Side by side Shotgun

[Terrapin]

I love my 28ga Over and Under (Franchi SL)… but if I saw a straight grip sxs with a splinter fore-end I’d probably trade & throw in a kidney.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Ugartechea side by sides. They were very well made, light and attractive. Regardless of price, they will always be one of my first choices.


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[ssgjpd]

I was able to shoot a couple at Nationals last week and my favorite was Perazzi followed closely by Fabrams newest model.

 

[Chris in TN]

See if you can find a used SKB 385 20 gauge. I think they really nailed the peak of the value per dollar range. I'd own one if I lived in a place where any significant amount of wingshooting was available. But I don't, and eventually figured out I don't need an expensive shotgun for what few things I do with shotguns. The vast majority of my shotgunning involves a very old single shot and the couple of older SxS and my one o/u sit unused 364+ days per year.

 

[robtattoo]

I'm unsure what SxS comes in under 6lb.

Older production, I know, but I have a Spanish 'Noble' 20ga SxS that comes in at a beautiful 5lb 6oz.

I use a shotgun, maybe, 2-3 days a year but every time I pick it up I wish we had upland game here! I also wish the engraving wasn't done by a minimum wage 18 year old too (it's like a chipped tooth on a stripper) but I paid $300 for it, so it's really tough to whinge about!

 

[sndmn11]

The two I mentioned are past production guns. If you like the older guns there are a fair amount of them floating around. Many of the Scottish round action guns fit into the sub 6# range. Of course there are numerous high end English 20 and 28 ga gunmakers that fit this as well.

With those I assume they are fixed choke? Can a person shoot bismuth or steel out of them since some places require that?

What is a budget window for finding a vintage well made SxS?

 

[VA2MT]

With those I assume they are fixed choke? Can a person shoot bismuth or steel out of them since some places require that?

What is a budget window for finding a vintage well made SxS?

You can shoot bismuth out of them without any issue. Salt Creek ammo makes good bismuth loads as well as RST. The older guns are gonna be fixed choke and usually double triggers. You can find a well made box lock for around $2k and then the sky is the limit. I would recommend getting a $2k box lock and shoot it for a season and decide if you want something nicer. They hold there value so there isn’t a lot of risk in going this route..if you take a look at Hill Rod and gun website you can get a good idea of what $2k will get you.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Vintage Doubles.

 

[Macintosh]

Are those new production or past production models? I am interested to learn what is out there that fits the sub 6lb sub gauge SxS as I am really enjoying this one.

Thats mostly older guns. screw-in chokes generally require thicker barrels, and volume manufacturing with inexpensive materials and minimizing production parts, etc as well as magnumitis, has resulted in mostly heavier guns. The older guns with hand-struck barrels could be made thinner, and I've been told some of the older steels are no longer possible to make due to some of the environmental regs. Not sure the validity of that, but for sure its true if you compare a nicer older gun to a newer gun the weight and weight distribution is totally different. My personal favorite bird gun happens to be a 20ga O/U that is 5lb 12oz though, and I've had 16 and 20ga sxs under 6lb in the past. I'd venture to guess most older european sub-guage sxs are going to be 6lb or less.

And yes, bismuth-only for nontox.