doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How to add a second set of barrels

I've got to agree with Boats, SKB, Joe Wood and Shotgunlovers comments.
My thought is that you have a very special gun there, rather uncommonly choked. The EJ Churchill XXV, was a very specifically crafted gun, capable of amazing game performance if used in a specific intuitive shooting style (get one of Robert Curchills books!). It was copied by many, and virtually all of the copies missed the mark of such a dynamic gun. Unfortunately many people have shot these "Churchill" clones, and been disappointed. Few who have shot a real XXV, particularly from the golden inter-war years, have anything but high praise for them.
Get out and shoot it, shoot it a lot, and see what it can do. I think you may well be very pleased with it as it is.
Mine (12 bore, 2 3/4", 1931 SLE "Field" XXV) shoots very nicely with the Gamebore Pure Gold 2 1/2" paper case, fibre wad loads that I use.
Good shooting!

I personally like the shorter barrels. I have a Bernardelli Elios 12ga with 25" barrels choked IC and IM, it is one of the best shooting guns I've used on wild pheasant and sharptail. I would really like to shoot a round of SC with it but at 5 lb. 15 oz. and hard butt plate even with my light 11/16 oz loads it is not a pleasant afternoon. It is not gun I can practice a lot with but seems to shoot so well without it.

Say I grew up with a copy of a Churchill xxv an AYA xxvbl and I love that sxs I taken everything that pretty much flys except turkeys. Quick handling well balanced fast for grouse.

My fathers AYA xxv so has two sets of barrels both at 25" cocked (ic mod &imod and full)

I would stick with with what you have I bet you fall in love with those short barrels.

Thanks all for a tremendous and well thought out response and discussion: this board operating at its finest.

So I have ordered Churchill 's book "Game Shooting" and Dallas' "House of Churchill."

I am going to shoot the XXV with various loads and pattern it with speaders to see what versatility I can achieve with it in its original current configuration.

Rather than re-choke it by opening to 5/15, I like the idea of 20 bore tubes but I would worry it would change its dynamic balance ( which it certainly does have!). On the other hand, taking it up up a few ounces but still keeping it under 7 lbs may actually improve its usefulness.

More to come and I would welcome further comments.

You can do a lot with the cartridge. Skeet range I use 3/4 oz in my 26 inch 12 G Parker. Small bird hunting 7/8 oz. Shell going in the chamber is 12. Recoil and pattern on paper you can't tell it from a 28 or 20. Buy a whole,lot of RST's for what tubes cost.

You ought to go to the Southern SxS end October Georgetown SC RST will,probably be there as well,as the chance to see more Churchill's thousands of fine SxS's

Boats

I will definitely be at the Fall Southern. I do hope RST makes it down!

If you're at all worried about the recoil of a lighter English 12 bore, as well as using lighter loads (which I find, pattern superbly), try an evoshield shirt ( http://www.evoshield.com/shootershield ). They actually work very well by distributing the force over a very large, custom-fit area. Then there are no modifications of the gun itself.

Rick had RST shells there for sale last year. I bought a flat of the 16 ga. spreaders. Seem to break birds well, I was using them in the Smith/Parker challenge finals, but they blow confetti all over the place, literally filingl the air in front of the muzzle with paper(?) bits. A "bit" disconcerting to me.

SRH

Stan I shot shells like that in Mexico back in the '80s. We called it "reading the funnies"...Geo

SRH