Do I need a side by side???

[bluecow]

YES! yet i sold my 10g sxs. have 2 smooth rifles in .58 and one 16g single, and they do all i need. i never long for a double till someone like you asks this question :surrender:

 

[Dave Marsh]

Yes, truly is an addiction as now I am looking too. :rotf:

Dave

 

[satx78247]

Agreed 100%. = Just yesterday (Sunday) I saw FOUR perfectly acceptable original SxS shotguns at the SA Gun Show.
(3 were British-made & one was French-made.)

The most expensive SxS had an "asking price" of 400.oo & "quite fancy". - The least expensive was 175.oo & really "Plain Jane" but solid for hunting, imo.
(I was "quite tempted" by an 18 gauge at 275.oo, as it was really light & well-balanced.)

just my OPINION, satx

 

[Wayne/Al]

Looks good Brit.I have a 12 GA sxs pedersoli that looks a lot like yours.Mine has two beads. Is that a rear sight on yours? I can't quite make it out.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Looks good Brit.I have a 12 GA sxs pedersoli that looks a lot like yours.Mine has two beads. Is that a rear sight on yours? I can't quite make it out.

Yes it is a rear sight, I forget which model it is.
I think it is only the ten gauge that has two beads now.
Out on a wet day.



B.

 

[smokingoodtimes]

If you go double, go original! Owning a shooting original is excuse enough.
You have to know where to look . A lot of folks think they are made of gold but in collector circles and sale sites a good shooting late percussion Belgian or English double can be found, most of the time a lot less than repro.

If you go original what do you look for? I found one from the mid 19th century with 33" Damascus barrels in 16 guage. If heard the Damascus barrels dont hold up the best for alot of shooting. This true?

 

[Tom Compton]

You certainly asked at the RIGHT SPOT to be encouraged to buy a DB or a single or a cannon or whatever else that you fancy.

Fwiw, I wouldn't take love nor money for my circa 1870 DB from Dublin.- It's a 14 bore & has collected countless doves, quail, ducks, geese, squirrels & other critters over that nearly century & a half.

yours, satx

Wow! Another original 14ga sxs and close too. Mine was dated 1850-1860 by museum curator Lee Good at the Davis Gun Museum outside Tulsa. Not a lot of ML shot gunning around here just W of weird.

Doubles and the Beretta O/U are cool. and when a tenderfoot asks "what gauge" the sxs is the answer floors em. I do wish it was a flintlock though.

To the OP, Damned right you need one!
TC

 

[satx78247]

Fwiw, I always enjoy your hunting photos from "The Mother Country". = THANKS.

yours, satx

 

[Toomuch51]

If you go original what do you look for? I found one from the mid 19th century with 33" Damascus barrels in 16 guage. If heard the Damascus barrels dont hold up the best for alot of shooting. This true?

I have heard this too several times. However in the past 30 + years that I have been in the trade of working with such weapons I have learned that this is just ("my buddy says") scuttlebutt. In truth these well made Damascus barrels will and do hold up just as well, and often better than, a forged or drawn tube barrel.

 

[Britsmoothy]

If you go original what do you look for? I found one from the mid 19th century with 33" Damascus barrels in 16 guage. If heard the Damascus barrels dont hold up the best for alot of shooting. This true?

I have heard this too several times. However in the past 30 + years that I have been in the trade of working with such weapons I have learned that this is just ("my buddy says") scuttlebutt. In truth these well made Damascus barrels will and do hold up just as well, and often better than, a forged or drawn tube barrel.

:metoo:

B.

 

[No Deer]

I do wish it was a flintlock though.

Not an original, but yes, SxS flints are a lot of fun.

 

[bpd303]

Yep... here is mine, love it. http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/290978/post/1429171/hl//fromsearch/1/

 

[Lorne Johnson]

If you go original what do you look for? I found one from the mid 19th century with 33" Damascus barrels in 16 guage. If heard the Damascus barrels dont hold up the best for alot of shooting. This true?

I have heard this too several times. However in the past 30 + years that I have been in the trade of working with such weapons I have learned that this is just ("my buddy says") scuttlebutt. In truth these well made Damascus barrels will and do hold up just as well, and often better than, a forged or drawn tube barrel.

Damascus was a great product, though expensive to produce. I have four originals, two that I shoot pretty often (yesterday for example), and two that I shoot a lot less. Still virtually any Damascus (laminated or twist if you're a purist) barrel that you come across will be over 100 years old. One has to respect and be cautious with them. Only one of mine is the same gauge it was proofed at, so its important to know the condition and wall thickness at various points of the barrel.

 

[Otter]

Late to the party, but . . .

You ask why you should get a double? . . . The answer is "'cuz" . . . no other reason needed.

 

[satx78247]

EXACTLY SO.

yours, satx

 

[410-er]

It is my understanding that the rumor of damascus barrel being unsafe comes from the guys that shot 2 3/4" shells out of guns that had damascus barrels with 2 1/2" chambers.That increases pressure.

 

[ghostdncr]

It is my understanding that the rumor of damascus barrel being unsafe comes from the guys that shot 2 3/4" shells out of guns that had damascus barrels with 2 1/2" chambers.That increases pressure.

What 410-er said. In addition, any voids resulting from the forge welding process will harbor corrosion and can lead to weak spots that can be breached even with BP loads.

I've had a couple of original muzzleloaders and a handful of early Parker shotguns with twist barrels that I shot extensively after ensuring they were sound. In the case of the Parkers, positively measuring the chamber and loading appropriate BP shells for the particular chamber made for much enjoyable shooting. I once inadvertantly slipped a 2-3/4" shell into my fluid steel 16ga Parker bird gun and the recoil was on par with a 300 Win Mag. Broke the forend loose and scared me half to death! It has 2-1/2" chambers (I've always ordered those shells from Holland and Holland at very reasonable cost) and the pressure difference felt when firing a 2-3/4" in that short chamber is nothing short of dramatic!