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I imagine most on here hunt upland with their classic American, English or European doubles, but I was wondering how many of you are avid duck hunters like me. For years I hunted upland and ducks with a 1907 DS grade Lefever. My gunsmith said it was a hell for stout gun so I shot 1 1/4 oz high base bismuth game loads out of it without thinking about it.

Problem was I was an inconsistent shot with it compared to my over-under. It turns out, after having the gun checked by a stock maker and pattering the gun, I shot way left with it. I went to the trouble and expense of having the stock bent, but when it still shot left after its return I sold it and moved on.

This year I decided to get back into old classic dude by sides. Before the season I found a nice field grade 12 ga. L.C. Smith feather weight with 28” barrels that weighs 6.6 pounds. I hit well with it, but it’s a little light for waterfowl, perfect pheasant gun though. So now I’m looking at a nice Fox AE, 30” full and full, reasonable stock dimensions 7#_6oz. I’m thinking that would be a nice waterfowl gun. It would get hunted 20-30 times a year. I plan on using 1-1/8 to 1-1/4 oz RST bismuth out of it. What do you think? Is that pushing it too hard?

My hunting buddy has used a Suhl side by side from the 30s that is probably a stronger gun, but he shoots regukar 2-2/3” steel shot out of it no problem. The seller of the Fox thought the stock would be the weak link in this equation, he thinks the action and barrels are no problem.

And Merry Christmas everybody.
Posted By: SKB Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 12/23/19 01:37 PM
If the Fox stock is sound you are likely fine using that gun with those loads. Most American doubles have digested thousands of rounds like those you mention. Sounds like a great waterfowl gun if you shoot it well. Merry Christmas to you as well.
Seems reasonable to me.
That Fox, if it is tight and on face, and the wood in the head isn't damaged or oil soaked too badly, should handle those loads fine. Imperative also is to make certain the bores have not been honed beyond a very few thousandths, and that there is no bad pitting in the chambers or near the breech end of the barrels.

I hunt ducks with Foxes and hand loaded bismuth every year, and my load is hotter than the RSTs, but that's my call, determined by the condition of my guns and the pressures of the load. Personally, I like a heavier gun that the one you're looking at, for most waterfowling, but that's another personal thing. All my vintage duck guns weigh from 8/2 to 9/6. The old 30" BSS, while not a vintage gun IMO, is lighter at 7/11. All of these have used 1 1/4 oz. duck loads with no issues, other than having to shim the hook on the BSS from so much use.

Merry CHRISTmas to you, too.

SRH
For SITTING in the duck blind, I sometimes use my Ithaca NID 10 gauge or my L.C. Smith quality 2 10 gauge,
The NID is too heavy for me to carry far smile
What fun!

Mike
I like to take my BSA 3" Magnum. I had the left barrel bored out to half choke so as I can use 2 3/4" Steel loads as well as 3" Eley Bismuth that is O.K. with the older English 3" nitro proof. Lagopus…..
Posted By: dal Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 12/23/19 04:32 PM
Yup, upland and waterfowl with my sixteengauge 1959 Zoli sxs. My waterfowl loads are hand loaded #5 bismuth, 50% of which are spreader loads due to my tightly choked gun.
In the FWIW column my handloads are about 31 grs of Blue Dot with 1.25 oz of Bi (this from memory, so check your books). They are my go to load for both pheasants and ducks. And did right well in a pinch with a Canada as well, though I have #2s for that.
I hunt with doubles all the time.
When Ivory Beads was in business, Jim Thynne told me that he thought the Fox Sterlingworth was the best of the American classics for waterfowling with steel shot. So a Fox A Grade should be fine with proper condition and chokes, whether steel or bismuth.
I bought into the heavy gun for duck hunting thing, but I have found a heavy duck gun too sluggish to practice swing through lead shooting. It's also tough to get a sustained lead on duck too. If I had to do it over again, I believe a lighter English style game gun is better for waterfowling.- IMHO
Originally Posted By: improved modified
I bought into the heavy gun for duck hunting thing, but I have found a heavy duck gun too sluggish to practice swing through lead shooting. It's also tough to get a sustained lead on duck too. If I had to do it over again, I believe a lighter English style game gun is better for waterfowling.- IMHO


Yup.
Different strokes for different folks and, by the way, I wasn't one that "bought into the heavy gun for duck hunting thing". I proved I can kill them better with one, with rare exceptions, mainly because of recoil control when getting on the second duck with the second shot. Lightweight guns with heavy loads jump around too much to suit me.

I shoot a 9 lb. 3 oz. (unloaded) Perazzi for sporting, and there's nothing that the target setters throw that I can't get on quickly enough. My big duck gun is a 32" 9 lb. 6.6 oz. (unloaded) SuperFox. I have killed 4 mallards, and two extra ducks with 6 shells, with it. The one place I will go with a lighter gun is shooting woodies in a little beaver pond at first light. No duck I've ever hunted is harder to get on quickly than they are, including teal. The woodie's line of flight is never constant when they're "coming in hot". Lighter guns work better for me there, but I'm using lighter loads, too.

Best, SRH
I have a Model 23 Heavy Duck that I have used here and in S.A. for ducks. It shoots fine with various 2 3/4" shells. I never needed to use 3" though I've thrown a few in my pocket just in case.
I only use side by side shotguns for hunting. My duck gun is a Browning BSS 12 ga and my favorite upland gun is a Fox XE 20 ga.
The few times I've gone duck hunting near freshwater I've used my NID 12E, just right for a swamp or marsh...



OTOH if hunting over saltwater for ducks, geese or brant I use an 3" Janssen 12 or 3-1/2" AYA 10. Nice guns that take better to the salt.
Duck hunting with my classic sxs? Yes please.

I’ve hunted ducks pretty much every year since I got my first shotgun in 1966. It was a Winchester Model 1200 12 gauge, 28” modified with vent rib I still have that gun, but I’ve used many other guns over the years. I’m a pretty good shot, should be after fifty plus years. Anyway I like a 7 1/2 to 8 pound gun with longer barrels, seems to work well for me, not to whippy.

I say all this because I just found a nice Parker VH 12 gauge 3” magnum built on a #2 frame that weighs in at 7 pounds 14 oz. two questions; 1) Did Parker actually make a 3” magnum gun? I’m worried that somebody reamed out the chamber somewhere along the line. 2) I have my wife’s great grandfather’s GH grade with Damascus barrels. It’s also a 12 ga, 30” barrel gun on a #2 frame, but it weighs a ton, though it has spectacular wood for a GH. The barrels on it are stamped 4#4oz, I’m wondering how the weight is distributed in this lighter version?

Btw, thanks for all the replies. It’s very helpful and giving me piece of mind.
Beautiful gun- beautiful birds!!!
Glad you are putting her to use Mark
Originally Posted By: Glacierjohn
Did Parker actually make a 3” magnum gun? I’m worried that somebody reamed out the chamber somewhere along the line.


Absolutely they did make 3" chambered 12 ga. guns. This is copied from a post by Researcher:

The 1937 Remington era catalogue adds -- "Ordinarily Parker 12 gauge guns are chambered for shells up to and including 2 3/4 inches. These guns can be furnished with special long range choke boring to give more effective results at extreme ranges. 12 gauge double barrel guns, with the exception of the "Trojan" are also available with 3 inch chambers for use with maximum long range heavy loaded shells. So chambered, Parker guns are guaranteed to handle these shells properly."

But ........ that doesn't mean the gun you are referencing was originally chambered that way. Up to you to determine that.

Best, SRH
Replacement: A.H. Fox introduced “Chromox High Pressure Fluid Steel” (chrome-nickel-vanadium steel) for graded guns in 1912, but analysis of a c. 1929 “Sterlingworth Fluid Compressed Steel” barrel showed it to be AISI 1040 with a measured Tensile Strength of 103,000 psi; similar in strength and hardness to non-heat treated 4140 but certainly less corrosion resistance. Modern steel loads do have a thick protective shot cup, but I would not use the loads in a Sterlingworth.
I don't waterfowl as much as I used to, although I think I will be doing more in the future.

My SxS's that I do/would use are my Fox 12 ga A grade 30", a 12 ga Remington 1894 B grade 30", my 12 ga Lindner Charles Daly 30" or my 16 ga Pieper 29". Bismuth or TM through them all. The three 12 gauges are roughly 7 1/2 pounds guns and the 16 is 6 pounds 11 oz. No lightweights but nothing really heavy either.

If the weather is really foul, would pull out my trusty Wingmaster.
I'm an avid duck hunter and love my sxs's in the blind. I hunted many years with a SKB 100 and light steel loads, 1oz #4's starting in the late 1970's on WMA in Western MN. The last 20 yrs with a pair of Husqvarna 51's and a Manufrance Robust shooting 7/8th oz of ITX 6's





This is all so good! Thank you guys!!!
Sometimes they get muddy, but they clean up well. This has been going on for 116 yrs for this one.

Interesting line on shooting high-powered Duck loads in Damascus 2 1/2" chambered SxS started by LeFusil - with comments from a lot of the usual suspects.
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...6662f0f6382a0a3

James M made the following interesting observation on this line: I

I was reading an interesting article about an E M Reilly rehab by Terry Weiland in Guns and Ammo and it closed with the following which i think many will find interesting:
Jim

Six months later, I got a call. It was Edy: "Next time you're in town, I've got a gun you need to see."

It was another old English masterpiece, of a type I had heard about but never seen. A George Gibbs of Bristol, with the strange "Gibbs & Pitt's Patent" boxlock (circa 1873), a tumbler-block safety and a snap underlever. Damascus barrels, 28 inches long, and a total weight of six pounds, eight ounces. Lively as a puppy, with a French walnut stock that is eminently drool-worthy.

"Where on Earth did you find this?"

"The owner read about the Reilly and remembered he had this. He wants it refurbished."

The story of the Gibbs was simple, but with a twist. Its owner wanted it both refurbished and nitro-proofed, which would require sending it to England. It has lovely Damascus barrels, and the action is tight as it can be, even after 130 years. So Edy asked about its history. Seems the man's uncle gave him the gun when he was a teenager, 40-some years ago.

Did he ever shoot it? "Oh, yes," he'd replied. "I hunted ducks with it for years."
As the full import of that statement dawned, Edy asked, "Ducks? What with?"
To which the owner shrugged, "Canucks and Imperials, mostly."

Gulp!

For decades the ancient Gibbs with its Damascus barrels and 2 1/2-inch chambers had steadfastly digested a diet of the notorious CIL high-brass, 2 3/4-inch full-throttle duck loads, with nary a hitch. And it's still tight, tight, tight.

"What did you tell him?"

"I said, 'Forget nitro-proofing. This gun has nothing left to prove, to anyone.'"

To prove his point, Edy took it to the skeet range and shot a couple of rounds and reported that it is "lively; my Lord, it's lively."

So another patient has checked into Dr. von Atzigen's clinic for abused game guns. He expects this latest resurrection will take a couple of years, at least. Maybe longer…


===================================================
(Comment: By the way, the gun LeFusil was shooting to start off this line is SN 30166, dated 1888 on my chart. It has been for sale now for 2 years - not sure the stock is original.)
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-f...un_id=101317914
The only hunting I do is waterfowl, ducks, geese & brant.
In crappy weather I will use a Remington SP-10 or a Remington 11-87, but usually I prefer a double gun and most of my doubles are wild-fowlers of one sort or another. They range from modern stuff like a 3 1/2" chambered Browning Citori and a 3" Browning BSS to Ithaca NID's in 10 Magnum and Super 10 down to some nice Bayard/Pieper hammerguns in 10 down to 16 gauge.
We live in a time where appropriate ammunition and reloading data as well as components are easily available so there is no reason not to use our guns as the makers intended for them to be used.
Originally Posted By: Argo44
Interesting line on shooting high-powered Duck loads in Damascus 2 1/2" chambered SxS started by LeFusil - with comments from a lot of the usual suspects.
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...6662f0f6382a0a3

James M made the following interesting observation on this line: I

I was reading an interesting article about an E M Reilly rehab by Terry Weiland in Guns and Ammo and it closed with the following which i think many will find interesting:
Jim

Six months later, I got a call. It was Edy: "Next time you're in town, I've got a gun you need to see."

It was another old English masterpiece, of a type I had heard about but never seen. A George Gibbs of Bristol, with the strange "Gibbs & Pitt's Patent" boxlock (circa 1873), a tumbler-block safety and a snap underlever. Damascus barrels, 28 inches long, and a total weight of six pounds, eight ounces. Lively as a puppy, with a French walnut stock that is eminently drool-worthy.

"Where on Earth did you find this?"

"The owner read about the Reilly and remembered he had this. He wants it refurbished."

The story of the Gibbs was simple, but with a twist. Its owner wanted it both refurbished and nitro-proofed, which would require sending it to England. It has lovely Damascus barrels, and the action is tight as it can be, even after 130 years. So Edy asked about its history. Seems the man's uncle gave him the gun when he was a teenager, 40-some years ago.

Did he ever shoot it? "Oh, yes," he'd replied. "I hunted ducks with it for years."
As the full import of that statement dawned, Edy asked, "Ducks? What with?"
To which the owner shrugged, "Canucks and Imperials, mostly."

Gulp!

For decades the ancient Gibbs with its Damascus barrels and 2 1/2-inch chambers had steadfastly digested a diet of the notorious CIL high-brass, 2 3/4-inch full-throttle duck loads, with nary a hitch. And it's still tight, tight, tight.

"What did you tell him?"

"I said, 'Forget nitro-proofing. This gun has nothing left to prove, to anyone.'"

To prove his point, Edy took it to the skeet range and shot a couple of rounds and reported that it is "lively; my Lord, it's lively."

So another patient has checked into Dr. von Atzigen's clinic for abused game guns. He expects this latest resurrection will take a couple of years, at least. Maybe longer…


===================================================
(Comment: By the way, the gun LeFusil was shooting to start off this line is SN 30166, dated 1888 on my chart. It has been for sale now for 2 years - not sure the stock is original.)
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-f...un_id=101317914


I know Mr von Atzigen and have had him work on a few of my guns. Also got to handle a lovely Scottish round action that belonged to Terry that Edy showed me. I was very disappointed when he retired a few years back as he lives a short 30 min drive from my home. Always fun to sit around his kitchen table talking guns while his wife watched tennis in the next room.

Never saw the Gibbs.
I enjoy shooting waterfowl with my Watson Bros. fowler. It has 32" barrels with 3" chambers proofed for 1 5/8oz loads. I shoot clays with it during the summer. It was exactly what I was looking for when I found it.


Now, that is a nice duck gun, dukxdog. What does it weigh? I'll guess between 8/6 and 9/2. Got any more pics of it?

Thanks for posting that. SRH
I use a 1928 era L.C. Smith Ideal Grade Longrange- 32" DT AE-- weighs about 8 lbs. 6 oz. unloaded- 3" chambered-- I bought it from my friend, the late Brad B.-- he had installed a newer pad, opened the chokes to Mod. right/Imp. Mod/left, glass bedded the stocks in the area of the locks and "innards" and it fits me like an Armani suit on a Goombah-- I use RST 2&3/4' non-toxic loads in it for ducks (mallards) and geese (Canadas)--

I also use it for turkeys, spring and fall- with some older issued Federal copper plated No. 4 premium loads- Gangbusters-- It is the last of the 4 12 gauge graded Smith guns in my ownership that I would ever sell.

That being said, the extra late "bonus season" for mallards and geese re-opens this coming Sat- I have 17 acres on the Flat river, and with the area ponds and lakes still covered with slushy ice, and lots of corn fields nearby, we have geese all over- If it is raining or sleeting, I'll take a 12 gauge M12--but if not, most likely the Smith--

Many years ago, I owned a Super Fox HE 12 magnum- 32" F&F, DT, AE--way to heavy for me to handle today, at almost 80 years-- I also had Brad drill out the lead weight in my 1949 M12 Heavy Duck Gun- I prefer a muzzle heavy gun, especially for waterfowl. He also put in place a spacer and re-set the solid red pad-- 13&5/8" is too short a LOP for me, about 14&1/8" on my duck guns, 14&1/4" on my field guns- RWTF
Posted By: Hal Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 12/24/19 05:43 PM
I had a lot fun pass shooting diving ducks with my lightweight Dewson percussion 10 ga. 1 5/8 oz Lubaloy 4's really reached out after I had V.M. Starr jug choke it. The old RR engineer I bought it from said he bought it from a gunsmith in a small town along the railway east of Medora, site of Teddy Roosevelt's ranch and that it once belonged to the cook at that ranch who shot passenger pigeons with it before leaving New York. Then non-toxics came in and bismuth was too costly so I retired it.

Then I shot waterfowl, including geese, cranes, and swans for 30 years with my dad's single-trigger 12 ga F/M Nitro Special 28" using light loads of 1 1/12 oz 1's and 3's in shotcups.
Bad eyesight now in my early '80's so I don't boat hunt ducks much any longer, but still flail away at them from shore or in fields a bit with a 30" Nitro Special using the same reloads. I always without the foreend as they just collect weeds, mud,and alkali water.
When I was a kid, I shot a lot of ducks with full power loads through my $35 bringback 1911 Sauer Model 8 with no ill effects I could detect, but it is my grouse and dove gun now even though I mostly just carry it and seldom bag a bird. It replaced the Stevens Mod. 311 I started out with.

Its been a fun ride shooting these old doubles since 1948.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Nice- I no longer hunt from layout boats, or canoes or regular flat bottomed duck boats- just a dry land pass shooter- that's why the muzzle heavy L.C. Smith LONGRANGE and my 12 gauge M12's work so well for me. Just wondering if I read your post correctly- you shoot a 12 Nitro Special, but w/o the foream attached?? Why- how do you open the gun to reload and recock it w/o the forearm in its proper place?? RWTF
Just the forend iron, Fox...Geo
I hunted Ducks on the Mississippi River this fall with my Greener. 2 3/4" 1 1/4oz proofed, and bismuth reloads
Posted By: Hal Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 12/25/19 12:03 AM
Yes I should have said forend iron only. Why needlessly soak the wood with alkali slough water, rain, or melting snow?
Also, my old Sauer is a 16 ga. Miss that Dupont Bulk Smokeless for reloading an ounce of 8s and shot a lot of it in muzzleloading rifles. Nothing left of it now but a bunch of empty green tins.
I can waterproof my gun's wood pretty darned good with Johnson's paste wax, for a day's hunt. Metal too, for that matter.

What do you do about the buttstock?

SRH
Posted By: Hal Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 12/25/19 04:05 PM
I like paste wax also for the buttstock. My new can is by Old Masters.
I duck hunt with my Sterlingworth pin-guns using bismuth. They're not in that great shape anyway, but they don't seem to be getting any worse for the wear...Geo
Well that AE sold yesterday, so now I’m down to comparing three nice waterfowl guns. Remember I already have a nice LC Smith Featherweight for my upland needs.

The three contenders:
A Parker VH 30” barrels on a #2 frame, F&F, 7 pounds 13 oz. extractor
A Fox Sterlingworth pin gun, 30” F&F, 2 5/8 chamber 7#_6 oz extractor
Finally a London box lock ejector gun, 2 3/4”, 32 barrels proofed a 1 1/4 oz, 7 lbs 6 oz.

If I had the luxury of having all three guns in on place, I’d simply take the one that fit best. I’m a little worried about that Parker, I inherited my FIL’s 1800s GH. It’s a 30” Damascus 12 gauge on a #2 frame and it’s a real clunker. It weighs nine pounds with so much drop as to be unshootable, yet it has a spectacular piece of walnut. I believe the barrels are steamed 4#4oz. This VH is 3oz under eight pounds, seemingly perfect for waterfowl shooting 1 1/8-1 1/4 oz bismuth. I just don’t know.
If the Sterlingworth fits you, that would be my choice, hands down. RWTF
Just for grins, here are a few more pics from the last few years. Because I make part of my living buying and selling, I go through guns like crazy, and don't have any of the ones pictured below any longer. The memories last forever however:





Wow Mark what make is the hammer gun?
Originally Posted By: 67galaxie
Wow Mark what make is the hammer gun?


They are both Husky's. The top one is an 1880's vintage mod. 44, the bottom one is a mod. 50. The boxlock is a Husky 310AS.
Nice!
Please ignore grandson Jackson's Beretta 390. blush

That's my 32" SuperFox. L' Anguille River, Arkansas.



SRH (testing my new-to-me photo hosting site)
Great photo, Stan. Looks like a bag of all mallards. Any black ducks in that game-rich area? I shot a banded black duck back in early Nov. First black duck in my daily bag in almost 25 years, last banded bird I shot was a drake pintail, late Oct 2000.

No need to apologize for that fine looking young man holding a 390- sportsmanship and the ethics of hunting do not encompass the make and model of the ordnance. Fine looking HE Fox you have there, amigo. I owned one fairly much like it, about 30 years ago. I love to shoot "tall birds" on crows and barn pigeons (in the mode of George Digweed) and I often used it for those feathered targets on area dairy farms. Amazing range, tell you what-that HE was so well fitted that I could NOT close it fully shooting AA reloads (Pacific 250 press)- It would only close and lock with factory new shells. Sorta wish I had kept it- RWTF
I use my 32 inch GH Parker 2 frame ,with 2 3/4 TM ,no issues at all
[img]http://[img]https://i.postimg.cc/02GzsNCX/delta-24.jpg[/img][/img]
[img]http://[img]https://i.postimg.cc/rpssxN27/delta-8.jpg[/img][/img]
Stan that looks like it was a good day.
Originally Posted By: CJ Dawe
I use my 32 inch GH Parker 2 frame ,with 2 3/4 TM ,no issues at all
[img]http://[img]https://i.postimg.cc/02GzsNCX/delta-24.jpg[/img][/img]
[img]http://[img]https://i.postimg.cc/rpssxN27/delta-8.jpg[/img][/img]


Chris, was that this falls hunt?
For CJ Dawe



chase bank near here
That’s a lot of ducks!😮
Chris, I have 3 of those boats. Lol.

You gotta love Delta when it’s working.
thanks guys ,no I didn't shoot them all - just my limit ,it was my hunt from the year before ,this years foray is still on my phone pics ....yes James ,Delta is awe inspiring
thanks skeetex for fixing the pics ,I would love to hear how to do it
Mr. Dawe, how do you make that boat go? No place for a motor that I can see, and no oar-locks either. Paddle? Pole?...Geo
George, that pic is taken about a mile or so from my place. It’s Delta Marsh. No motorized vehicles of any sort allowed. We use oars. Remember them? Lol.
Originally Posted By: Geo. Newbern
Mr. Dawe, how do you make that boat go? No place for a motor that I can see, and no oar-locks either. Paddle? Pole?...Geo


It has oar locks. You can see it on the right side in the pic. That boat was likely made by Amie Lavallee or Robert Lepine.
OK, now I see the oarlocks. No motors on the Delta Marsh? Magnificent!...Geo
Brian, Pretty sure Aime made my boats but I’d have to check with Louis Lavallee to know for sure. Do you know Louis? He lives in St Marks and his wife Rhonda runs the PO from their home on the highway?
Originally Posted By: canvasback
Brian, Pretty sure Aime made my boats but I’d have to check with Louis Lavallee to know for sure. Do you know Louis? He lives in St Marks and his wife Rhonda runs the PO from their home on the highway?


Yes indeed I know them. Rhonda is my second cousin.
By the way, Aime is still alive. I think he's around 93. But no longer making boats, lol!
Posted By: Hal Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 12/31/19 04:49 PM
My kind of hunt guys...thanks for the pics! I start drooling when I see Canvasbacks ready to rough pick and wax.
I never hunted Delta, but knew Al Hochbaum and some of the staff there. Don't get me started on the crying need for fire and grazing to restore the place! Did hunt the big marsh NW of Oak Point. Only time I've had flocks of Greater Scaup decoy in like their Lesser cousins. Also hunted The Narrows by Vogar and on a small bay west of Ashern near what the locals call "whitefish grass" beds (probably the big Sheathed Pondweed)said to be a magnet for Redheads. Always wanted to boat hunt Dog Lake, but had to settle for fantastic sharptail hunts in the buffaloberry stands along the shoreline. We were lucky to hunt the Saint Lakes in the 70's and '80's when they attracted so many diving ducks, but high water has rendered them useless.
I'm searching old threads rather than hunting.
From 1963 to 2003 my HE-Grade Super-Fox was my go-to waterfowl gun.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Last duck I shot with it --

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

The little bit of duck hunting I did in 2004 was with my heavy Parker Bros. 20-gauge. Never fired anything but lead or bismuth. In the summer of 2005 I got a little English Setter and I've been in the uplands since.
Very Nice!
Sadly, the ducking this season was pretty terrible in my normal places. Knee high grass where there should be waist high water or more.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
Posted By: Hal Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 01/18/22 05:58 PM
Still the opposite here. All my best diving duck and swan lakes are full of slimy fish and the submerged plants (mostly sago) are gone. My two Duckers remained in the trailer all season.
That looks like a great bank to plant Brent
Originally Posted by 67galaxie
That looks like a great bank to plant Brent

It is public land. Hopefully, underwater next year. It's been two years of extreme drought. The worst I have seen in 30 yrs here.
Here are a few duck hunting pics with classic doubles:


[Linked Image from jpgbox.com][/URL]

Parker 16 Trojan

[Linked Image from jpgbox.com][/URL]

Winchester 12 gauge 21
Parker 16 Gauge Grade 2 Hammer

[Linked Image from jpgbox.com][/URL]

Parker 12 Gauge Grade O Hammer

[Linked Image from jpgbox.com][/URL]

Parker 10 Gauge PH Grade
Duck hunting with classic SxS you say.....

This was from late November on Lake St Clair at the Mud Creek Club. From the left there is a Lindner Daly Diamond Quality, a Fox HE SuperFox, a Magnum Browning Superposed (we have more work to do on getting Wally thinking straight Haha!) and a Custom Fox B grade with 32" barrels.

The Fox B grade was the subject of a thread over at DoubleGun about 10 years ago as it was being rebuilt and is the most beautiful gun I have ever seen. And it works well in the hands of it's creator. He scored a true double on a pair of greenheads that day. Two birds buzzed the decoys, one shot rings out, two birds fall, stone dead.

[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]
What sneak boats are those 16?
and all smiles too canvasback woohoo!
Posted By: LGF Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 01/19/22 04:40 AM
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Smallwood 10 bore

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Greener 12 bore Empire
Posted By: GLS Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 01/19/22 11:42 AM
Stan sent this to me this a.m. to be posted. Five guns participated. He's still in Arkansas. LC Smith 32" 12 Ga. 3E. 20 mallards, 6 teal, 2 Gadwalls. #5 Boss copper plated Bismuth. Gil
[Linked Image from jpgbox.com]
Very nice guys! I love the greener safeties
I know that gun he's holding quite well-I might have used it for waterowl except that I also have a 1929 Ideal 12 Longraange Smith- SST-AE- 32" F&F, 3". Bismuth No. 2 shot- fine even patterns at 35-45 yards (est'd range) pass shooting mainly. If I were be hunting with DU groups over large layouts of mallard dekes nowadays, I'd have Buck Hamlin open up the right hand barrel just a tad--but when hunting divers on Saginaw Bay- guided hunts- I stay with my older Belgian Brng. A-5 light 12- 28"VR and Briley Long Chokes- No 2 Black Cloud Steel- and if you use a side-by-side for big water layout shooting (as our Grandfathers may have done- rig up a bunji cord just in case you get tipped over. I use the front carry sling clip on the take-down knob on the shotgun end- and 6-7 feet of bunji anchored to a thwart in our boat with a caribiner's type locking hook--I'd love to dunk a pair of canvasbacks with that older Elsie- but I'm not willing to risk it "Going Titanic" in Michigan's Saginaw Bay- RWTF
Posted By: Hal Re: Duck hunting with your classic side by side? - 01/20/22 04:02 PM
Reminds me of a diver hunt on Spiritwood Lake when my partner's A5 got so covered with ice that it became inoperable. But i could still break open my Nitro Special and keep shooting.
My Marine uncle told me that the practice during winter campaigns in Korea was to urinate on frozen Garands and BARs when they were too frozen to fire. Would probably work on an A5 as well.
One more reason to clean guns after the hunt.
Last year with my 1880 damascus Husky 16 and 2.5" bismuth loads. This was before I re-worked the stock and had the barrels re-browned. I bought it primarily for upland, but its 30' im/im barrels make it a good decoy duck gun too.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
Yes sir! Aer you working with a dog? Also message me your 16 gauge 2.5 bismuth recipe if ya can
I would like it, as well, Mark, if you’d be so kind.
Excellent photography!
Thanks guys. No dog, don't need one, just me in a grassed up aquapod layout boat. Gets them in close, and I just paddle over and pick them up. I pick and choose my shots, and generally don't shoot past 35 yds. Really no need to.

I'll message the recipe to both who have asked. It's a 2.5" roll crimped load in cheddite hull, modified from a published 2.75" ITX fold crimp recipe.
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