doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ideal Minimum Battery of Guns

Bottom-line up front can we ever settle for a simple ideal battery and stop buying - is there an ideal general purpose battery?

It is an old topic and highly subjective to ask. That said, If limited to less than six guns to cover all needs keeping things as Spartan as possible what type of guns would one have?

The reality is for the longest time I lived with one Middleweight 16ga SLE for 90% of my shooting and one lightweight 20ga BLNE (lately replace by a 16 BLE) for the final 10%. I am not at all sure I could not have gone the rest of my life with those two guns alone and not been the worse for it. So as I made more I have upgraded the quality of the set. Before the 16ga SLE there was a 16ga Citori and before that a 16 BLNE Fox Sterlingworth (still kick myself for trading the Fox as it would have remained a great rainy day gun and been a good long term upgrade project, plus the 12ga SLNE it went for is long gone).

As of late I thought I could stay with three guns, a light (<5.5lbs) 16 or 20 BLE/SLE, a Medium (<6.5lbs) 16 BLE/SLE, and a heavy (<7.5lbs) long barreled (30> inch) 12 BLE/SLE.

I believe all guns must fit the shooter and can be either SxS or O/U. I prefer SxS but accept both choices are equally valid.

I waivered back and forth over ejector vs extractor as I had extractor guns for years and do not notice that much speed difference outside of European Shoots. I lean toward the ejectors now as they are height of the craft of SxS as is best gun engraving. That said I believe two otherwise equal guns one with great and engraving and one a funeral (plain) guns are equally valid choices for utility. I see engraving as gravy, not essential but very good spice flavoring.

My hunting is focused on the uplands starting in Kansas with Prairie Chicken in Sept, then Pheasant in SD in Oct, finally to Pheasant & Quail in Nov through Jan. Then Feb & Mar at a shooting preserve. I have not hunted Ducks, Snipe, or Rail in years but plan to start again one day. I hope to go north from Kansas one day and hunt Huns and Woodcock and further up for Ruffed Grouse again. I do not shoot targets except to stay skilled for hunting and therefore use my hunting guns as my target guns and do not have any guns other than hunting guns.

I see the light gun as being my casual hunting gun when I am tired, out by my self, or just plinking at a preserve. I find I shoot a slightly heavier gun (6lbs) better, yet a light 5.25 20ga BLNE was a real pleasure on early season prairie chicken. (used maybe 10% of hunting time)

I see the medium weight gun my 87% hunting gun and clays gun (I shoot clays to hunt better not for target fun)

I see my heavyweight gun as my 3% hunting gun and in reserve as a waterfowl gun when I go back to Waterfowl hunting again.

Everything seemed good as I finally got my three BLE/SLE light, medium, and heavy guns. It was nearly ideal until I found another light gun I liked better (it matched my Medium and Heavy gun in terms of maker/engraver).

Now I am torn about not having a small bore (28/410) Hammer gun. I keep getting the itch to purchase a 24 gauge gun.

I get the idea that maybe I should find the ideal loaner gun to keep on hand just in case. (right now some hand me down guns from my father fill that purpose{Browning Superposed 12 & Beretta 686 20} as my son is the usual borrower)

I come up with wild ideas that maybe I really should get a matched pair and sell off everything else. In Europe many of the foreign officers who hunt I talk to have either one shotgun or a pair (only a few Brits) only plus maybe one rifle. After all my original ideal that I started with was matched pair of Purdeys. All my father's bad influence over the dinner table describing what he thought was the epitome in shotguns, although I note that when he had the money to purchase them he did not bite on that hook.

The reality is for the longest time I lived with one 16ga SLE 90% of my shooting and one lightweight 20ga BLNE. I am not at all sure I could not have gun the rest of my life with those two guns alone and not been the worse for it.

I apologize for being a little too long winded on this topic I periodically obsess at.

So is there an ideal battery and if so what would it be?

I guess it depends on if you live to shoot, or shoot to live.

A 12 ga shotgun (steel ready) can do everything for you.

But where's the fun in that?

I have too many of everything, but as a using battery, 3 shotguns, and 3 rifles get most of my attention.
And then, because I am fickle, dozens more divide it. Often.

it's a collection that only needs "one more"

If I was just shooting I would have a presentable double and a scrappy single. But that's not really why I own guns.

Collecting, shooting, restoring, the joy of stripping back and oiling that 150 year old wood never ends, or scraping back eons of crud from metalwork to reveal the makers name, half the fun is playing around with new mechanisms or loads.

I guess the minimum battery would be just the One Gun,lol
beware the man with just one gun, what?
franc

there are many things in life that a man needs only one of...and guns are not on that list.

I went to one of my now late gunning gurus- Capt. Paul A. Curtis and his great book Guns and Gunning 1934-- I don't have the $ or contacts to shoot with a loader and a matched pair of London Bests in England or Europe- so for my shooting here- both upland game and waterfowl, and deer, feral pigs and elk, and small game, squirrels, rabbits, etc- Here is my minimum arsenal- Clays and target shooting later- neither are a 'biggie" for me- Waterfowl guns- 12 gauge Model 12 Heavy Duck- takes either 3" or 2&3/4" steel- have shot steel through full choked 12 gauge Model 12's for 20 years- NO bore damage at all- for early season on woodies, teal, pre-flight mallards and local geese in September bonus season- std. 12 Model 12- both full choked and with 3 shot plugs- So, That's two- for upland hunting on game preserves- LC Smith Grade 2- 30" M&F, Parker GHE No. 1&1/2 framed 28" Imp. cyl. & imp. mod- 2&3/4" RST No 7&1/2 right barrel, same but no. 6 left. Also use these two guns, plus the std. M12 for crows, barn pigeons, and the odd round of informal sporting clays. For $ live pigeon shoots, and sometimes pass shooting with Non-Toxic loads, a LC Smith Specialty 12- 3" with 32" F&F and factory original ventilated rib-circa 1928-- Note, all three doubles have double triggers-

Rifles- Center fire- for deer and elk- Model 70SG in 30-06 with Leupold Vari-XIII 3.5x10 rifle made in 1948. For woodchucks, prairie doggies, fox, coyote-other fur bearing varmints- pre-Garcia Sako L579 in .243 Win- Leupold 4x12Vari-XIII scope.

For target and squirrel and rabbits- Winchester M63 .22lr 23" barrel made in 1948- Weaver 4x 1" scope- and Winchester model 90 .22lr open sights 24" barrel made in 1937- and lastly a Colt Match Target Woodsman- made in 1939- Eliason match grade sights.

This small but working battery handles all my present and planned needs- the rest of my working arsenal is great to have, and shoot as well- but I could get by with just the aforementioned firearms- all well-used, extremely well cared for, and will all be passed on to my grandchildren after I am gone- I just hope they will live in a era when gun ownership by responsible citizens, hunting, target shooting, Olympic competition shooting sports, etc. is open to them, and that the do-gooder antis have "shot their last wad" and faded away into oblivion-

Now you've got me thinking.....I need a .410 O/U with 28 or 30" barrels to keep company with the SxS and pump .410's I already have.

I have thought about selling off a bunch of my safe slot holders in order to buy a real nice high dollar double...but then I think ...one good spill and back to square one....if only I had a money tree or an easy bank to knock off....so money wouldn't even enter that equation....

I feel guns are like good art, who only wants one painting?If I can't shoot or hunt them I can rub on them and admire them plus they come with a history lesson that you can pass on to others.What else is more important in life than a precision beautiful instrument that will out last its owner and give pleasure to others for generations to come...Tedd