doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Boss O/U question

I have a friend that just purchased a Boss O/U. It fires the top barrel first. Is that normal for Boss guns?

Pretty sure Boss will respond if you ask how it was specified. What is “normal” will be what the customer wanted.

Nice gun, I’m sure.

Best,
Ted

It’s for driven birds.

Yes that is their standard configuration, to this day, even. Robertson, the owner of Boss at the turn of the century and innovator of the famed O/U model, believed firing the top barrel first provided some benefits over the bottom barrel. I suspect your friend’s gun is a ST, but even with a DT, the front trigger fires the upper barrel.

Most of the world disagrees with Robertson about the advantages or disadvantages of firing the top barrel first, on incoming birds or on true doubles in clay shooting. I much prefer to shoot the bottom barrel first. Some top tier competition gunmakers set up their O/U guns to shoot the bottom first, with no means for switching. Perazzi's trap guns, which can have both barrels choked the same, often have no means to switch which barrel fires first, and fire the bottom first. My MX8 is that way, and I'm glad of it. Most seasoned O/U shooters understand that firing the bottom barrel first results in less muzzle jump (upwards) than firing the top one first. It is a small difference, but important enough that all the top NSCA sporting clays shooters I have been fortunate enough to get to know choke their guns for a particular station so the the appropriate choke for the first bird is in the bottom barrel.

There is supposed to be a difference in recoil direction with a S x S as well, according to which cheek the shooter has pressed into the stock/comb. But, in use, I distinguish the difference in recoil direction, between barrels, to be greater with an O/U than with my S x Ss. But, that may be my perception only.

In hunting conditions, and with double triggers, which I prefer for hunting, which barrel is fired first is of lesser importance than having the best choke instantly available by the choice of trigger, IMHO.

I would actually like very much to learn Robertson's reasoning for why the top barrel first is the best set-up. Does anyone have anything in writing/literature that would explain it?

While I can appreciate the appeal of the bottom barrel first, I've always chosen the top. In hunting situations, very often I'm only shooting once, and it has always seemed easier to quickly reload the top. My first O/U was a 101; bought it new for dove hunting around 35 years ago. The barrel selector switch made the choice easy.

I’ve had both fixed trigger Perazzis and Perazzis with the barrel selector on the tang with the safety. Out of habit I always would shoot the bottom barrel first (that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?) On the rare occasion in which I’d select the top barrel to fire first, I’d usually forget to switch the trigger back to the bottom barrel first. Only way I’d be reminded of this is when I glanced at the gun and realize the selector was on the top barrel. I never could tell from the recoil which barrel fired first. I’ve come to the conclusion that for most shooters barrel selection is not important, and for the most part choke selection isn’t either when shooting at targets. This goes for both SxS and OUs.

I think we here in the states fire the bottom barrel because it is more in direct line and supposedly slightly less recoil and barrel jump, BUT if you are shooting driven game and at times you only fire 1 shot it would be easier to open gun and replace top shell, close gun and be prepared for next chance.

Of course, the answer to this most complicated technical question is double triggers. For a philosophical answer, we can paraphrase the famous philosopher, Monte Walsh, " you can't have no idea how much I don't care".
Mike

I attempted to research why Robertson believed that the top barrel firing first seemed advantageous. I was sure I read it in Donald Dallas' Boss book, but couldn't find find it specifically mentioned. I was able to find this from an old IGC entry concerning why the top barrel received preference: "The reason given for this was that the top barrel is easier to re-load quickly than the lower barrel," although the article went on to mention that this was not modern practice due to "muzzle flip". I can honestly say that I don't notice any additional muzzle flip firing the top barrel over the bottom barrel. As for ease of reloading, the gape is really wide when you pop it open and it is very easy to reload one or both barrels. Of course with DT, barrel selection is not an issue. On mine, the lower barrel choke is .042 if and so you want to intentionally select that barrel on a long shot. Mike let us know if you noticed any muzzle flip when firing that top barrel first.