doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The perfect ruffed grouse gun.

On another topic here (about changes coming at Arietta), the subject of gun weights came up. The comparison was made between vintage English and modern Spanish shotguns, and the pros and cons of each. Hopefuly, this thread will further clarify that subject. To start, I am sadly afflicted by the need to travel to Northern Minnesota every year to walk forest trails in search of Bonasa Umbellus (ie. the Ruffed Grouse). Much to the dismay of my wonderful spouse, I've expended a great deal of thought, time, and money to somehow improve this situation in a way that tips the scales in my favor when faced with this particular bird. I have ferried many a gun through the tender mercies of TSA to be field tested in the boreal forests along the Canadian Shield. Ranging from good Spanish sidelock 12s to light English 20-bore hammerguns to nickel steel Model 12s. Duty calls, more later.

My favorite was a SKB M100 20ga with 26" barrels. It weighed in at 6.5 lbs

Recently I have favored a Bayard ( Pieper ) 28ga hammer gun with 28" barrels. Just under 6lbs. I like using the sling.

Pete

SKB 20ga Model 500 o/u 26" barrels

prussian sauer. 12 gauge, 26" barrels. weighs just 6 pounds!

William Powell 16GA 2 1/2" chambers 27" barrels, skeet and IC, 5 pounds 14 ounces,
or
Parker Reproduction 28GA, double triggers, beavertail, Q1 & Q2, straight grip, 5 pounds 10 ounces.
or
Parker VH 20GA, 2 1/2" chambers, straight grip, 26", IC & Mod
my favorite
Browning Sidelock 20GA, 26", IC & Mod, 6 pounds 2 ounces
my newest
E. Wilson 20GA, 2 1/2" chambers, damascus, 5 pounds 6 ounces

I'll second the Ithaca/SKB 100, 20 Ga., 6# even. I have also used the RBL 16 Ga. at 6#-4Oz. I can't feel much difference between the two, both fit. The Ithaca had seen a bunch of use on grouse when I lived "up nort"! Now I get a long weekend, maybe two, lots of pheasant hunting to make up for it.

Chief

Ahhh....finally a subject I know something about. I tend to agree with outdoor writer, Tom Huggler who made the following statement in his 'Grouse Hunting' video: "the best gun for grouse hunting is the one that fits you best and the one you have the most confidence in". A lot of truth in that statement, for sure!!

It is certainly true for me. Although I don't grouse hunt, the same idea applies to a quail gun. One my favorite guns for quail is my Miroku L-II 12bore, with 28" mod/full bbls. At 6 3/4 lbs and with its configuration, its not exactly the "textbook" quail gun. But it fits and that's what counts.

Its the bottom gun.

Not that there's anything wrong with the bookends on Gerry's list, it's just that I prefer what's in the middle for the king of North America's game bird. For me a 7lb. Parker Reproduction 12 with 26" bbls choked Skt & Skt2 or, a sub 6lb A.H. Fox Sterlinworth with 28" bbls choked IC/Mod. Wish the repro had double triggers...

I'm back. You folks have been busy. I see lots of 20s, a 16 and two 28s so-far. Here's my situation: I'm not much good with an over/under because I have an eye-dominance issue. With a side by side, the dominance issue isn't even a factor because the tubes seem to frame the shot quite nicely for me. An over/under, however, causes my opposite eye to become dominate and it can skew my shooting rather badly. I'm also fairly traditional and I've shot side by sides since my youth, so I don't really feel like I'm missing-out on much. I like side by sides, I like how they look and how they handle. So, like most folks, I have preferences. In Minnesota, I find myself walking a great deal in between actual shooting situations and almost all of that time is spent in fairly high-alert. This means that the gun is either at port arms or nearly so (I should also point out here that I hunt grouse without a dog). In the time I'm there, the leaves are in the process of falling, so I generally start-out hunting with fairly dense foliage that thins as the days wear on. The shooting is usually a fairly quick proposition. From the time you see the bird (or hear the flush) to when you shoot is usually no more than 2 seconds. What I have found that I need to be consistantly sucessful is: 1. a gun that fits very well, and 2. a gun that moves very quickly, even when I'm fatigued. From trial and error I have found that a gun that weighs about 6 pounds is the right weight for me to carry all day. I also seem to shoot a bit better if the tubes are around 28-inches long, because I tend to chop through my swing if they are any shorter. The guns I have used to do this "research" have included 12s, 16s, 20s, and 28s. The 12s always seem to be the most lethal, with 16s following as a close second. The 20s and 28s haven't performed well for me in these situations for a number of reasons, the biggest (after my questionable shooting ability) being pattern size and density. Light 12s are not common in this country, so they aren't generally well known here. The lightest 12s I've personally come across were all vintage English guns.