doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How much is too much?

I am enjoying shooting my old guns for some trap,skeet,and sporting clays. And when weather is good some bird hunting, mostly in open terrain. I don't really shoot that much, about 100 rounds a month, 200 on a good month.I have about 4-5 guns that I switch around with, which does not help my scores but I like to shoot them all. I use RST shells and love them.
How much do some of you shoot your old guns? And how often do they need repaired? I've been lucky so far with only one firing pin issue with a new purchase that was fixed right away.
The reason I ask this is I want to start to shoot only one.
Thanks Tom

1917 Flues 4e SBT two squads a wk at 16 yd trap April thru mid-October of last year. Didn't break the cocking lever. All modest velocity, 1 oz. reloads; no Nitro 27s thru that one. I think I have maybe 13 doubleguns and have administered the "skeet test" (100 rnds or 4 squads a week for maybe three weeks running to most of them excepting three damascus-barreled). Done the same with three Superposed of various ages (1937 to 1968). May have shot the rib loose on my Diana grade. Replaced a cratered bottom firing pin on a 66 Lightning Trap. Got away clean with a 12 ga (tends to striker binding but no other problems) and 16 ga. Fox SW, 12 ga Fox BE, latterday 16 ga. LCS, 89 Remmy hammergun, Charlin 12 ga. gamegun, no-name Brum boxlock, Uggie 221, Flues 4e 12 ga double, 1926 NID, 1935 NID. Pre-owned AyA #2 needed work on right sear; didn't result from volume shooting by me as AD was there waiting to happen when I got it. 41 Winchester m12 has been thru the mill at 2 night a week skeet a couple seasons back; I just clean it and lube it. Have one damascus Lefever which has performed flawlessly (if you except the 50% hit/miss ratio) for a few squads of skeet and maybe three 50 rnd. sporting clays shoots. Had more problems with mid-90s Citoris than I've had with this odd lot of low-end doubles which are probably too humble to realize they shouldn't function.

jack

Sweep, I've been shooting my Parkers exclusively for years, thousands of rounds, fluid-steel barreled and damascus, extractor and ejector guns and the only problems I have ever encountered were a broken ejector hammer and loosened screws on one of my Parker Repros only. . . never a problem with an original Parker.

Dean Romig

One of my main hunting guns is a fox 20ga sterlingworth, i had it restocked, and literally have shot 5000+ rounds thru it..has not had one problem..knock on wood.

Each gun has X cycles left before it has some failure. Time has little to do with it. So, each shot is one nearer the failure. It doesn't matter if you shoot one constantly or spread the shooting around. Sooner or later you will have to fix something.

I put at least 70,000 rounds through my Greener hammer pigeon gun before it needed a new hinge pin. When I started it had a new pin and nitro re-proof. It probably had 100,000 or so through it before it came to me.
All the best, Mal

Why one gun mate?
...but I know what you mean, I'm down to three guns and am thinking one more must go.
I shoot a couple of pre-season warm-ups and its just a few wild birds then after.
Been biten by highend rimfires and all the days at the range and in the field with 'em.

Broken firing pins, ejectors, cracked stocks, burned out throats (in rifles) it's all part of it. Repair and start again.I'd rather wear them out than leave for somebody else to get all the goody out of them!

My old Daly did about ten thousand shells a year for many years damascus tubes and all with no break downs and I believe she could still do it. A Winchester 101 sporting I had needed fireing pins about every fifty thousand rounds but everything else held up fine with it.

My Crown Grade Smith broke a top lever spring at the Southern. I have fired 2500 rounds through it since the Southern of 07. When I bought the gun it was a basket case. The top lever gone left which for a Smith is a good many shots I had it restored to as new, but bet the smith did not replace that spring as it was serviceable at that time. This is a vent rib Trap gun, who knows how many times it has been shot. I plan to wear it out another time. Just keep shooting.