doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com If you could have only one shotgun?

Well, I would love a Stephen Grant 12g best side lock ejector sxs with top lever and fluted fences at 6 1/2 lb with improved cyl. & 1/2 chokes, but I am a greedy bloke and should be happy with the two sxs game guns that I have, both 12 bore double trigger fixed chokes; My favorite is my Beretta Giubileo II, straight stock, 28" barrels, .010" & .027" chokes, at 6lb 8oz. The other is a Midland Gun Co. best box lock, Prince of Wales grip, 27" barrels, .010" & .035" chokes, at 6lb 13oz.

I also own Dad's Parker Bros. 28" 12g with great sentimental value, but it handles like a log.

I come from a background where having one gun was the norm. Having a cabinet full of guns, for the guys of my grandfather's generation, was as unthinkable as having a harem. So... if а gun is to do it all, it has to be a 12. If it has to last a lifetime, it has to be well-built. If you must use shot of different hardness, e.i. lead and steel, it has to have replacable chokes (or barrels). If a gun is to be practical afield, it has to be able to fire at least twice without reloading. And if you might be reduced to shooting very inferior ammo, e.g. reload shells for more times than they can handle, it better be a non-ejector double. Between that, and provided the stock fit, just about anything will do.

I'm almost at that place, now. I could get along very nicely with my Skimin and Wood 12 gauge box BLNE, side-by-side. I have written about this gun's trials and tribulations, before. This gun might be a bit heavy for "an all-around gun", at a touch over eight pounds, but it balances very nicely with its 30-inch barrels. As a result, the gun does not "feel heavy" once it is put up. I suppose that the gun could be a bit of a load in "hard hunting" in rough terrain but I seldom do that kind of thing, anymore. Clay target shooting with, possibly, some light pheasant hunting is more my speed, these days, and the gun performs magnificently in such applications. Recoil is not punishing except with loads that I am disinclined to shoot regularly in an 85-year-old gun. Since the gun is fitted with Briley screw-in chokes, pattern versatility is not an issue.

Seems I read somewhere that Elmer Keith answered:
�For either man or woman who wants a very fine upland gun that is light enough to carry all day and will regularly kill large birds like pheasant to 50 or 55 years, we believe they look no further than 2 3/4� chambered 16 bore gun.�

My lightweight 12 ga. drilling--also has an 8x57 barrel. Swings like a magic wand.

"IF" I had to have only one gun, just give me a 6 3/4-7 lb 12 gauge with 28" barrels choked .010R & .020L. It would preferably be a side lock or Lefever & would have "Two" (Count'em) triggers. Ejectors would be immaterial, could live with 'em or without em.
I could also live with a 16 with same specs except for 1/4 lb lighter weight range. For one gun I would not want it much over 7 lb, nor under 6� lbs.
It would use from 1 oz to 1� oz @ around 1200 fps. That will cover around 90% of shotgun hunting & I just wouldn't go or the other 10%.

Did Elmer Keith actually hunt pheasants on a regular basis? I doubt it.

50 to 55 years- believe the old Elmer K. meant yards-- He must have eyesight similar to Chuck Yeager-- I don't shoot ducks at a guesstimated 50 yards-- the closer they come, the better.

I have my one gun(shotgun)--have had it for years- I call it "My Old Ernesto" because it is similar to the first shotgun Hemingway bought in 1928--probably Pauline bought it for him. Trap Grade Model 12- 12 gauge 30" full, solid rib, factory red pad. Mine was made in 1937--

Of course, I don't hunt: doves (banned in MI) grouse, quail and woodcock now-a-days. Ducks, geese, pigeons and crows are my "forte"-- But if the SHIF here-a-bouts- I can fill it with OO buck for a defensive scenario-- I have 7 Model 12's- earliest mfg. date 1921- latest- 1949. In Winchester's best years, IMO.

RWTF

Funny how things work out. When I did this post back in 2012 I had no idea I would ever be able to fulfill this dream.
But since then with some hard work and trading around I now have the little Purdey 20 bore, with the 29" barrels and two other sets of barrels to boot.
Funny how things happen.

We would all probably love to see a thread with a bunch of pictures of this gun. Spare no effort, post a bunch of them. I would love to see it, and it would make a great topic that everyone would enjoy.