doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What Do People Say To You When You Use A SxS?

When I began shooting at the local gun club I was almost the only one using sxs guns but as the years have gone by I see more and more of them. I think the disease is catching. And the fellers I mostly hunt quail with have all switched from o/u guns or autos to doubles, some even damascus! I have never experienced anything but admiration of the guns and respect from fellow clay shooters. But then again, nothing less would be expected in the part of the country I live in.

SxS shotguns were never totally out of style in my area, so it was not unusual to see them. I myself didn't own or shoot doubles until I was out of college. By then, I was also using a flintlock for all of my deer hunting, even in the regular season when everyone else was using their bolt or lever action rifles. These days, I know and see more hunters using SxS shotguns than I ever did, so as Joe Wood says, I think they are actually becoming more popular. I've always felt that those who pronounced the SxS shotgun dead and gone were very wrong.

A few years ago, I finally bought a SxS double rifle, and that one generates some comments. I have never ran into another hunter in my state who was using a double rifle.

At my local shooting club, I normally shoot a Fox double of one description or another or occasionally my pre war Ithaca M37 20 gauge with a solid rib. These usually don't result in any questions or comments.

I'll occasionally shoot my cased Holland & Holland back action hammer gun and that often results in strange looks and an occasional "are you going to shoot that?".

To those that are interested, I'll tell them about the gun, when it was made and show them the 1 1/8 oz Nitro Proof marks on the barrel flats. I tell them it has 30 inch steel barrels choked about IC and Mod and has 2 1/2 inch chambers. I shoot it with reloaded 2 1/2" RST hulls loaded with 1/2 ounce of lead shot. And there isn't a target on our sporting clays course that can't be broken with a half ounce of lead shot.

And to those further interested, I'll offer them the gun to look at and point. Most are very pleasantly surprised.

It's a sweetheart.

Yes indeed. Very classical lines. The other word that comes to mind is very stylish

Almost no one down here shoots sxs doubles. There are some who do but they are few and far between.

I am surprised by some of the posts that describe the reactions of guides and range masters. They should know better.

I got my first sxs at 14. I learned to shoot it well. I've never had any comments on using one other than positive ones.

Alan

It is an autoloader world around these parts. Always has been since I've been hunting and a SxS in the field is a rare encounter. Most common question I hear is about shooting with double triggers otherwise comments range from "is it safe" to "why do you use it" to "that is old school". Rarely will someone show much interest or inquire about holding the SxS.

I had a shooter at an nssa skeet shoot tell me that the barrels on my gun were stacked wrong. I replied back "no, yours are wrong. If God had meant for us to shoot an over/under he would have put our eyes that way" He walked away laughing until he found that I shot a better score than he did using my 16ga CZ Ringneck against his expensive O/U.

The guys I hang with shoot every configuration of shotgun, most every gauge, every clays game and most hunt live game. A SXS doesn't get many looks unless it's really unusual.

I purchased an A-5 Light 12 from Sears in 1970, it was my first "real" shotgun; then traded it off for a side x side a couple years later. When my father learned I'd traded my Browning he said I must be crazy because I'd "traded away the best gun ever made". No one hunted with a side x side in my N. GA hunting grounds in those days, and an A-5 was considered the "Cadillac" of fine guns by the locals; but I was fascinated by the craftmanship exhibited in a fine vintage double and wanted to take my game with the same kind of finely crafted implement (killing game with an A-5 was just to easy; and besides, I was the first in my community to get into reloading and that A-5 was costing me too many lost AA hulls). I got some odd looks at first, but in those days I was usually high gun on the dove field; so my gun choice was just accepted as my being slightly weird. Over the years of using double guns I've bagged a wide variety of game from whitetail deer to snipe, but enjoyed more dove shooting opportunities simply because there were sufficient doves to provide lots of shooting. And since dove shooting is typically a social event, uncasing an old double with Damascus barrels always gets the attention of those who don't know me; thus providing great opportunities to meet folks, and also provide a bit of education on things concerning the maker and gun history. In the "old days" when I was shooting regularly and had much better eyes I consistently connected on an amazing shot; and on a fair number of occasions had a shooter walk across the field to ask what kind of gun I was shooting and how it was choked because "some of those birds were dropping at 75 yards". Probably an exaggeration, but most impressive to those folks none the less.

I WAS AT A CHARITY SHOOT A COUPLE YEARS AGO AND SHOT ONE OF THE HIGH SCORES WITH MY 1873 VINTAGE STEPHEN GRANT HAMMERGUN. AS I WAS ACCEPTING ONE OF THE TROPHIES, I HEARD SOMEONE SAY " LOOK AT THAT OLD GUN HE IS USING, "IT LOOKS LIKE IT CAME OVER ON THE MAYFLOWER!