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.
