanish guns because they don't impress like the better known guns. That's good foe those like me.....and I can buy a great gun for less money than their quality should bring.

I have two Crescent's at present. A really lightly used 16 gauge that weighs maybe 5 1/2 pounds and carries and kills like a gun worth twice it's purchase cost.

The second is a .410 in 90% plus condition. This gun is sweet as Crescent built their guns on properly sized frames for each gauge.....something even high priced gunmakers don't always do. It is chambered for the older 2 1/2" shells instead of the 3" guns most often seen today, but that is OK with me. The shorter shells kill just as well at the ranges that are proper for the .410 bore.

My 12 gauge field gun is a high grade AYA that has the unusual combination of ejectors and a single non-selective trigger. Was told that these guns were set up that way for live pigeon competition. Don't know, but it is deadly in the field for anything that flies.

My 20 gauge is a Spanish made gun marked Marixa Eibar. Have no idea who the real maker was but it looks a lot like the Sarasqueta's I've owned. Great balance and light weight (proper size frame) but is cursed with one of those oversize beavertail forearms. Been meaning to correct this "flaw" by carving it down to a splinter style and recheckering.....but keep putting it off.

My only Upper and lower shotgun at present is a cool Sarasqueta 12 gauge that has an aluminum frame and trim stock. It weighs just under 6 pounds and is a joy to carry and shoot with 1 oz. or 1 1/8 oz. loads that are perfect for upland game. I did try it with 2 3/4" Short Magnum loads and it "bucked up a might" as my daughter used to say. That's OK as these loads are a bit too much for the lightweight frame (in my opinion) and I have better suited guns for the duck blind anyway.

Yes, I am a real fan of the lesser known guns from Spain as well as the American made Crescents. Can't find more value for the money in my opinion.

As I mentioned earlier I have had a couple of skbs in the past but currently have a ugartechea 12ga that I bought here on the fire. I had the pad replaced and the lop lengthened and the chokes opened to IC & M so it fits pretty well. A couple of months ago I found a 20 ga skb model 100 at a LGS and took my 12ga up to investigate a possible trade. As Battue mentions the plain ugartechea box lock is a pretty nice gun and once I got them together and could handle them together I decided I liked the 12ga with the double triggers and extractor better and abandoned the idea of a trade. So far I am happy but I hope I'm not kicking myself someday as those skbs are pretty cool little guns.

Good choice! That's what I've been shooting since 1987 and I've killed more than a few birds with it(1961 20Ga, 26", double triggers).

I bought a very nice 20 bore Armas Erbi whilst living in Kansas in 2000 for a song. A nice, proper piece.

EdM,

That sounds like a sweet little shotgun! Would love to find one myself.

You might check this site out.

http://doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=3&page=1

Early Stevens guns (pre-Savage take over) can be very good values too. The only downside to them is generally poor stock dimensions by 'modern' standards.

In the end, if I were limited to but one shotgun it would be an L.C.Smith 12 or 16 gauge, 28-30" barrels choked M/F, with a sack full of spreader loads to provide 'choke versatility' when needed. Late 20'-1930's vintage to take advantage of by then better stock dimensions.

At the end of the day, with the plethora of classic American field grade doubles, and European, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese guns, there are a lot of choices- and all are more-or-less good. Thinking about it, it would be fun to be a newbie with $1000 in my pocket and embarking on a quest for a SxS shotgun. More fun, say, than shopping for a new sofa.

Check out this Crescent double. https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth.../1/WTS_Double_Ended_Crescent_Wren#UNREAD

Now that's versatile! You wouldn't even be limited to one gauge....

I favor SxS shotguns for my hunting. For my CT hunting of pheasants and woods walking I like 20 ga. It has been enough for me.

The Bernardlelli Gamecock on the left has been easy to hit with. The Ugartechea next to it is new to me and it's neat. Each of them are light at 5.75# however the shorter barreled Ugar. make it easier to swing. Both have straight grips, double triggers and tang safeties.

Neither were easy to find once I made my mind up what I wanted.

I had an Armas Erbi 20 gauge boxlock for a while. Pistol grip, single trigger and tightly choked. Decent, light weight gun but don't like single triggers or pistol grips on my "carrying" shotguns. I bought it for $250 and traded it on a Grulla 20 ga sidelock that cost 12X as much. I still have the Grulla.

28" barrels, minimum, for me.