doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com In Search of the Ultimate Upland Gun?

Thank you Rabbit!

My dictionary defines ultimate as "beyond which there is nothing else." It will be a sad day when we get to the ultimate SxS.

For me, there can be no "ultimate upland gun." To have one gun handle first shots on woodcock at 18 yds and second shots on wounded pheasants at 50 yards requires either 1) choke tubes or 2) a big compromise. Neither is acceptable to me.

By going to 2 guns, I can have the "ultimate upland battery." One gun suits my ideal for grouse and woodcock in the woods; the other suits my ideal for pheasants, sharptails, huns in the open. I doubt few here would use a "grouse" gun in the duck blind, or vice versa, and if I hunted waterfowl I'd have a third gun in my battery.

Each has my ideal weight, blance, barrel length and choking for the job at hand. In the woods I use a 6.1 lb, 26", 20ga Fox, balanced on the hinge and choked Sk/Mod. For plains birds I use a 7 lb, 30", 16ga Fox, balance 3/8" ahead of the hinge and choked IC/IM.

Mike, who restocked those Foxes, did you or someone else and what type of wood is that????
I got to get a mount like that!!!!!
All the best

Verrrry nice, Mike.

I agree, why have just one when you can have as many as you like? This rings of the old "one rifle" debate. Same answer; it can be done, but why? I've shot clays, dove, quail and phez all with the same gun in the past, an A-5 12g. If that's your bag, have fun. Me? I like a 26" little gun for quail and a longer (mid-long barrels) gun for phez. Dove just needs a light recoiling small bore.

In the last few yrs, I'm kinda doing my own little .270 Jack O'Connor thing with the 20g right now on upland. One attraction for me to the 20g is the cheap ammo. Another is the low recoil. So, I bought a sporting clays O/U in 20g and some hunting guns. Most of my shooting is with 7/8 oz Federal promo stuff at clays, quail, and dove. Phez get 1 oz. Rem Nitro Pheasant loads. This is the 3rd year I've hunted phez with a 20g and I never feel undergunned nor felt the need to reach for that 12g in the truck. Yeah, a 16 is a better killer than a 20 and a 12 is a better killer than a 16. No matter, pick your gun and go hunt. Good hunting and shooting will make more difference than the gauge you pick, beit 12g or 28g.

treblig1958,

Those are a couple of my projects. I bought the blanks of California English from Jim Preslik in Chico, CA. I also buy from Cecil Fredi in Las Vegas.

The mount is pretty cool, eh? It's the first thing I ever bought off Ebay; the fellow's name is Chris Kunze and his work is awesome.

Chuck,

"beware the man with one gun......he'll bore you to death in other ways as well."

That is a pro setup. Luv those Fed shells in "robin egg blue" with that Irish chap on the box (right above lever of top gun) . I bought couple of boxes at Gander Mtn.
In terms of upland gun I would buy lwt. 16ga 870 from early 50s for $250 and just go hunting.

Holy smokes Mike!!!!
Beautiful work on those two working Foxes!!!
All the best

Thanks for all the input. Several have strayed off course, I have a 28 gauge AYA; I have a Smith 16 field choked .005/ about.012, just not sure about the Golden pheasants and the Smith stock (1919 gun); I have a 2 1/2" Gibbs 12 gauge; Smith Field grade 20 gauge 26" .002/.010 (can't seem to bond with the 26s anymore); 20 gauge 2 1/2" Blanch Hammer gun; etc,etc.

I want something that I don't have to worry about feeding a special diet. Has to be 16 gauge.

Mike Campbell: If I had two that had stocks like yours, then I would need six. Those are really pretty stocks.

Hey RifgleGunBuilder:

I hunt dove, quail, and pheasant almost exclusively with 16s.

The AyA 4/53 at 6lb or so would come close to the ultimate sixteen-one-gun-only upland gun (at least that could eat WalMart ammo). Have the chokes bored out to cylinder and 20 thousandths and you would want two triggers. Would carry well on the long walks quail and pheasant hunting entail. It would bite you some on an 1-1/8th pheasant load but who notices recoil when a rooster is in the air?

The Ithaca NID (not flues) would also fit the bill.

Best,

Mike