doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What was your first sxs

16ga is the 'Goldilocks' when it comes to 311s and Wichester 24s. JMHO...Geo

My first? A 16 ga. Win 24 choked IC/M that Dad gave me when I was 15. Ignorance is bliss and I've bagged a pickup full of rabbits, treerats, doves,quail, my first woodie, first turkey, and first grouse with it. The 24 is the only gun that I bagged a limit of 15 doves with 15 shots!
Fast forward 30 years and I discovered L.C.'s which, now, are my go-to guns while the 24 languishes in the back of the safe!

Mine was a BSS Sporter bought new in 1985 for $500. Barrels are 28", choked M/F. Put Briley tubes in it several years later, but haven't shot it other than a few times at clays in the past 25 years. Often missed low and sometimes thought about getting the stock bent higher, instead just moved on to other doubles that fit me better. Haven't sold it yet, probably will before too much longer.

Jay

Parker Repro DHE 28ga, two-barrel set. It clearly made an impression, because my SxS guns outnumber my O/U's.

My first double was a J Stevens Arms & Tool Co 12 gauge. This was a pre-WWI gun, 30 M/F. I am one of those who "Wish I Still
Had It", purely for its sentimental value as my first double. Have not been without one "Or More" doubles since. This one was bought in 1954.

Stan;
There s a trout fly quite famous in the Smoky Mountains called the YallerHammer. It is much like a Woolly Bugger, though preceded it. It has a palmer hackle using a Split wing feather from the yellowhammer. Most non game birds in TN are on a No-shoot basis & this includes the flicker. It is not illegal to have the feathers "IF" they come from a road kill or perhaps pulled from a cats mouth. Seems Flickers are very careless around Gatlinburg as many seem to have "Accidents". One lady who was tending a shop she & her husband, who was also a guide, ran told me most of the ones they got came from the Park Rangers. I guess they happen upon a lot of those "Road Kills".

Grandaddy used to bust out in a big grin when I killed a yellowhammer. They are kin to woodpeckers in that they will peck holes in trim boards on the house, etc. He hated them. They probably are protected now .................maybe even owls, too.

SRH

My first SxS was a 28 bore Holland and Holland Royal Deluxe that my Grandpa gave me for being a good boy when I was 13 years old......nah, just kidding. I really don�t remember my first SxS, but I do remember my first gun was a Model 17 Remington.

Miller, back in the 60's-early 70's I tied and used the Yellow Hammer fly (Northern Flicker) on streams in the Tellico area near the TN/NC borders tied from road kills. I later learned that it was illegal to possess the feathers road kill or not. The Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and amendments protects over 800 species of birds. The Act was in response to the slaughter to the verge of extinction of non-game species for use in the millinery trade. I also heard where wardens in the area made cases against anglers in possession of the flies using the feathers. There are exceptions to the possession rule regarding game birds killed by hunters and other species of birds collected with special licenses. Gil

Lefever Nitro Special 12 bore with cut barrels to 24".

Gorosable 20 ga., a light Spanish gun. My father bought it for my 12th birthday at Strebe's Gun Works near Washington, D.C in 1971. Shot a lot of stuff including ducks and geese with it until I moved up to a 12 ga. at age 15. Learned it was choked cyl/mod years later. That would have surprised my father. It killed ducks just fine.

I still have it and it's in great shape.