doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Double triggers

My theory: The tradiditional double trigger arrangement WAS designed to shoot the back trigger first, remember the gun was designed in England for driven shooting in which one usually shoots the tighter barrel first just as we do when hunting dove over a tank.

I also think that the LEFT barrel recoils less. I have no idea why.

Milosal,
In fact, I am right handed and left eye dominant. Thus, I shoot from the left side. It is the only thing I do left handed. And, it was natural. From the time I lifted a pop gun I threw it to my left shoulder.
For what it is worth, if one is teaching a youngster to shoot and sees them cramping their head over the comb of a gun, always check for eye dominance. And, if they are cross eyed dominant, then switch them over right then.
Jake

I am also right handed and left eyed dominant. But I still shoot with my right hand. I won't go to the trouble of being a left handed shooter and have to fool with trying to find left handed guns. I never could see doing that. When I shoot trap, which I do weekly, (in warm weather) I use a patch on my glasses to block out the barrel. If I am hunting, I just close my left eye when I shoot, because one doesn't normally shoot that much when they are hunting. Now, if you really want to see something special, you should watch Nora Martin Ross shoot trap. She shoots right handed with her left eye by turning her head far down on the gun. And she is probably one of the best shooters in the country. So, that is why shooting left handed- when I am right handed and left eyed just never seemed necessary. It is too easy to have other options. At least for me.

I believe the "Trigger Arrangments" were actually set when both bbls were cylinder bore, so the shooter would have determined which one to fire first. Quite obviously the right trigger fired the right bbl & left , left. One would really have to guess as to why the right one was chosen to be the forward one, but traditionally over the years it has been the one assumed to be fired first. It is also noted that most non-selective single triggers are made to fire the right bbl first. I don't think the driven game thing holds much water.

I've seen that theory proposed before, but I don't think it holds water. I've got an auction catalog from Christie's in London a few years back, showing something like 20 pairs of guns. There are a few with the same choke in both barrels, but most have the "standard" setup--right barrel more open than left. And pairs are obviously built for shooting driven birds. I also own a pair of Army & Navy 12's, built in 1933. Same deal--right barrel open, left barrel tighter. If you have DT's and you want to shoot the tight barrel first, absolutely no trick to go to the back trigger first.

I have an old friend who was shooting muzzle loaders back when they were in common use(almost). He believes they were intended to be used "back trigger first". However, it seems to me that the original MLs I've seen are usually most worn thin at the right muzzle. This says to me the right barrel was usually fired first and therefore reloaded more often. IME the gun recoils somewhat away from the cheek with the right barrel and into the cheek with the left. This is the conventional wisdom for firing the right barrel first and it's wise enough for me. This is for right handers and flushed birds, of course. AS others said, it's no trick to fire the left first, if you want to. That's why us two-trigger keep saying the double trigger gun gives us the most instant selection possible.