Are there any doubles that would stand up to high volume shooting - say 5000 rounds a year?

The Winchester Model 21 is certainly up to the task. They come in single and double trigger versions, extractor and ejector, beavertail and splinter. I see them pretty often with Briley choketubes retrofitted.

I have one; single trigger, beavertail forend, 32" barrels, an aftermarket Simmons ventilated rib, JS Air Cushion stock and Briley choke tubes. I paid $3500 but had to spend some on it to get it up to snuff.

Best,

Mike

I put that through my CZ bobwhite for the last 3 years no problems. I would say any good modern double can handle it.

After being restocked, in the past year my Fox Sterlingworth has fired over 12,000 1 ounce loads, including 1,000 Remington Nitro 27's. Original stocks, 80-100 years old might not fare as well. But there's no reason a gun built to digest heavy field loads can't survive tens of thousands of light target loads without a hiccup.

A Browning BSS won't even break a sweat over 5000 rounds. You should be able to find a solid one for around 800 dollars or so, if you look around. More if you want a high condition one. Not a bad deal for an ejector gun built like a tank. Very shootable, too.

Steve, almost any Birmingham boxlock or American double can eat 5,000 normal rounds per year without any burp. Only advice I have is to stay away from the super cheap stuff--new or old--you generally get about what you pay for. I think longevity is more a product of cleaning and lubricating than the number of reasonably pressured rounds through a gun.

I have put that many through both a W&S action and and 1906 English sidelock

If you are truly concerned about a gun being able to take that level of use, perhaps you should look into one of Tony Galazan's RBL doubles. He certainly stands behind them. The design is about as bullet proof as a double gets.
All the guns listed above can and do fail, but, nobody will stand behind them, save Galazan.
I seem to recall reading here that a few model 21s failed every year at one of the Vintager shoots. There exists a well documented problem with the soldering of the 4140 barrels in early model 21s. That type of steel is notorious for being difficult to wet in soldering operations. All the 21 guys poo-poo the problem, but, it is an expensive fix to re-attach a rib or lug on a 21.


Best,
Ted

Any Miroku/Daly/BSS variant, any SKB, most Parkers and Foxes, most V. Bernardellis, any Fabarms, any Beretta, any Parker Repro or Win 23, Ruger Gold Label,...and the list goes on.

Why not an RBL?

Don't forget the Win 24!

If you include the Over-Unders as doubles- the Krieghoff, Perrazi and Berettas, amongst others, hold up quite well to competition shooting. It ain't pretty, it ain't a double, but Winchester took "off the rack" 12 bore M1897 into the test room and it took "blue pills" without a whimper for 50 some years without one single part failing-Betcha could so same thing with a Rem 870.

Like Joe Wood says...MY "H" Lefever ate almost that many 1 oz loads over the last few years.Still Trukin!

I have a Baker "B" grade that has been shooting around that number of 1oz. loads for a few years now.

How about a brand new Ruger Red label?? I know people trash them and I started believing them until I bought their 28 gauge. What a sweety!!
American industry and not to mention the American worker could use a few customers right now.

Ted, I would guess that the Model 21s you recall having "heard about" actually had loose ribs or forend lugs back when Winchester would have fixed them for thirty two bucks. Unfortunately, the owners probably wouldn't know a loose rib if it spit on them. I shot a Model 21 Trap with a loose rib and forend lug for about twenty years before I had it fixed last year. I just didn't shoot it in the rain. Your use of the word "lug" would lead some readers to believe that the locking lug became unsoldered and loose, which cannot happen in a 21. It really isn't that big a problem and I've had one loose rib in about twenty five Model 21s over 44 years.

I put 5000 rounds through my Beretta 471 20 gauge in 4 days down in Argentina last year. Never a hiccup.

DH

A Purdey sidelock will digest thousands of rounds for years and still lock-up tight.

"Heard about" in this case refers to reading the letters exchanged between Mr. Olin and at least one customer that appeared on the model 21 board several years past, when old John fessed up to the problem.
Reading the actual letters would cause readers to understand it was the forend lug being discussed by old John. I've handled at least three guns that needed the repair, which, for as long as I've been shooting here on planet earth, cost more than $32.
$32 bought some nice guns in the era of the 1930s, when the problem surfaced. I'm sure Olin and company figured it out, and later guns don't suffer the problem to the degree the first guns did.
But, the problem exists, and can be documented.
Best,
Ted

sir, i think he meant something that could stand up to promo loads from WALMART, KMART,....not that fancy, smancy enlish stuff costing $10-$15 per box!