doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Short barreled sxs for heavy cover?

Short barrels aren't just for heavy cover.

Where is your rope?

I hunt heavy cover for grouse and woodcock. Of course I'd never cut the barrels off my gun (and frankly my guess is, that is stuff of legend, not reality) but I would like to see what a shorter gun does. Frankly, I don't think it'll make that big of a difference. As many have said, when in the thick, it doesn't seem to be the last couple inches of the barrel that's really causing the problem.

My Boss 20 is wonderfully light, even with long barrels, so I can carry it all day without any discomfort, so it's not really a weight issue with me - it's just that the cover is seriously thick and I wonder if having that Churchill XXV would allow for a little more nimble movement. Then again, I almost got hit right in the face by an incoming grouse last year that I couldn't have swung on with a snub-nosed .38.

Recently hunted quail with a 32" LC Smith hammer gun (chokes bored out to imp cyl/mod) figuring I would be in the open fields no problem. Ended up in the thick stuff a few times (old rabbit hunter don't know any better), and it didn't bother me at all.
CHAZ

Chuck is carrying a funny gun for Moutain Goats...

I've hunted the North GA woods, fields, and swamps with all manner of double guns having barrels up to 34" (DHE Parker); and for all around shooting, guns with 28 and 30" barrels are my preference. But when it came to actually killing small game, the MOST effective double gun I ever owed and used was an el-cheapo Spanish double gun; an Erbi with factory 18" barrels and cylinder bore chokes. I absolutely could not miss with that gun, and hunted with that gun for years as a young man when, to me, the weight of my game bag was the most important aspect of the hunt. As I "matured", other factors such as aesthetics began to dominate my thinking; and Lord was that thing was butt ugly, so I traded it off in favor of a Parker. And although I've never cut a set of barrels and never will, I've certainly owned and hunted with my fair share of bobbed-barreled doubles; which personal experience causes me to conclude the following: short barreled double guns most definitely provide the shooter a distinct advantage in close cover shooting opportunities afforded by southern cane-brakes, red-nosed briar patches, privet thickets, second growth cut-overs, etc.

I have hunted woodcock & grouse cover with with a 26" 28ga SxS, a 28" 20ga O/U, a 25" (over a Cutts) 20ga M12, a 27 3/4" 12ga SxS, a 29" 16ga SxS & others that I can't remember & I've sometimes had the bbls hit saplings while mounting the gun & or swinging on a target with all of them. That's just part of hunting heavy cover.

The length of the bbls makes no difference at all & to think that 3" or 4" of bbl is going to matter is ridiculous marketing hype.

What does make a difference, is having a gun that is balanced so you can comfortably carry it muzzle up in your trigger hand while you push through the brush with the off hand. Having something between 6 & 6 1/4 lbs works well for me. Any thing heavier requires the gun to be balanced too far to the rear for a smooth swing.

I hunt 26-30" and the plain fact is, when in heavy cover, the shorter the barrels, the less interference. It's simple math.

yep: its back to the seventies we go...

is it time to get a new blade for the hack saw?

I find that as the snow gets deeper shorter barrels are easier to carry without accidently accumulating buildup in the muzzle.