doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How did you get into SxS's...

The way a double is safer for a beginner is if it has an automatic safety. Every time the gun is opened to reload the safety goes on. No pump or autoloader does that.

I don't like automatic safeties, but I'm no longer a new kid on the block with doubles.

SRH

Stan, I suppose it's a matter of personal opinion, but not having a live shell in a hot chamber the instant after firing is a good thing, safety-wise. For me, it was the reason I chose a pump when I was 11 and my dad was buying me a "real" shotgun. I don't think the safe on reloading is as big a deal as cold chamber after firing. More than once I stumbled when surprised by a grouse flush and getting off the first shot and pivoting to find the second bird that I could hear flushing also.

So, you're saying don't let the kid load but one shell in the pump? If so, when he loads that next shell and closes the bolt on it, has he remembered to put it back on safe?

I stand by my statement that a double with automatic safety is the safest for a kid. Whether you let him load one shell, or two. Same difference........ safety is on when he reloads.

SRH

Nope. Did not say that. I don't think reloading is that dangerous relative to having an instantly available hot chamber after firing the first shot. Just a matter of preference I guess.

Thanks, jOe, for starting this thread.
1948 was a good year for my Dad for two reasons: after spending the entire war in the Pacific and then scratching out the beginnings of a life with his bride, he�d finally saved up enough to purchase the gun he really wanted but hadn�t been able to afford, an Ithaca M37, and he found out that I was on the way. That gun and his appreciation for it began my own appreciation of Ithaca�s. His Dad was the best wing shot in the county and favored A5�s. Father and son both shot 16�s and following them around and listening to their conversations ignited a love for the 16ga in me as well. On special hunts I got to shoot one or the other of those guns. I have them both now. In college, I worked my way through school washing dishes and working in a restaurant. My boss was a dove hunter and invited me along but I had no gun and no spare money for shells. He borrowed a SxS from a friend for me and with it I learned to love the double gun as well as the value of making each shot count. This thread has caused me to look back with gratitude to my Dad for the love of Ithaca�s; to my Grandfather for my love of the 16ga; and to an unknown friend of a friend who lent a SxS to a college kid he didn�t know for my love of SxS�s. I have quite a few now. All Ithaca�s. All 16�s. All sweet.

My dad gave me a used Parker 20 gauge when I was a teenager.
It fit me and I shot it and still have it ( and a couple of newer Parkers).

Miller my dad wasn't a hunter either nor my two older brothers but my dad never discouraged me from my passion...BB guns at about 8...I was an expert Asian turtle shot. I squirrel hunted with an uncle a few times before I was 10...about 11 or 12 I was turned loose in the woods behind our house with my Remington 514 Targetmaster...about that time I got a .20 ga. Single
shot...nothing is as discouraging as blowing a squirrel out of a tall tree with a shotgun only to see it hit the ground and run off.
I quickly went back to my rifle.

Most all of the guns I had I had to buy myself...my first big rifle was a surplus 7�57 Mauser (maybe 30 or 40 bucks)...Sears sold 50 rd boxes of military ammo for about $3.00....I did a lot of practice.
I worked all the previous summer saved my money and bought the gun and ordered a Fajen stock....I had already joined the Outdoor life book club and purchased a few books on stock finishing and general gunsmithing finally fitted and finished the stock. I had a gunsmith drill and tap it and turned the bolt down and put in low scope safety. Topped it with the best Bushnell scope I could afford...about 20 bucks.

Turned out nice so nice my shop teacher talked me out of it...he started my next hobby gun trading. My next big gun was a 30.06 Remington 760 pump. I shot my first deer at 13 jumped him..chased him and hit him 3 times before the 3 point monster fell...I still have his horns.

Shotguning came later when I quail hunted with some older guys I worked with...sadly I was hooked on deer.

The need to learn to hit moving targets with a shot gun came when I got my turkey dog.

I was 17 and in my grade 12 year of highschool. About April I saw a double online, or what was left of one, no wood, no fore-end iron, missing a hammer, rusted to hell, but for 55$ I was open to the idea. It was a Riverside Arms made Savage 215. I knew enough about doubles to give me some confidence when looking at the pictures. While the outside was rusty, the bores were like mirrors, and the lock up was tight as could be. Three weeks later it was in my hands, having shipped from PEI to Ontario.

As the weeks went by I started working on getting things back in order, made a new fore-end iron, polished and cold blued the barrels, made a new left hammer. Having watched Colin Stolzer's videos on gun building I started to make the stock, fitted for myself. By this point it was the end of June, grad fast approaching, and 3 University prep class exams to write. I worked on the stock when I was no longer capable of studying. Smoke inletting is surprisingly good stress relief. The stock was done by the time I graduated, the fit on that gun was excellent, I found I could break crossing clays without even touching my cheek to the comb, a feat I have been unable to replicate with any other guns I have. It just points so easily.

I spent my downtime that summer eradicating starlings and grackles at an abandoned family farm. I must have taken down nearly 60 of them between July and September, I say nearly because I quit counting at 52, and I know I took care of a few more after that. I still have the gun, though I've upgraded to a FEG 500 with 3" chambers, and a Spanish made 10ga SxS. It comes out to break clays here and there. It has over 40 hours of work into it, and I treasure it as a reminder of that time.

Joe;
I killed my first deer with a 7x57 Mauser. Mine was a Spanish 1916 model which was a short rifle version of the long 1893. A co-worker named Bill, who did gunsmithing & ran a shop out of his home had it in the pre-1968 days. It had been listed in the mags as "Sporterized" which consisted of removing the top handguard & shortening the forearm. Someone had ordered it themselves, then decided it wasn't what the wanted so traded it in to Bill. I got it for less than I could have ordered it for & did a lot more work on it & made a pretty decent shooter out of it. Killed that first deer with open sights, made by Williams. I eventually put a Leupold M8-3X with post reticle on it which was worth more than the rifle.

Borrowed BigDaddy's (grandfather) 12 ga Damascus, brand unknown for hunting rabbits and such behind his place. Pitted and loose, I was instructed to shoot "low brass" loads and keep it twist-wired shut! But much later I happened onto a Greener actioned, Belgian barreled magic wand, light and sveldt. Spoiled me for non fitting shotguns. Strangely, I shoot much better at ground level (brush background) with a sxs and perhaps a tad better with a single barrel against the sky. But not an o/u--my left eye picks it up for crossover problems. I also like the old guns with about 3" of drop! ymmv