Asking why a fine side-by-side SLE game gun is the "ne plus ultra" of shotgunnery is like asking why a Steinway or a Bosendorfer is the standard in Grand pianos- you will never know until you play one--
I have never owned, nor, at age 70, most likely will own either an autoloader or and Over and Blunder- I shoot 12 side-by-sides with double triggers, 28" to 32" barrels, ejectors, snug chokes- and also 12 gauge older Model 12 Winchesters, also with 28" to 30" barrels, equally well on feathered targets awing- I don't consider clays to be the same, for me anyway. I've been doing so since age 12- and you don't teach old dawgs like me new tricks very well, now do you.
I have shot O/U's and a few pricey autos that friends own, mainly on clays with them- and if I were a dedicated clays shooter like some of them are, perhaps might go to either the autoloader or an O/U-- Gene Hill covered this side-by-side versus the O/U topic quite well in his "Shotgunner's Notebook"- well worth reading, as is anything Gene ever penned.
