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Jagermeister, have you bought a double shotgun yet?

You've been kicking the tires for years, and should have bought one by now. Just do yourself a favor and do it already. If you don't like it, then trade it or sell it and enjoy being a Capitalist.

You don't want to be that guy who will will be on your death bed one day thinking, "Gee, I'm glad I spent so many years looking at shotguns without ever buying." I can guarantee you that if you don't spend your money, someone else will.

Thanks for the link. Our prices haven't gotten that low yet Greener Empire in very good original condition can cost well over $1000. The only stuff I see for $500 around here are old field grade domestic clunkers or beat up English guns from BSA or something similar to beat up Webley & Scott 700.[/quote]

A combination of aging shooting participants deciding to leave the sport and declining interest in side by side guns in the UK has resulted in good quality guns being sold ,by private sellers as opposed to trade ,at less than total auction price to avoid auction costs.Private sales on forum sites would be a good place to look. The impending complete ban on lead shot use due to take effect in the UK in 2029 should see more well cared for side by sides on the market as owners not wanting to shoot steel through guns not designed for such use decide to sell up. The limitations of steel shot use in .410 could potentially see an increase in availability of .410 side by sides particularly those chambered for the two and a half inch cartridges common in British built .410s.

Same situation here except lead shot will be legal to use longer. I will buy what I described because I can buy American, Mexican or European light game loads at country store and choke combo is very useful Mod-IC.

It's coming because while I like 16ga Model 97 I can't shoot a pump worth a darn.

Similar reasoning led me to buy my Greener Empire with 3inch chambers, although the weight distribution is further forward than a dedicated game gun with bismuth shot it’s a great wildfowling gun, and the heavier barrels do keep the swing going on longer shots.No shortage of shorter two and half inch game cartridges here but they are not widely available at clay shooting grounds compared to two and three quarter inch shells so two and three quarter inch Birmingham ,or anywhere , boxlocks combine nice handling with more convenient ammunition availability.

I just saw this today and thought I would jump in for a bit. I am 77 and still have and occasionally shoot the original Stevens Model 311 12 gauge my dad bought for me on my 12th birthday. The gift started out as a Remington Sportsman 12 gauge semi auto. It ended when we got home and my mom found out my dad had paid $100 for it. Soooo, back it went to the hardware store where it had been purchased. Disappointed, I took my uncle's 20 gauge single barreled model 37 that I had been using for the past 3 or 4 years out to see if I could scare up a rabbit or a quail or two. When I got back in after hunting I discovered that my dad had indeed taken back the Remington semi auto and had returned instead with the little Stevens 311. 26 inch barrels choked IC and Modified, I hunted everything from quail to dove to rabbit and even squirrels and then deer with buckshot for many years until the lure of the semi auto once again took control of me. To shorten the story, I hardly, if ever, shot the Stevens again until I arrived in Albuquerque in 1993 and was invited to duck hunt with a friend. I of course said yes and took the Stevens and stuffed it with steel shot no larger than 2's and happily blasted away. Well, that got me back on the right track. From the Stevens I moved onward with several (or as my wife would say MANY) doubles to follow, both side by sides and then to over/under guns. I still use several different side bys and O/Us, but as age and deteriorating shoulder joints followed by Titanium shoulder joints, I have really come to enjoy 28's and now .410's more for smaller birds. But, the little Stevens still gets taken out of the safe and wiped down with my silicon rag as often as the rest of them do. So Ed, at least on this, you and I agree!!!

BTW, the little 311 cost my dad $72. Amazing what a difference a mere $28 meant back in 1961.

Neat story Perry. I apprecaite you sharing.
My first double was circa 2001, just out of college with a few nickels to rub together, I called on a newspaper add "Old Double barrel shotgun $200." I left the parking lot feeling like a train robber with my, possbily unfired, Stevens 5100. I learned how to shoot double triggers on that gun. I missed the first big TOM I ever called in on my own with it, and I took if from VA to NV to hunt Chuckar. It did the job and built the fire.

my first doublegon was a 16 gauge Stevens 311a...my dad bought it for me for my 11th birthday, from floyd, a local boy who worked for him...

that was in January 1954, north of jessup, ga, on the banks of the altamaha river...

reckon floyds gon rubbed off on me..

I agree 💯 % it must be fully usable for me to buy.