doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Just one gun?

Waiting on an answer from a hydrogeologist on some data for work, so...I'm cooling my heels here for a bit.

An earlier thread here got me to thinking this morning. If you had to do all your shotgunning with just one gun (God forbid!), what would it be. Now...this will be very different for the vast cross-section of folks and applications covered here, but...where I grew up it was generally a Model 12 Winchester (for upland/waterfowl, & even target use), likely in 12-gauge (there were a few 20s). The Remington 870 seems to have largely replaced the M12 there (due to cost and availability factors) and a modern (Benelli?) autoloader 12 may even be the current champion for the young men of that world (that I currently know). A mid-weight Beretta or Browning O/U (in 12 or 20) would work for lots of the folks I know now too.

I'd pick one of my English doubles. Probably the Greener, but maybe one of my Cashmores. Sort of a no lose proposition actually. A 12 bore of course.

Lloyd
Dial it back. There's just some things you don't mention or speculate on. Better to offer which 10-gun battery could you get by with between now and dead.
JR

Blasphemy, I know. The old saw about "never shooting for money against a man with only one gun, especially an old M12 in 20 with no front sight" went through my mind earlier today, thus my post.

Well, look at it this way...if you were starting a young man out and he needed a gun to use, what would you either provide or suggest? Money is obviously a consideration here.

I'll be having nightmares now. Probably a toss up between my AyA number 1 with two sets of barrels or my multi choke O/U Chapuis 12 bore. Now, don't do that anymore. Horror stories! Lagopus.....

Definitely the Lang, really enjoy shooting it.

I bought a Beretta 687 Onyx 20b to train my two Grandsons. As they got older, I replaced the shortened stock with a full length stock. Later sold it to the son of a freind for a greatly reduced price. He loves it.

For several years, when I was 12 and a couple, I shot a 12 gauge Model 12 that was my dad's since 1925 when it was new. I shot all my birds, skeet, trap, you name it with this gun. I still have it and could still use it for an all around gun. However, I would have to pick a Parker for my one gun in today's world. Which one? For an all around gun, probably T.J. Cooper's old VH that I restored over a ten or fifteen year period, Turnbull case colors being the last step. A 12 gauge VH, 30" modified and full, 1 1/2 frame. It will be fun to wear the finish off of a mint gun over a period of years, like T.J. did during the twenties through the sixties. Edith Cooper sold it to me when T.J. was about 95 and "couldn't climb up the mountain any more". Edith Cooper wrote "The Kentucky Rifle and Me", a history of an early twentieth century gun collecting and dealing couple.

I'm remembering a smattering of Field Grade Smiths being pressed into such service in my youth (I had one hard-used example, inherited from my grandfather), along with comparable lower-end domestic doubles (Model B Foxes, Win M24s, even the occasional badly used-up Trojan, etc.) but the entry-level playing field of my youth was clearly dominated by pump-guns (M12s, M37s, M97s, M-500s, etc.).

A 20-gauge Beretta Onyx is a huge leap forward IMHO (Chukerman's grandsons were quite fortunate).

Got my answers, back to work.

If I had to shoot just one gun I would most likely need to drop several things I like to shoot. I could do most with my model 42 but for all but limited hunting it is not ideal. Guess I could just shoot my 28 gauge model 12 but again it would be a trade off. Could shoot a 20 pump or even a AyA 20 gauge model 4. It is just too limiting to only shoot one. I own multiple guns, to enjoy them all, in limited rolls that are mostly interchangeable. Even my heavy British wild fowl guns would not be great for steady shooting or large volume shooting.

If it comes down to shooting only a 1100, 11/87 or Benelli, as my only choices I might just quit shooting. I like the variety, not the outcome. Bag limits, high score interest have ended for me. I will shoot four rounds of Skeet, with four different guns and not hesitate to change guns even when straight. A couple weeks ago I did just that and dropped four birds in the fourth round for a 96. The 42’s worked well, the Ruger 28 did fine but my AyA 20 failed to finish the hundred. 20 years ago I would have stuck to the streak come what may. Now I just go with the plan and not cry about things. So no single gun for me.