Bottom-line up front can we ever settle for a simple ideal battery and stop buying - is there an ideal general purpose battery?
It is an old topic and highly subjective to ask. That said, If limited to less than six guns to cover all needs keeping things as Spartan as possible what type of guns would one have?
The reality is for the longest time I lived with one Middleweight 16ga SLE for 90% of my shooting and one lightweight 20ga BLNE (lately replace by a 16 BLE) for the final 10%. I am not at all sure I could not have gone the rest of my life with those two guns alone and not been the worse for it. So as I made more I have upgraded the quality of the set. Before the 16ga SLE there was a 16ga Citori and before that a 16 BLNE Fox Sterlingworth (still kick myself for trading the Fox as it would have remained a great rainy day gun and been a good long term upgrade project, plus the 12ga SLNE it went for is long gone).
As of late I thought I could stay with three guns, a light (<5.5lbs) 16 or 20 BLE/SLE, a Medium (<6.5lbs) 16 BLE/SLE, and a heavy (<7.5lbs) long barreled (30> inch) 12 BLE/SLE.
I believe all guns must fit the shooter and can be either SxS or O/U. I prefer SxS but accept both choices are equally valid.
I waivered back and forth over ejector vs extractor as I had extractor guns for years and do not notice that much speed difference outside of European Shoots. I lean toward the ejectors now as they are height of the craft of SxS as is best gun engraving. That said I believe two otherwise equal guns one with great and engraving and one a funeral (plain) guns are equally valid choices for utility. I see engraving as gravy, not essential but very good spice flavoring.
My hunting is focused on the uplands starting in Kansas with Prairie Chicken in Sept, then Pheasant in SD in Oct, finally to Pheasant & Quail in Nov through Jan. Then Feb & Mar at a shooting preserve. I have not hunted Ducks, Snipe, or Rail in years but plan to start again one day. I hope to go north from Kansas one day and hunt Huns and Woodcock and further up for Ruffed Grouse again. I do not shoot targets except to stay skilled for hunting and therefore use my hunting guns as my target guns and do not have any guns other than hunting guns.
I see the light gun as being my casual hunting gun when I am tired, out by my self, or just plinking at a preserve. I find I shoot a slightly heavier gun (6lbs) better, yet a light 5.25 20ga BLNE was a real pleasure on early season prairie chicken. (used maybe 10% of hunting time)
I see the medium weight gun my 87% hunting gun and clays gun (I shoot clays to hunt better not for target fun)
I see my heavyweight gun as my 3% hunting gun and in reserve as a waterfowl gun when I go back to Waterfowl hunting again.
Everything seemed good as I finally got my three BLE/SLE light, medium, and heavy guns. It was nearly ideal until I found another light gun I liked better (it matched my Medium and Heavy gun in terms of maker/engraver).
Now I am torn about not having a small bore (28/410) Hammer gun. I keep getting the itch to purchase a 24 gauge gun.
I get the idea that maybe I should find the ideal loaner gun to keep on hand just in case. (right now some hand me down guns from my father fill that purpose{Browning Superposed 12 & Beretta 686 20} as my son is the usual borrower)
I come up with wild ideas that maybe I really should get a matched pair and sell off everything else. In Europe many of the foreign officers who hunt I talk to have either one shotgun or a pair (only a few Brits) only plus maybe one rifle. After all my original ideal that I started with was matched pair of Purdeys. All my father's bad influence over the dinner table describing what he thought was the epitome in shotguns, although I note that when he had the money to purchase them he did not bite on that hook.
The reality is for the longest time I lived with one 16ga SLE 90% of my shooting and one lightweight 20ga BLNE. I am not at all sure I could not have gun the rest of my life with those two guns alone and not been the worse for it.
I apologize for being a little too long winded on this topic I periodically obsess at.
So is there an ideal battery and if so what would it be?
Last edited by old colonel; 02/11/15 05:14 PM.
