I shoot vintage skeet and sporting clays and would like to find a 28ga and or 410bore sxs that wasn't made for a small child. Im about 6'3" and 300lb.I need a man sized gun. Who makes or made a small bore that was not intended for a child? Thanks Richard
The Iver Johnson Skeet-er was made for adults shooting clay birds. The guns are made heavier for prolonged shooting at clays. Something other manufacturers seemed to reject. Wonderful guns to shoot a lot.
My 410 weighs 6# 7oz, and my 28 weighs 7# 13oz. Almost like shooting a 22.
The Russian Baikal's are pretty bulky in those gauges. My son has a 28 that weighs 6-11 with 26" barrels. Single trigger and choke tubes. They were later rebranded and sold by Remington as their "Spartan" model I believe.
The 28 gauge Skeeters are pricey.
If you are looking for a SxS in 28 gauge with a factory 15" LOP and a 32" barrels weighing eight pounds I think you will have to have a gun custom made. That will be really pricey.
One option that may be of use is to get a larger side by side
that you like and send it to Briley and have 410 tubes installed.
http://www.briley.com/companiondrop-in410boretubesetstandardweight.aspxor
http://www.dhshotguns.com/SGr.htmlPlease note that our guns come with standard stock dimensions of 14.5" length of pull, 1.5" drop at comb, and 2.25" drop at heel. While these dimensions fit most people of average build quite well, if you need special dimensions we can easily accomodate this for $130 extra.
RBL 28ga with 30" barrels and BTFE with the optional longer LOP might fit.
The 30" RBL 28 is an excellent choice. Most vintage shoots do not allow Briley type tubes, only the original gauge of the gun.
AyA makes a fair number of .410s with 29-30" barrels as a standard feature, both boxlock and sidelock. Check with John Boyd. Cabela's had a bunch of those a few years ago.
The gun that some call the 28 gauge Arietta Pigeon Gun is a good choice if you can find one. A friend owns and shoots one with great success. It weighs about 7 1/4 pounds and has 30" barrels.
I have a 410 skeeter with a Miller trigger, ejectors, fancy wood on the straight stock and it shoot great. Plan to shoot it at the Rebel Side by Side shoot in Jackson on 10-12
bill
I appreciate all the ideas so far. I like the skeeters, but have not found a shooter for sale yet. Talked to DH shotguns.Trying to figure something out there. Would like to have a custom made but I have a 300 lb body to feed. I could have something restocked, but still need to have long barrels and more weight.If anybody sees something let me know. I am interested in any reasonable ideas. Tubes won't work in some of the places I shoot. Thanks for the ideas. Send more. Have a good Labor Day Richard
How much are you looking to spend?
You can have a De Haan custom made to suit you starting at $1695. That's stocked to your dimensions, and choked to suit you (fixed or tubes).
Of course, you can also have Spanish guns made-to-order. You'll have to pay quite a bit more, but they can be ordered with ejectors. Arrieta is where I would look for a gun from Spain.
As I suggested in an earlier post, Arietta made and maybe makes a heavy, long barrel 28 gauge that some call the Pigeon Gun. If I had my choice, that would be my 28 gauge. Second choice would be the RBL 30" 28 gauge. In my opinion, your question is too easy. Or should I say the answer is too easy.
Shot a 28ga skeeter( a little over 7lbs). Liked it pretty well but it is not for sale. Tried a couple other small bores. A Huglu and another European gun. Both pretty small and short. (both stock and barrels) Shot a CSMC 21 But a little out of my price range until I make up my mind. I would like to stick around 5k if I can find something I can shoot.Or somewhat less If I have to have a stock built for it. I shoot a Perazzi MX 28 when Im not shooting vintage. It weighs a touch over 8 lbs with a 15.25 inch lop. I shoot it O K. Still looking. Havent found any mention of the 28ga pigeon gun.
Arietta, Parker Reproduction, Famars, maybe Perazzi someday, Merkel, Krieghoff, AYA, CSMC, Ugartechea, BSA/Huglu/etc., probably a few more I can't think of, plus a host of English guns priced rediculously due to them being a small gauge. Oh and the three Italian sisters...
I think you can find a 30" 28g RBL in your price range.
I shot a couple Skeet-Ers and an Ithaca NID 410 just recently. Shot them all pretty well. But none of them were for sale. However it let me decide if they would work for me. They were all O K. I found a Skeet-Er 28" bbls dbl trigger straight stock skeet and skeet good condition and nice wood. Not as heavy as I would have liked or barrel length I wanted. However nice gun good price. Stock is too short, but I will restock it. All in all I think it will work. Thanks for advise. I will let you know how it works out as it works out. Richard