Does anybody out there shoot 32 inch barrels on a 12 gauge SxS for a duck gun?

Any thoughts on 32 inch barrels?

Thanks in advance!

I shoot them for waterfowl and for clays

they swing nice

3 frame 12 gauge VH with 32" barrel

Whatever benefits for inches above 30---better weight and balance to improve swing/momentum for a particular person--I wouldn't buy one for that reason alone.

I now have two 32" barreled 12 gauges, and I use them a great deal. LC Smith Ideal Grade LONGRANGE- 32" std file cut rib, F&F, 3" chambers, HOT and EJ-- and my latest acquisition- a 12 3E HOT EJ-- extra fitted set of 32" Nitro steel barrels. 3" chambers, reinforcing yoke same as on the LONGRANGE- small beavertail, and factory ventilated rib, also F&F. I use the LONGRANGE for geese and later season mallards with Bismuth shot loads, plan to use the 3E for tower pheasant shoots at our local club. Have already baptized the 3E on tell silo-circling in the wind barn pigeons- my favorite of all shotgun targets.

I have two side-by-sides with 28" barrels, both of which seem short and "stubby" to me, at age 75- and nowadays a pass shooter mainly- AH Fox Utica mfg. 20 Sterlingworth, and my late Father's 12 gauge M21-- the rest of my 12 gauge side-by-sides have 30" barrels, and I like their feel and balance mucho, whether walking behind bird dogs for pheasant, or for barn pigeons and crows as well.

One possible reason for that preference for 30" and 32" barrels comes from my long standing usage of 12 gauge Model 12's- I shoot better with a weight forward feeling, slightly muzzle heavy shotgun. You will note that I neither own or shoot either an Over/Under or a semi-autoloader- at my age, I ain't about to leave the guns I know as well as the other good friend a man has all his life (to paraphrase Hemingway in "True At First Light"--

The late Jack O'Connor espoused 26" barrels on his M21's-- worked for him, but not my cup of tea.

I have a 32 inch Parker "G" with a Simmons rib. It shoots great but takes a BIG man to swing it. It is a 10 that Simmons sleeved to 12 while holding the 10 bore O.D. If you need one let me know, as Parkers go this one is cheap.

Bill

They are GREAT! Like swinging a 16 inch gun on the battleship North Carolina (or others). I love them and I am a short round guy.

32 inch 3 frame 10ga Parker PH - just about 10lbs but it balances fine, hope to get it out once more this year before season ends, there are more - i guess its a love 'em or not thing

Thanks for the input guys.

I use 28 or 30 inch on waterfowl but was looking at picking up a 32.

Probably a good idea since I don't have a 32 inch SxS

I have a hunter arms gladiator tournament grade....12ga 32in.....its for sure barrel heavy

" a "

you may find they are a bit like Lays Potato Chips

A well-made 32" sxs that has good dynamics and balance is a real joy to shoot. They look so good with those long barrels.

My dream gun would be a CSMC XE Fox 3" 20 ga. with 32" barrels, btfe, full pg, and sst trigger @ 7 lbs.

I have a CSMC RBL heavy frame 12 ga. with 32" barrels, vent rib, btfe, pg, and btfe with beautiful black-streaked wood that weighs 8lb 10 oz. that I use for Sporting Clays SxS events. Shoots better than I can.

Go for it.
JR

I have a set of 32 inch barrels on my 4E NID Ithaca and I really like shooting trap doubles with the gun.

jlb

I have a good bit of data on the handling properties of 12 bore guns. Anybody want a discussion of objective handling properties with a focus on 32" barrels?

DDA

I have a 32" Parker VH on a 2 frame, and I'm not wild about it. Hard to get it moving quickly enough for teal or woodies, and we see an awful lot of teal around here. Would probably be great for pintail and geese, but they are scarce here.

I hunt ducks with a 32" Fox HE grade, and a Fox 32" BE grade. I also shoot several other 32" barreled doubles ........... but the question is about duck guns. I absolutely love 32" duck guns ..................... but, I hate to admit it ............. I probably kill just as many ducks with my 30" doubles. I can really tell no discernible difference between how my 30" and my 32" S x S duck guns handle. This is my HE Fox 32" duck gun:



And my 32" BE Fox:



And the ultimate 32" duck gun of all time ................... BoWhoop.



SRH

32" Model 21.
Vent Rib, Full\Full

I've been known to shoot a 16 ga. Parker VHE with 32 inch barrels on a #1 frame. It was originally choked XF (r) and F (l), probably for pass shooting waterfowl. I've killed everything Montana has to offer with it.

Rocketman does a subjective discussion mean that there is no objective discussion? Are the numbers so far out there with 32" barrels that it's more in our minds than on paper?

I have two Lefevers with 32" barrels that differ by more than a pound and find the lighter one slow to swing but the heavy one impossible to get moving quickly or impossible to stop once it gets moving. Great guns for heavy goose loads but not handy for ducks in close.

If long barrels are the rage, my DH 34" should be the cat's meow. I can no longer lift my Vulcan Steel 34" #6 frame ten, but the little DH 12 34" is a joy to shoot.

Not here, yet, but I picked up a 10 ga. centerfire hammer gun with 38 1/4" barrels. Can't wait to try to hold it.

I love them, Wish I hadn't sold a few. Though I am still offering a 32 in straight grip Ithaca Grade 2 and a 32 in Tobin graded gun. I will keep the 32 in 20 ga forever though.

Youz guys are so behind the times

Harvey McMurchy, the Hunter Arms professional representative and later plant manager ordered his No. A1 12 gauge with 32-inch barrels; 14” LOP - 1 3/4” DAC - 3” DAH; 7 lb 12 oz; October 3, 1891
Sept 8. 1900 he ordered his Pigeon E with 32-inch barrels; 14 1/4” - 2” - 3 1/4”, 7 lb 14 oz.

He was not a big guy

From the collection of Chris Lien, and found on p. 268 of L.C. Smith "The Legend Lives"

I use several 32" guns for hunting including this Magnum 10. several 12 ga. nid4e, m21 duck super10nid

mine range from an 1883 Parker hammer to a 1925 Elsie Longrange

thanks Drew
I like the dog print- looks like an Osthaus

the one 32 incher I have that I find the oddest is an 1893 quality 3 Smith, 32 inch damascus -full chokes at 8 and a half pounds

with grouse and woodcock on the locks

I will pass on carrying that one up hill into my covers - it will have to be happy with ducks

When there is an objective discussion the subjective discussion has a foundation and is much more meaningful. Guns are solid objects that obey the laws of physics. The gun's part in handling is objectively defined by its weight, balance (teeter-totter), unmounted swing effort (MOI at balance), and mounted swing effort (MOI at butt). With that as a foundation (how the gun is) we can have a more meaningful discussion as to how we as individual shooters react to guns with various handling measurements.

Barrel length is very interesting, but must be studied in conjunction with barrel weight and weight distribution. Likewise, barrel characteristics must be related to the action and stock.

If anyone is interested we can go further.

DDA

Osthaus painted the portrait of the winners of the National Field Trial Association for the first thirty years of the championship, and the images were reproduced as calendars and lithographs by the DuPont company in the early 1900's. The 1916 series shown here includes portraits of every known field trial champion, including Count Gladstone IV in 1896 through Manitoba Rap in 1910.



More here
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20832819

Please carry on Don, but you're not gonna' talk phisixs and stuff are you

Can you give an example of a gun that falls in the middle of the various physics parameters that you have measured? Without being able to measure other's guns, can you give likely scenarios on how 32" barreled guns start to vary from an average?

I thinks it's tough because subjective attributes vary so much between one to another. A 32" barreled double may handle, for difficult to pinpoint reasons, better than the 30" pump or auto loader that some of us started off with, or have some familiarity with the guns that worked so well at the clays range. Only thoughts is all.

I have 2 SxS with 32" barrels, an Iver Johnson Hercules in 12 ga. and a Rem 1894 in 10 ga. I use Hevi Shot Classic doubles in the IJ and reloads with ITX shot in the Remington.

The IJ is light enough that, to my hand, it almost feels whippy. That may be due to the way the 10 ga feels though. I use the 10 on late season diver ducks where a steady swing is an advantage.

As long as it stocked well for you, 32" barrels shouldn't be an issue.

Mergus

Is it okay to kill a murder of crows with a 32" duck gun every now and then?

L C Smith 16 ga. Field Grade FWE with 32" barrels and HOT:



It is also one sweet handling late season dove gun:



SRH

I have a 32" LC Smith Long Range that I restocked. Great on targets and just fabulous for tower pigeon shoots.



I have a friend with a CSMC Fox XE/FE 20 gauge. It has a set of 32" barrels and is an amazing Pheasant gun. Just saw my second Husqvarna hammer gun with 35" barrels. Very cool. I shoot some shorter barreled guns pretty well, but long barrels make me smile. I shoot a 34" Perazzi when I'm serious about breaking targets. Heck, I even own a 32" Browning 16 gauge!
Long barrels rule,
Jeff

What is so hard to agree on is the "handling". That 32" double may indeed handle fine to someone who shoots heavier guns that have a slight weight-forward bias, because he is accustomed to that feel. But, a grouse or quail hunter who had searched his whole life for lighter and lighter guns, with 25-26" barrels, may find it terribly slow and clumsy. Don's data gives numbers that allow us to compare two or more guns and find one that matches, or nearly matches, the numbers on another gun we are already accustomed to handling. Then, the new gun will feel almost identical to us when we pick it up, barrel lengths notwithstanding.

SRH

Rocketman, I mean NO disrespect to your work and I certainly don't doubt math and physics. But as we are human there is not much quantification that can overcome confidence. The confidence of "feels right," whether it should, or does, or is simply believed because we like a feature is a very strong advantage. With almost 20 years in Pro Racing I see it everyday. Driver confidence will trump ( or ruin) the measurement of a set up the majority of the time. Of course it all needs to work to get the true last percent but most of us aren't 99 shooters anyway. Objective, though far more frustrating for the crew, can be just as valuable as subjective

I'd have a hard time convincing---no, I couldn't---my duck hunting buddies that there's an advantage of inches over 30 because most shoot from blinds and manoeuvring a 30 to standing position particularly with others in the blind is a focussed movement at the best of times. (Having said that, there's no doubt in my mind that I shoot better in the blind with a heavier gun. Close upland another thing.)

The thing I have noticed though, is that 28" or 30" pumps or auto loaders, and their length, are normally not thought of as a disadvantage in the blind. The long sxs's may be given the brush off because there aren't a bunch around, even if someone's looking for one. Then, there's feeding them if it's better to steer clear of the common nontox shells.

32" 12ga Juan Uriguen

They are around. But I find most have been well used - which may speak to their effectiveness. If you want them for waterfowl, plan on reloading. I stock up when I see Kent TM when I can. But that needs the stouter barrels and longer chambers of the dedicated duck guns 3 frame Parker's -Fox HE, Smith Longrange and such. IMHO

Otherwise. Short shells in lighter loads

Hope this helps. Questions?

My take on the original question is shoot what fits you, what you shoot well, and what you enjoy shooting. If you find a gun that fits all three of these ---- never, but never, sell it!

DDA

Mark, none taken. I try to always note that the math and physics only tell us how the gun, itself, "IS." How any "IS" will fit any individual shooter is another story. Think of handling fit in the same category as stock dimensions fit. Knowing the dimensions from a try gun stock can be turned into a specification for the stocker.

DDA

One of the best pieces of advice in the history of DoubleGunBBS and added here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17__6nT2u4mP22we08yCBThQ_a-VtmOueW5CisK3c2To/preview

Rocketman
“Shoot what fits you, what you shoot well, and what you enjoy shooting. If you find a gun that fits all three of these...never, but never, sell it!”

I have a number of 32" guns. Light and Heavy.
There are many differences I notice when shooting such a broad selection of guns.

And if I put them on Don's spinner, the numbers would bear it all out.

A game gun demands a dynamic style. Fast to start, fast to stop. A heavy fowler a more deliberate push. A ligtweight 32" 12 seems to "slash" through the bird at distance.
I hold all my 12's at the forend tip, so any differences in swing speed are due to mass, not mount.

It's a challenge moving from gun to gun, and changing shooting style each time. Part of the fun for me.

And when I touch off 1 1/4oz heavy loads, I'm glad I'm carrying the extra mass of the heavy guns.

Don's method is so exacting, anyone can dial in exactly what they shot best, and also what they like.

There are times when what "feels good" isn't what will bring more game to bag.

Thanks Rman, and others for the comments.

Interesting CZ, your hand/forearm seems like they're going to put more weight forward than a similar build person that shortens the arm extension back a bit on the forend.

All of my 32" guns are wonderful. However, the one that is the most comfortable and instills the most confidence is a pre 1913 L.C. Smith with later ventilated rib barrels. I just feels more lively that any Parker, Fox, or Winchester 21. I guess I should weigh it.

Mine is a 3E made in 1905, and re-barreled at Hunter Arms with 32" Nitro steel barrels and ventilated rib- the gun weighs 8 lbs. 2 ounces unloaded. My 1929 Ideal Grade ejector LONGRANGE with 32" flat file cut rib weighs 8 lbs. even. FYI-- I had a "project stocked" 12 A.H. Fox HE 32" many years ago, I never weighed it, but it seemed about as heavy as an M-1 Garand (sans bayonet).

Everyone has their own taste. For me, light upland guns are the object, and 32 inches are way too long. As a young fellow a Churchill 25 was the ideal.Now 27 or 28 inch length seems right. Fortunately, we each get to choose.

I'm sure Don could work out the math on what minor MOI changes my style creates between different guns. I'm ahead of the teeter point, and the CG is typically between my hands.
I never feel the mass in my left hand when I shoot.
Craigd, essentially, I put the button of an Anson pushrod right in the crook of my index finger on every one of my SxS's. If no push rod, the forend tip. So, my left arm is well extended.

For the same distance between forend tip and stock butt, it's a very reproducible hold.
I'm not smart enough to move my leading hand back for more barrel speed on a long crosser. I have to just pull/push harder.

And because I shoot a ton, I know what a killing shot typically looks like as soon as I start my mount.

You made me think on it a bit, CZ. I guess for me, my lead arm always has the same bend at the elbow. I guess I try to keep both arms in the same relationship to the shoulders, and push and pull around the midsection. I'm sure you get a ton more shooting in than I do, but I do like that feeling of being in the zone. The body starts tracking the bird as the gun comes up, and things are crystal clear. Wish that feeling would come up more often.

The MW is the most sluggish double I own. The barrels are just extremely heavy walled. It doesn't really hurt anything tho', as it is my truck gun and is used mostly for shooting stationary varmints. That spot used to be held by a L C Smith 10 ga. 32" OO grade, but I got rid of it in a trade for the 16 ga. Smith. Now, it was REALLY slow to get moving!

The Montgomery Ward New Model truck gun. Got it for $255 several years ago and have never spent another penny on it:



SRH

As mentioned before longer barrels work well on the marsh. While they make short husky man look shorter in wildfowling unlike in driven game shooting one is not what they shoot or wear. When one looks at old English fowlers from: Greener, Bland, Tolly, Jeffrey,... 30" (more common) or 32" barrels were the norm.

That is quite a deal you got there. That nicely fitted functional recoil pad is $50+ alone with installation. What is mean by functional is it reduce recoil unlike some mounted on modern Remington pumps which can be described as bumper pads (as hard as plastic butt plate).

A "Monkey Wards" double-- made by LeFever-Ithaca perhaps? or Iver Johnson? nice gun for the money-and a dead possum or coon doesn't know or much care what brand of escopeta did him in--

It has accounted for a lot of dead varmints on the farms I lease, and my own. One funny story that happened several years ago comes to mind. My son and I were driving to one of the farms I tend to check on something when a coyote ran out of the neighbor's hay field and was headed towards his cow pasture. He ran across the road and stopped in a harrowed field and looked back at us. My son took the MW WesternField and poked it out the window. I told him to pull the rear trigger as, at the time, I was carrying a load of 00 buck in the left tube. The 'yote was about 50 yards and looking back, standing stock still. When he touched it off you could see those 9 blue whistlers hit the ground in a perfect, though evidently splotchy, pattern all the way around him. He lit out in overdrive, with nary a scratch on him. I quit carrying big buckshot that day in it. They are predictably a poor choice in chokes as tight as that gun has.

I do not shoot coyotes on my land, but was hoping to help out that neighbor with the calf killers. We are overrun with deer which devastate our row crops during the growing season. Deer eat crops ....... coyotes eat deer ....... ergo, coyotes are my ally. Economics makes strange bedfellows.

SRH

I'll kill every coyote I see in range- but years ago, we also went out in the Winter months for fox as well (my namesake, also Rommel's)- we used a Johnny Stewart electronic caller, one of us with a scoped varmint rifle (for the standing shots out of shotgun range) and the other with a 12 gauge pumpgun loaded with heavy Express No. 4's- foxes are like feral cats, which we also kill on sight- but with a bigger tail--not hard to kill in range- but foxes also eat field mice, and the one farm was in Xmas trees- the field mice 'girdle" the bark at the base of the trees, stunting the growth, depriving the land owner of income from the future sale of Xmas trees- so we stopped killing the foxes-nature has her own set of balance scales--RWTF

If you are into that sort of thing, Joe's Sporting Goods in St. Paul, MN, has an Ithaca 12 (NID, I think) that has a set of 32" barrels. No case colors, a ding here and there, original buttplate that shows clear signs of use.
I thought it swung like a post. Feel free.

Best,
Ted

Sounds like a good fox/coyote gun. Any idea what there asking for it? Any other info?

I think they had a price of $650, perhaps a bit optimistic. Bores were clean. It was a dead ringer for Stan's gun, said "Ithaca Arms Co" on the side, pointer on one side, setter on the other, "Smokeless Proof Steel" on the top of one barrel.
It was by no means the Mona Lisa. But, some guys could no doubt dream up a use for it. I'm not even positive what Ithaca it was, but, it was sound as old doubles go.
It was the only double in the place, I doubt they are hard on the price. Joe's is one of the better shops left in the Twin Cities metro area, except they only had about four boxes of 28 gauge ammunition, none that I was interested in.
I know for fact they ship and receive firearms.
Have at it.

Best,
Ted

I rember when I first found this site, back on the old board.
I introduced myself to our old late departed friend Bill Wise, ended up bying a VLD Francotte 20e with 32" vent rib from him...it was their Clay pigeon Gun.
It was my first sxs, and it was in lovely nic, loads of cc, nice wood n all..a really nice gun.
But at 8 1/2 lbs it was too much Gun for me
I had to sell it for something I could shoot.I always regreted having to sell it, it was a beast
Do you remember that one, Eightbore?
cheers
franc

It's a Stevens 330, I'm pretty sure.

SRH

I have always been a firm believer that everyone should use what "They" like, not what someone else says is "Best". With that in mind if I had my Druthers, I'd druther every shotgun I owned had 28" barrels. I am not very tall & well fitted by a "Standard" 14" pull & have always felt a double looked proportionate with a barrel length approximately twice the pull length.
A gun with which I did some of the best shooting of any I ever owned was a low end J P Clabrough 12ga SLNE with 28" barrels both ¼ choke, weight 6lb 14oz . This was all uplands, no ducks. I have not done a large amount of duck hunting, but what I did was with a Lefever fitted with a set of Bohler Steel 26" barrels in Italy. This gun weighs 7½ lbs & is thus muzzle heavier than the 28" Clabrough. I shoot it well enough but the heavier muzzle weight does make it a bit slower for upland work. It is choked ¼-3/4.
I have only ever had one 32" barreled gun, a massive early Lefever side pivot opener in 10ga @ 10lbs. I really have no desire for any more in that length. Other guns I have or have used over the yrs vary from 26:" to 30". I have done some pretty good shooting with all those lengths, but would still be happy if everyone of them were 28".

I briefly owned a Lefever H grade non-ejector 16 gauge with 30" twist barrels, and about 13 3/4" length of pull.
Dynamic, it was not. Sold it to fund motorcycle leathers for at-the-time girlfriend.

Zero regrets. She looked dynamic, in black leather, on the back of my 750GSXR.

Best,
Ted

I've had an L.C.Smith specialty grade 12ga with a blown out right barrel for several years. I'm having the blown barrel sleeved presently by A.M. Little to match the 32" left barrel. The left barrel is choked full, but I can have both barrels re-choked to whatever I want.

Any recommendations?...Geo

Tell him to fix the wood, while he is at it?

Best,
Ted

No cracks visible in the butt-stock. Maybe glass bed the head?...Geo

What will you use the gun for, Geo? That's the best way to determine choke needs.

My 32" Smith is at John Garvin's, in Albany, right now having the head of the stock glass bedded.

SRH

Stan, I have a second barrel set for the gun. It is an O grade 30" M/F set fitted to the gun and existing beavertail fore-end. I've used it for last season doves and ringnecks (ducks).

I suspect that's all I would use the resurrected original set for as well. However, it may be that the gun would be useful for a more competitive sporting clays shooter than I am. What chokes would be most useful there?...Geo

Chokes are not like paper or plastic but more personal like blonde, brunette or red head. In this case near, mid range, far or midrange with quick reflexes or far with slow reflexes. It's style, intended use and a very personal choice.

I have set up long barrel guns with different chokes like .015 and .025, .020 and .030, .025 and .040-.050. For all around use I do very well with the .015 and .025 combo. For barn pigeons, on windy days, I reach for a Lefever I have which is .025 and .050. It kills them at any range I can manage to hit them at. I have smoked several at an honest 55+ yards and the feather storm looked like low eight on a Skeet field. Awesome and scary at the same time but worse from the pigeons side.

With one exception I've had little experience with 32" double guns,that one exception being an 8lbs even 5-E Grade LC Smith that I had Buck Hamlin restore and restock in exhibition English many years ago; and my sole experiences with that gun were limited to dove shooting (and one turkey shoot where I won a turkey!). I'd never claim to be the nimrod many of you guys are so will confess I could do very well on crossers; but on birds that got a bit close I couldn't swing that gun fast enough to get out front to save my life! Still I had my share of fun with that gun, as near the end of one dove shoot a shooter stationed across the field walked over and wanted to know "what the hell kind of gun was I shooting "'cause I was knocking down some of those birds at 75 yards"! But my all-time best memory of that gun took place late one Saturday afternoon over a dove field in Oconee County, GA. It was one of those crystal clear day days when it seemed one could spot a dove from a half mile away; and as the evening waned I spotted a lone, and very high flying dove moving towards the field. I had my old lab, Lady, with me that hot afternoon; so had taken a stand next to the lake below the hill where the field was located, as I wanted to insure she had
plenty to drink and could cool down so that she wasn't heat
stressed. As the lone dove sailed high across the tall oak tree near the center of field, I called "bird"; but the shooter in the stand yelled "too high for me"! So I watched the dove as it
never waivered from it's path, or lost any altitude; and from my vantage point, it appeared about the size of a dragon fly. So I'm watching; and in spite of my effort, couldn't find a reason why I shouldn't give this bird a go. As I raised the Smith I could see the dove perfectly silhouetted against the evening sun; I held the muzzles a bit high as I established my lead and then touched off the right barrel. The bird didn't flinch as I continued my swing, but I saw a puff of downy feathers and knew my lead was spot on, and touched off the left. At the shot I saw the head of the dove fold backwards over its body, and its wings drop by its sides; the bird was stone dead in the air! So I called to Lady "Mark!" and watched the bird fall and fall. The events seemed as if they were unfolding in slow motion. The dove seemed to fall forever as it sailed across the lake, then clipped the top of an oak tree and landed in a cloud of feathers inside the off-side pasture fence. When finally down I pointed towards those trees; looked at Lady and said "Back"! Lady swam across the lake, quickly located our prize; then swam back across the lake and placed that dove in my hand. If only great dogs and one's most memorable moments afield could last forever!
The Smith is long since gone; but I've got two other 32" guns I've yet to shoot. One is a rare C Grade Baltimore Arms 12-bore project gun upon which I took pity as it still has lots of potential. Someone had chopped it original unknown length fine Damascus barrels to 20" and had screwed-up its forend pretty good; but forum member Daryl Halquist was kind enough to sell me a good set of 32" BAC steel barrels, which barrels are now fitted to the gun. I've also repaired the forend; and as soon as stock finishes are restored, a perished pad replaced, and it "new" barrels re-blacked I hope to make a few lasting memories with that old gem. My other 32" double is a 10-bore Smith, a really unique piece that began life as a Quality 2 Syracuse Smith, which at some point prior to 1913 had its barrels sent to the Hunter Arms repair department for a little work. Who knows what exactly had been specified, but the end result was that those original Quality 2 barrels were fitted to an entirely new pre-13 Grade O frame to include the fitting of a new fore iron and all new stocks. The original Quality 2 stamp on the barrel flats was over-stamped with the Grade "0" designation, and the original serial number from the barrel set was stamped onto the new Grade 0 frame. I may or may not feature this repair shop gun in an article some day; but it remains in great condition and is very shootable; I simply have yet to shoot it.

If it was mine, Geo, I'd choke it .015" and .025" and you might want to drop in a spreader if you have a really close in rabbit or fast crosser. I quit messing with spreaders and shoot tight chokes on all clays, but for most people less hardheaded than I the spreaders work well occasionally. Just don't get to putting too much faith in them and lose confidence in your own ability.

SRH

Thanks for the insight on choke as well as the reminder about what a good idea it is to glass the stock head on an Elsie...Geo

I've been shooting my 32" 16 ga. Elsie for about 7-8 years now, I guess, and the last time I shot it I noticed, while cleaning, that tiny cracks were beginning behind the lockplates. I got some recommendations for stockers to work on it, and decided to try a Georgia guy to do the job. I wanted the problem corrected before it got noticeable, and wanted it glass bedded so that I don't have to worry about it in the future. I shoot this gun very well, and plan to use it many more times in the future, so wanted to make it bulletproof for 1 1/8 oz. loads.

SRH

My Watson Bros. has 32" and 28" barrels. I shoot the long ones at ducks and clays.
It's a fowler.

That is a beautiful double, dukxdog. A greenhead should be plum proud to be brought low by it. What does it weigh with the 32" barrels?

SRH

Thanks Stan. I'll remember that as they hit the deck. I'm proud to shoot them with it. It's 8.25# with the long tubes.

Very nice. It should handle like a dream with those 32s.

SRH

Would love to see more photos and details of your Watson, duxdog. That full pistol grip is just right for that type of gun.
JR

dux, that is a very nice gun. I hope the stock dimensions fit your physique and style, the handling suits you, it feels "right" in your hands and at your shoulder, the aesthetics please you, it suits important purposes of your shooting, it fills a niche in your battery, and the price was well within your means. That is to say, I hope it fits as good as it looks. If so, you are a lucky and/or astute man.

DDA