Although I grew up in the country on a small farm, my father was not a hunter. I had a .22 bolt action single I shot a good bit, mostly at squirrels as far as game was concerned, but an occasional rabbit. One thanksgiving an uncle carried me rabbit hunting & let me use a gun he had, a H&R small frame 28 gauge single. My dad had a 16 ga single Hopkins & Allen which I shot occasionally, but he wouldn't let me use it much as its sear was worn & was very touchy about cocking. I was actually about 16 by now & got the itch for a shotgun of my own. My dad kinda insisted I get a double. Ended up with a pre WWI J Stevens Arms & Tool Co 12 ga, 30" barreled double.
Hunted it a couple of years & getting too big for my breeches decided I needed something more suitable for the upland shooting I did. Bough a brand spanking new 870 pump 20 gauge with 28" Mod barrel. Although I really teried hard for about two more seasons I very quickly realized I just didn't shoot that pump as well as I did the old Stevens even though it was actually a less suitable gun for my purposes. Ended up trading the 870 in for a Parker Trojan & never looked back. This was about 1959 & from that day to this I have hunted with nothing (when a shotgun was to be used) except a SxS double. Well I'll take that back I did do a bit of hunting with a hammer drilling for a bit (16/16/9.3x72R).
