Originally Posted By: Ted Schefelbein
Larry,
BY ALL MEANS you should use steel loads in your doubles. There will then be that many fewer good guns on the market. HA,HA!
You can believe what you want to Larry, but, none of my doubles needs to get steel shot run in it at this time. Key words being "at this time".

But, ask yourself if you know of a younger than 30 year old hunter ( I doubt it). And, then ask yourself what was the last gun that hunter bought.
I ran into "Kutter" (posts here) one time in the grouse woods up here, and I think he had a double-I had my Darne, and the retired super model along. But, I don't see people with doubles, as a rule of thumb.

Best,
Ted


Ted--You're missing my message. Those of us not afraid to stand up and ask for the "good science" behind any requirements for steel on upland game are WINNING. That being said, there's no problem shooting steel of sizes suitable for upland birds in any gun proofed for modern American loads and choked no tighter than mod. The CIP regs get quite specific about what steel (velocity and shot size) should be shot through guns from their countries, including those proofed to the lower (than American) CIP standard. Their guidance is quite conservative.

Right on one of these forums--maybe not this one, can't recall for sure--a father was reporting on a teenage son who had "passed muster" with a sxs and was going to shoot one in an upcoming sxs event. If you go over to Upland Journal, you will find some young doublegun enthusiasts, including at least one who's still an undergraduate in college. And frankly, most of us gravitated to sxs after starting off with something else--the change often coming when we reached the stage of having a greater interest in how we bag birds, rather than how many we bag. Much of the choice of gun is also related to economics, and you can buy a much higher quality auto, pump, or OU for less than you'd pay for the same quality sxs--especially if you're talking new.

Final question, Ted: How many sxs only events did you know of, say 20 years ago? How many are there now? Let's see, just the big ones: Vintager, Southern, Northeast, UP Classic. I know of other somewhat smaller ones in MT, MN, WI . . . and I'm sure other guys here could add even more to the list. Nothing to rival Cowboy Action Shooting (which also has a tie-in to the sxs revival), but it's a real trend that does not seem to be disappearing or diminishing.