Hi COl and all, say I was your posts on the Elite Gold now being offered with double triggers, this to me is a great step forward. I can't seem to find any info on the S&W site or any guns offered for sale. Is the gun you saw a pre-production model? What is the cost? And of course any other info you may have on this model.

Thanks as always!!

All the best!!

Greg

Greg, the one I saw may have been a prototype. Field & Stream gun writer Phil Bourjaily had it. MSRP, I think, is around $2500. I have not seen any DT S&W's for sale either, so far. You might want to shoot an email to S&W and see what they say.

Thanks COL, I would think if it were a production model, S&W PR would have announced it..Guess we'll wait and see.

Thanks again!!

Greg

"I can't seem to find any info on the S&W site or any guns offered for sale."


Single trigger

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/conten...erarchyId=11657

A local gunshop has had the same S&W 20 gauge ELITE SxS on their rack (unsold) for the past four months. Are they selling well elsewhere?

JERRY

Jerry,
They've had two at my range for the last yr or so. I've looked at them, but have never seen any of them in use. The guns look fairly well made, but a bit heavy like a BSS for a 20g. Price seems a bit high to get their foot in the door.

I saw the gun at the Safari Club convention in Reno this January and I was very impressed. The representative in the booth told me a double trigger was coming. I have looked and looked but have not found one yet. I'll buy one for sure if it comes because I don't think it's over priced at all. The case color is great, the wood is nice, the fit and finish are good. What else can you get for that money that compares? Well maybe a custom Huglu from DeHaan. I bought one in 28 ga. for $2050.00 with my stock dimensions. I'm very happy with it but the case color is not good. No, the Gold Elite looks like a winner to me. I want one.

Looked on Guns America and saw some, claimed NIB, for about $1,600. Some of them were from the same seller, so I gather he got them at a dealer price - or, maybe below. All Elite Golds listed there, that I looked at, are ST. I do not know enough about the prices at various levels of distribution to know how a NIB gun with MSRP of $2500 comes to be listed for $1,600. I did not think markups would be over 50% above the retailer's cost. Maybe, they are auction prices that the seller expects to increase by sale time.

I think they weigh about 6.5 lb, which could be OK if 3" shells or 1-1/8 oz magnums were used often. Rule of 96 would put the matching load at 1.08 oz, or slightly over 1-1/16 oz. The ST is non selective, I think. I have read the trigger pulls were not the best, at least, in early ST guns.

J.Hall: I presume you have very few teeth left after shooing 3" magnums in a 6&1/2 pound twenty gauge with any frequency. Chopper

I avoid shooting 3" mag in any gauge, might OK in .410. Makers put 3" chambers in 20 gauge guns, and the 20 gauge seems to be sold as being able to shoot up to 1-1/4 oz, like a 16 or a 12. 'Often' to me means those loads are in the gun when hunting. That is what will be fired when a bird goes up. I know 3" loads are not needed for most hunting.

Thinking that 6 - 6.25 lb is what people like in 20 gauge gun, comfortable at 7/8 oz and 96x at about 1 oz. 6.5 I think is heavier than people usually want in a 20, but it would help with recoil esp. if heavier loads are used for hunting.

Rule of 96 calls for 7.5 lb for 1-1/4 oz, but if the gun is carried for a couple of shots at birds, stretching the rule might be OK.

1-1/4 oz at 1185 fps (20 gauge) seems easier to take than at 1330 fps (12 gauge). The 12 gauge is 12% faster than the 20, so maybe the 12 gauge gun needs to weigh 12% more than the 20. If 7.5 lb is tolerable for the 12 at 1330 fps (32 ft-lb recoil), then about 6.5 lb would be about the same for the 20 at 1185 fps (31 ft-lb recoil).

I think I could take, but not like, that recoil for a few shots spread over a day's hunting. 31 ft-lb is stiff.

A Browning Gold would be my choice if I intended to shoot 3" all the time. 6-3/4 lb (less recoil energy), gas auto (spread the kick over more time), level comb (does not attack the teeth) no pitch (does not drive comb up into face).

With regards to this Cabela's listing versus other listings of the same gun on GunsAmerica, I think we are all aware of the fact that Cabela's charges top dollar. However, in their defense, check the rest of the GunsAmerica listings for this gun, all have wood of a lesser grade. Nonetheless, I'm going to keep watching for another one with better wood at a lower price. Might be lighter than six pounds in a 20 ga, but still looks like a nice gun for the money.