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8 members (Mike Harrell, KDGJ, Argo44, oskar, azgreg, irs, 1 invisible),
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Forums10
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Jul 28th, 2025
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,202 Likes: 78
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,202 Likes: 78 |
My Churchill Imperial sidelock XXV 2 inch chamber 12 bore at 5 pounds 3 oz. is just the ticket. Easily controled with 1 hand as you make your way through the thick stuff, and light and fast for that "poke and a hope". It fits me well, so it often connects; all I do is point and pull the trigger.
Best,
Mal I am endeared to my Hellis 2" 12 for the same reasons, 26" bbls but light enough to manage with one hand. In the early days of my hunting career I watched a buddy chasing a woodcock through some real tough stuff one day with a 28" Browning BPS. Made me go home and hacksaw the barrels of a minty 16ga Stevens 311 back to 22". Still have it as a reminder to leave guns alone, just buy another.
My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.
- Errol Flynn
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,035 Likes: 8
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,035 Likes: 8 |
 A 30" barrel in this stuff.... No thank you, I'll stick to my 26" barrel Sterly.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 292
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 292 |
I favor a 26" gun for heavy cover; just seems to make going easier.
A Springer Spaniel, a 6# double and a fair day to hunt.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,223 Likes: 31
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,223 Likes: 31 |
Browning for years made a 24" upland special in their Citori line that came with a factory english stock. People bought them primarily for grouse/woodcock hunting in thick cover where they could be snap shot very quickly. I owned one in 16 gauge (very hard one to find) for some time. I found it didn't swing worth a darn and was more of a poke and pull the trigger gun. Still, in a grouse/woodcock situation very early in the season it worked quite well.... A friend of mine has one of those, in 20 ga. and he loaned it to me for a hunt we did last fall - he's convinced the dogs he was rehabbing would take the louder noise of a 16 or 12 badly and we were going to hunt the thick stuff - vines, bittersweet, brambles, old orchards, multiflora rose, you name it. It handled quite well and I came to appreciate the 24 inch barrels - easy to maneuver in the thick stuff and not a drag to carry. Every gun has a purpose. Short-barrelled guns have a place and so do those bolt-action goose guns with 36 or 40 inch single barrels, the latter being "to prop up the tent".
fiery, dependable, occasionally transcendent
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 820 Likes: 1
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 820 Likes: 1 |
Shorter barrel 25 or 26 inch is definitely faster than 28 but for birds I can't see it making a big difference except the weight meaning carrying all day.
25 is a nice rabbit gun length.
monty
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,574 Likes: 168
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,574 Likes: 168 |
Way back "in the day", when we still had decent ruffed grouse numbers in Iowa, I was 2/2 on ruffs with my 28" barreled Sauer 16. #3 gave me a nice look on a crossing shot, but escaped just as my barrels encountered a tree. It does happen, and that was the closest I ever came to killing an Iowa limit with 3 shots.
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 521 Likes: 4
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 521 Likes: 4 |
In tight cover I problably put first priority on (lighter) weight, and after that I am somewhat ambivalent about barrel length. Most of my deep woods stuff has been done with 26-28 bbls. If the discussion turns to the dynamics of short vs long barrels, there is a point just before my eyes glaze over where I will admit that in fifty years I cannot remember a single instance in the grouse woods that allowed me the luxury of a conscious swing. Egad! Sounds like spot-shooting, doesn't it?
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 284
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 284 |
I knew a guy that swung hard into a tree trying to get on a grouse. It wrecked the gun and broke his nose. It would have happened with 26 or 28 inch barrels. After thinking that short was the way to go in a grouse covert for years I've switched to longer barrels for better dynamics in the gun. Time will tell. I like the feel but have not had enough birds present yet to know if the better feel will mean more hits. It has produced good percentages (for me) on clays and I don't think I'll again be searching out the shorter guns.
h
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 10,345 Likes: 157
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 10,345 Likes: 157 |
you guys talkin about the good old days of grouse huntin makes me get all mushy...boy do i long for those long gone pa autumn days spent with my ole setter princie and my little beagle maggie...those two were the best grouse findingest dynamic duo there ever was... best day we ever had was 44 flushes, 18 shots fired and no birds in the bag...
keep it simple and keep it safe...
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 119
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 119 |
2 inches here, 2 inches there and soon no more choke. That is what you need in the Maine woods.
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