Many people here have a whole safe full of SxS or other nice doubles. However, when it is really time to put some birds down, what do you reach for. What is the go to gun. I do most of my hunting with a Fox SW 16.

Whats yours?

26" after-market barreled m12 w/ Colonial Arms screwins and a very high Monte Carlo stock. Rabbits, birds, doesn't make any difference. This is one I can hit with short and long. It is not always a pleasure to carry.

jack

Parker VHE 20ga, 28" barrels choked skeet/light modified. If it is upland birds this gun gets it done.

20g. 1922 Trojan quail gun: .000 and .007 (C/IC) 6#
16g. 1911 OOE Elsie all-around clays and birds gun: .006 and .014 (Imp/Mod) 6 ½#
12g. 1913 Sterly late season pheasant and fun trap: .015 and .035 (Lt Mod/Full) 7 ½#

William Cashmore 12 bore double hammer.

Killed a couple ducks and whole bunch of pheasants this weekend.

I have a bunch of doubles to fall back on, but that's the one that does it all.

Brent

My go-to or as I call it meat-in-the-pot gun is my 1914-vintage Fox 12-gauge A-grade with a straight grip and 28-inch Krupp 3-weight barrels. It left North 18th Street & Windrim Avenue with both barrels choked improved modified, but I had the right barrel opened to improved cylinder 40 years ago.

Model 1912 20 guage circa 1913 25 inch barrel honed out to a tight imp cyl. Butt stock replaced with one circa 1953. I only use it for ruffed grouse, put and take phesants and cottontails. This gun is an extension of my arm and eye. It is the best fitting gun I have ever owned.(Including 0 frame Parker 16 guage, 16 guage 409 Beretta and assorted O/U Berettas.

Great photo Researcher!

Go to gun is a 14ga. muzzleloading SxS. Probably made in the 1850-60's. Next gun is a 12ga.Baker Leader that is now choked IC and mod.

Go to gun for quail, pheasants, sharptails, huns, and grouse has been a Ruger Red Label .20 for the last 14 years.

But I'm moving the .16's in my safe to the front this year.

Nitro Special that my Dad started quail hunting with in the late 40's.

An L.C. Smith that my Uncle owned that I had restocked.

And finally a Browning Sweet 16 that Dad bought in the 50's. I bought a new vent rib barrel for it in the 70's.

Mine is a 16 ga. Win. M-21 with 28" barrels choked WS1-WS2, Merkel-like splinter, straight grip. The stock was bent to raise comb and add cast-off to fit me. At 6-3/4 lbs. it's light enough for all-day carry but heavy enough to comfortably shoot 1-1/8 oz. for wild pheasants.

Extra light (6.4lb) 12br Merkel Freres 201e with 28 inch tubes. It's the only shotgun I own.

Parker VH 12, 6lb 15oz 28", light mod and tight mod. It will do it all and gets most of the work.

But, in tight cover I often pull out a VHE 16 with 26" barrels.

And for late season waterfowl I usually pick an A5 out of the rack, but I have a pile in 12 and 16 and never know which one I'm going to grab next but the ones from the 1920's seem to get most of the work these days.

Jeff

I shoot some crows and some preserve pheasants but, since the only birds I really hunt are woodcock and grouse, I "go to" my 20 ga Fox...

Go to varies by birds and early vs late season. Opening Dove season has been a 16 Fox A grade for the last few years. Quail is a 20 Lefever but will now be my new/old Lefever E grade 20. Ducks are Fox 12, late Geese will now be NID 10. If lead was ever legal for ducks I would shoot my Winchester Model 12 - 28 gauge as it was my first gun and hold many fond memories.

I know people like one gun answers but I love them all and enjoy shooting them all. If I limited myself to just one the others would become closet queens and I can think of no sadder fate for a field grade gun. I even shoot my graded guns.

If my life was on the line my chioce might be as simple as a Mossberg 500 which I have shot 8-9,000 doves, ducks and geese with over the years. But meat and kill score have lost their value to me. I now go to keep my mind clear and eyes open to life and what time I have left will be spent watching more than doing I suspect. And that is fine with me.

I shoot damascus almost always. My 'go to' is a Parker GHE 16 30 F/IC. One ounce of shot at about 1150 fps almost always gets the nod.

It is my Kimber SuperAmerica 22rf rifle.
This rifle is with me all the time.
That's a go to gun/rifle in my book.

Yesterday it was a 12ga Francotte with 26-inch barrels, the day before a M/IC 20ga SKB with 26-inch barrels. They've been go-to lately but I haven't really given the others a chance. I find that in a cosy bullrush blind for two and a dog, with the blacks tolling good, the short barrels do just fine. The Francotte was "Made for C.W. Billings" on the rib. Any ideas why he wanted short barrels for M/F 12? (The gun was made in 1899-1900. Were short barrels in vogue then?)

A 12 Bore E Damascus Lefever for most things, An Auto Berretta for ducks, and a .444 for local elk in the brush and deer in Alaska. And a savage .308 for distance shooting.
jas

My go to gun for years was my 1950s Ithaca Model 37, 20 gauge, solid rib gun. But after using it for so many years, I put it in the gun safe. Now I use a Model 21 12 gauge as my beater. I/C-C. I have been wanting to take out my 20 gauge Superposed or my Ithaca again, so one day I might. Pheasant season is just around the corner here.

A 6 lb Fox 16 ga, IC barrel with #6, full barrel with #5. All pheasant die before her. As George Lenard Herter once said, "We have tried all available and found none finer".

happy shooting

My guns are quite plebian. For years my go-to gun was my Stevens (Springfield) 5100 in 16 guage. Now I am trying to nurture the same relationship with a Fox Sterlingworth 16. So far so good, but I never leave town without the Stevens in the kit!

That would be my Lefever Nitro Special 12 ga. Indesructable gun, and never misses....yeah right!

I have a rather eclectic collection of guns (people keep asking me "where do you ever find these things!"). For pen-raised poultry at the local preserve I shoot a number of guns everything from a 36 guage percussion sxs and .410 sxs hammer gun to a 10 gauge 1878 Colt sxs hammer gun. For serious pheasant hunting my go to gun is a 16 gauge French sxs guild gun. I shoot it well and it only weighs 5 lbs 1 ounce (no sore arms and shoulders the next day). I've corrupted (influenced) my 26 year old son to the point where he switched from a Remington 870 pump to 12 gauge Nitro Special.
Steve
BTW I loved KY Jon's answer. If it were only meat the only gun I'd need would be the afore mentioned Remington 870.

Since everyone likes pictures, here's one of my 36 guage percussion sxs taken with its first victim.


I know I know, I need to get some new pictures to put up.

Jimmy W, will you use that 12ga Model 21 IC/C for pheasants to 35-40 yards? I'm trying to get the nerve to open same with my 12ga F/F Parker VH. I use No. 5 bismuth and TM mostly.

I am hunter/shooter, not a collector, so I don't have that many guns, but I like the ones I have and use them extensively.

For western bird hunting, late season work, back-up shooting, etc, a 12 bore Famars pinless sidelock, 30” bbls, choked loose and tight, Sabatti engraved, 6.5 pounds. Here’s the gun with my puppy and a prairie grouse we harvested a couple weeks ago; and on a “bed” of harvested roosters:





For most eastern “wild” bird hunting, a 20 gauge Bertuzzi hammergun, 28” bbls, choked loose and tight, with a stylized Manrico Torcoli engraving of my master, Maggie, with a ruffed grouse in her mouth, 6 pounds even. Here’s the gun and the much beloved dog that inspired it.





For pen-raised birds, a pretty little AyA #1 28 bore, 28” bbls, choked loose and tight, 5.5 pounds, built with extremely nice wood I provided; or a 1940’s vintage Model 42, Bee engraving, solid rib, Briley chokes:





(I'm posting partly to see if I still exist on the new board.)

Greg
Beautiful Model 42!
Steve

My first attempt at picture posting on the new BBS.

German guild (Heym?) BLE, 30" Krupp barrels, 6 1/4lb. Fitted with Briley Thinwall chokes (not by choice). It took about a dozen guns and some luck. Found in a local pawnshop for an amazingly good price. At some point I'll get the stock repaired where someone carved their name.

When by myself, my "Tournament" marked Tobin 16, restocked by Randy Murray, with bores and chokes by the late Stan Baker, choked a loose IC and loose MOD. Low pressure Eley loads, of course, in this old timer.

When company is along, my Darne R10, once owned by Steve Bodio, restocked in St. Etienne while I watched, followed by a wonderful meal in the company of Hervé Bruchet and Richard Levi. The R10 is stocked in the unique French style of "Galwi" a gentle swan necked straight grip, with a classic Darne sling. Out of proof, short barrels, little to no choke left, and hits birds like Thor's hammer when loaded with 1 1/8 oz Eley Super Game loads. The sling allows for better control of the dog. Or, carrying an old pooch out of the woods when he can't go any further.
Best,
Ted

AH Fox A grade 16 Straight grip, 26" #4 barrels for birds

M70 Carbine in 30-06 for deer

Fox 20 sw and Ithaca 20 flues get most of the work for behind the dogs, Ruger 0/U 28ga for doves, Ruger O/U 12 for ducks. If I am in a really tightly enclosed duck blind, then the old 12 wingmaster comes out.

Go to guns,
LC Smith 20ga. 0 grade, 26", .003/.008 for grouse,woodcock
Greener 16ga, Grade FH35, 28", cyl/full mixed bag, grouse to pheasants.
LC Smith 16ga. 0E grade, damascus, 28" for pheasants, SC
Lefever 16ga. G grade, damascus, 28", .006/.018 for pheasants, SC
Fox SW, 12ga. 28", Full/Imp.Mod, for waterfowl, turkey

Randy

Grouse & woodcock, a Chas. Hellis 2" 12 bore.

Everything else upland, a late model NID 16 that was cut back to 28", now it's choked about skeet & cyl.

I hope to bring my Kettner 2-1/2" 16 soon, weighs about 5-8.

I find a number of them 'handy'. Kinda sorta depends on a combination of what is gonna be hunted, where, what time of year[i.e., weather] mood [mine] and whether or not it requires my going to the ammo barn for munitions or battery to get the gun. Off hand, its a 20 of one sort or another for dove and a 12 for foul weather waterfowl or pheasant [mostly tower birds, but not all] almost 100% of the time. A 42 or other .410 for making a small limit of dove take all afternoon when the birds are about and shots within reason may be taken .. btw, it does not always work out to become a limit. 28's for quail when feeling particularly sporting whilst KNOWING that a 20 would do just as well, if not better and a whole lot more inexpensively. Jeep gun is sometimes an 1100 20.

A 16 model 12 with a small wristed stock and longish pistol grip for an all 'round shooter is hard to beat & it works on most all upland game with good effect. Too, there is this one particular old full choked Wingmaster with the chequering almost worn smooth that finds itself in service yet, in the foulest of weather.

Don't know that I have ever been able to actually decide whether it is the gun, the shooting, the dogs or the companionship that appeals the most. I've seen and had good, great and bad .. and so far would be unwilling to trade any of them. Just let me go, as a rule it is quite enough thank you.

This is not meant an elusive answer, rather an honest one. When you chase this stuff about [guns], shooting it becomes a part of the responsibilty, particularly if you are not a collector in the closet sense. Working collections require use, but if it were to come to one gun, I would probably pick a model 12 20ga. for the field and upland game. Terrible ain't it?, the truth. I also am bent toward a .410 Nitro for bunnys because it works and its fun. For the ducks and pheasant it would have to be an 870 or a 390 Silver Mallard Beretta w/the hump-backed receiver and the black synthetic stock. I'm talking nasty condition hard field use. Nice days, its nice doubles .. most all of the time.
The RBL has been wet a couple of times this season and is none the worse for the wear [exposure]. Two Miroku 20's go to South America w/me. One has been going a long time, the other only the last few years. At the target games when my game is 'off' with the double of the moment I'll go pickup an 1100 and go back to the basics for a while on the skeet field.

Seems that there are a number of vintage guns on everyones "go to" list (damascus and fluid). What loads do the owners of these pieces reach for, in order to keep their "go to" gun happy and healthy?

Kray,
I load mine with black powder (Swiss 1.5 fg of late, but other flavors as well) and lead.

For pheasants with the Cashmore 12b: 100 gr of Swiss 1.5, a nitro wad, about 1/2 of a Circle Fly wad (lightly treated with beeswax/oil lube or SPG)and about 535 gr of 7.5 lead, an over shot wad and a roll crimp. Often I use a watercolor paper as a wrap around the shot column to prevent shot deformation and leading.

Brent

Thanks, Steve. I do most of my considerable hunting with side-bys as noted above, however a season is never complete unless my paws spend some time wrapped around the old 42. I've owned it for a very long time. It started as a well-worn field grade and morphed over time into the gun you see. Mr. Bee did a truly great job on the dove and quail inlays - they look like they are going to fly off the gun, even when viewed closely.

Over the years, the 42 has occasionally sat at home while I've owned and attempted to hunt with various .410 sidelock SxS's built to scale, but they are just too small and light for me to shoot well. A 42 is "just right". With the screw chokes, it is great fun for causual target shooting, too. It, along with the other guns above, will probably be in my estate when I die.

At one time, I used the 42 for "wild" bird hunting. No more. These days, it only sees pen-raised birds - but it sees plenty of those. Within its range limitations, it is fully effective. Here's a tailgate pic of part of the bag of an end-of-season clean up hunt at the preserve where the dogs and I guide. The dogs and I killed 28 birds with the 42 that day - everything from cock phez to quail, without losing a single bird.

kray: LOTS of options for low pressure factory shells

Polywad 'Vintager' http://www.polywad-shotgun-shells.com 800-998-0669
Eley subsonic/low recoil http://eleyshotshells.com 512-821-9953
ARMUSA 'Vintage' http://www.armusa-performance.com 281-381-7773
Kent http://www.firearmservice.com 512-821-9953
RST http://www.rstshells.com 570-553-1651
B&P now offers F2 Sub Sound and MB Light but ONLY in 12g. http://www.bandpusa.com/ 800-683-0464
WestleyRichards http://www.westleyrichards.com/gun/ammo_shot.php

Source for short black powder shells:
http://www.republicmetallic.com.
http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html

Kray,
I feed my 16 gauge Frenchie a diet of 1 ounce Estate and Federal loads, I also have a flat of 1 ounce Fiocchi's I plan to shoot through it. My concern is not the recoil, but rather the thin barrels on the gun (though it is proofed for the pressures generated by what I shoot in it). The last owner extended the 2.5" chambers to 2.75"s by extending the forcing cones, I don't know what he shot through it, but I'm currently having the gun put back on face. I was tired of shimming the hook and I like the gun so much I just didn't feel right about it.
I've hesitated to reload since I've seen numerous examples of blown barrels in both modern and vintage guns caused by reloading mistakes. I'm very active and easily distracted (probably why I hunt upland rather than ducks and geese) anyhow, I don't feel that I have a good personality for safe reloading. Nonetheless, last year I purchased one of those little Lee Loaders on eBay and I may try making up some custom field loads since the manufacturers are not inclined to meet my needs (probably the only thing I dislike about 16 gauge).
As far as mail ordering shells, if the custom shell manufacturers would supply mixed load flats (such as 2 boxes of #6's and 8 boxes of #7.5's without charging me extra) I might be more inclined to mail order what I need. Last year I shot some black powder loads through the gun and they were really sweet.
Steve

My go to is my 30" 16b Lefever H, steel barrels, ic/m. Perfect upland gun, and really swings nice. I might get a short-barreled 20ga. Lefever nitro someday as a backup gun and for quail/grouse, or not. For ducks I plan on getting a 12b damascus Lefever (I'd like to have a two gun set), a Smith 0 grade damascus, a Parker GH damascus, or possibly even an early damascus hammer gun of unknown make. I have a BPS for stout loads, but I love the nostalgia of early duck guns. However, my britany is 8 now, so I'm hunting mostly upland.

My biggest problem isn't which gun to use, it's finding the time and $ to get out and hunt. Just bought a house. Yikes.

Cheap stuff for the field. Expensive stuff for the safe.


Ducks=12 ga. 3-1/2 Browning Gold.
Large upland = 12 ga. Citori field.
Small upland = 20 ga. CZ SXS.

Regarding "go tos", interesting. My pencil-check quick count of the first named gun noted by each respondent indicates about 11 12 gauge guns (and most of these on the lighter side), 9 16 gauge guns, 6 20 gaugers, 2 410s and a couple of neat percussions. The most often mentioned maker was Fox - - and all of these were either 20 gauge (3) or 16 gauge (3).

Many respondents chose to list several go-to guns by game choice. Only the first was counted.

A final observation is that sometimes I feel that half the Fox 20s and 16s still in use are owned by forum members - - (and probably 75% of the HE Foxes).

Did you shoot it one handed? If not maybe you could loan it to David Foster (referencing his idiotic column in Gray's a couple issues back).

Rockdoc,

I just placed an order for a mixed flat at RST. They let me mix flat of 16 gage 2 1/2" 1 oz #5s and 1 oz #7 1/2s without any extra charges.

For all around, I have an old 1939 vintage Model 12 (32" of full choke barrel and shoots all very nicely).

My walking through the field all day chasing the dog gun is my new fabarm AXIS Al 20 gauge with 30" barrels, choked 5/10 over 2/10.

Chris

My go to Gambels quail gun: 20 ga LC Ideal, 30" ejector gun, choked full and full.
My go to Mearns quail gun: 1902 Parker VH 28 gauge, 24" barrels, choked IC and full.
My go to Guinea fowl, pheasant, and everything else outside of AZ: Fox A grade 12 gauge with 26" barrels choked IC/Mod.

Sorry - I don't understand the reference - cultural pygmy, I suppose.

No - I didn't shoot it one-handed. Why would anyone do that? .410's are tough enough without playing such silly games. Now and then I see people shooting some of the easy skeet stations one-handed, from the hip or the like - and frankly I think that is a very bad practice - what if you lose control of the gun? On game that is unconscionable. At the very least I would leave if I saw anyone doing that - not only is there the safety factor, but a hunter has a duty to dispatch game humanely.

Probably it's about hunting pheasants with a .410, some folks just won't believe how effective a properly choked .410 can be out to about 25 yards. I'm convinced that my best friend pretty much hates .410's and we get around it by just not discussing them. Seriously, discussing .410's and pheasant hunting always brings on contriversy.
Steve

For upland a Philly Fox 16ga Sterlingworth.....sshhaweeet.
For waterfowl a Benelli SBE of course; this is tough business... no beauty contest.

Welcome SNR !! Btw, how exactly does that work? .. the SNR ;-)

Hope that you'll stick around and also that you have some water for those ducks wherever you are. Been pretty skinny here in N. TX the last couple or three years with a lot of the old fave holes mostly died up. We have ducks, of course, but not like before.

As far as "Go to Guns" are concerned, it depends where i am going...

Swanky driven pheasant day = Browning Superposed B25 30" barrels tapered rib + 1/2 and full chokes - reaches out for those high birds - and even better lets me poach birds off my neighbouring gun 2 pegs away... ha ha oh wot fun!!!!!!!!!! especially when somebody else gets the blame.

Rough walked up / uplands day = AYA No.4 28" 6 1/2 lbs not much choke - bliss!!!

Bad weather day Browning 525 Game - 30" 6mm rib.

Feeling bored day = wifes Winchester 101 20 bore.

I also have a few more - my "go to" depends on how the mood takes me.....

Jonty

Quail -- 28 gauge Parker Repro
Dove -- Ruger 20 gauge O/U
Pheasant -- Win M23 Classic 12 gauge
Turkey -- 870 Express 12 gauge 3" mag
Deer -- M70 .257 1950 vintage
Bigger game with teeth or horns Win .375 or Rem .416
More and sometimes I switch for the fun of it
Next year I will have my Fox project finished and it will likely be my favorite

In David Foster's Gray's column three (I think) issues back he announced that in order to make things more challanging he now shoots upland birds only with a Model 42 .410, and with only one hand. I looked hard for the tongue-in-cheek but couldn't find it. I thought it an extremely arrogant and idiotic thing to say; I started a couple of letters to the editor (him!) to say so, but never got around to finishing one, and gave up.

Letters in the last two issues told me I wasn't the only one who felt that way, but Foster gave and equally arrogant and idiotic response. I've been a long-time Gray's subscriber but have become increasingly disappointed in the magazine and its attitude; this pretty much clinched it for me, and I doubt I'll be renewing.

Anyway, sorry for the obscure reference; I thought maybe others were familiar with the column.

Fin

Might as well throw my 2 cents worth in:

Ducks & geese - my old reliable Win Mod 12 3" goose gun with full choke opened to modified for steel shot.

Ferel/barn pigeons - AyA Mod 56, 12 ga, or Chas Lancaster 1896 Mod A Pigeon gun, 12 ga. (We have nearly an unlimited quantity of these here in SE Texas. Considered absolutely non-protected by Texas Parks & Wildlife and easily and legally baited. Far better tasting than dove; about like quail, but a little tougher. Cook in pressure cooker in stew base after browning.)

Texas quail - a new little Yildiz 20 ga O/U from Academy Store here in Houston in which I have fallen in love with. (We bought these in 20 ga. for our 4-H shooting sports club for less than $400.00 each. They have held up well for little over a year with several thousand rounds in each in sporting clays and dove hunting. The kids, mostly 11 to 14 yers old, love them. They are warranted by Brileys).

Late season pheasants - my LC Smith 1901 Mod 3E, 12 ga.

Dove - the Yildiz on first day, then the AyA Mod 37 Super A, 12 ga on following days. Jim Haynes

Last couple of years, not much upland gunning, so my lightweight AYA 32" ten with 1 3/4 ounce WW steel has been my general purpose waterfowler, Parker Zero Grade hammer eightbore if times get tough or I run out of ten bore ammo. Bird guns include a six and a quarter pound Sauer ten boxlock. My friend of 46 years, a little tight bored 28 gauge VH made in 1904, is a favorite if the ten is considered overkill. Twelves, sixteens, and twenties are nothing but excuses. If you need a big gun, shoot a big gun, if you need a little gun, shoot a little gun. 8 and .410, everything else is a compromise.

My daughter is trying to teach me how to post a picture. I'm not sure how good a student I am. If this works its one of my go to dove guns. Webley & Scott "proprietary" Mod 400.Will know in a couple of weeks if it works on Bobwhites.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course. If you're just trying to stir the pot, I'd say well done. If not; well, that was a pretty silly post.

Thanks for the re-welcome. Shoot-N-Release AKA Lefty; been around for years. Ever since Dave got a new host I've had trouble logging on so I had to re-register with my duckhunter.net nom de guerre. Haven't been out for ducks yet here in WA cause the first part of the season is not my cuppa tea. Waiting for the first freeze and northerns to come down. It went down to 29F last night on the west side of the mts so things are shaping up.