doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How Do You Close A SxS

I've watched an old skeet shooter friend slam, and I do mean slam, his Perazzi, 4 bbl, SCO Gold sideplate, for at least the 8-9 yrs I've known him, and he's had the gun for many yrs longer. The gun is not loose. A testament to the Pgun. I still wouldn't treat my gun that way.

Muzzle control, easier to keep the muzzle pointed to the ground. I first read about this method in an old book (copyright 1948) I have by George Baekeland titled "Gunner's Guide"

If the SxS is French...and opens and closes with a toggle lever....then the proper way to close it is to gently but forcefully SLAM it shut :-)


Dont worry about it ever coming off face or the action getting loose or worn out either...just doesnt happen.

I've shot trap and skeet for years and have noted shooters who use a lot more force to close their doubles than necessary. Whether it's considered "slamming" or not is a moot point. No one here has recommended doing this; however it IS done and THAT was my point.
:)Jim

If you bring the buttstock up and the gun is stiff the barrels can end up pointing close to your own feet. Even Britt coaches, have amended their advice to hold the buttstock next to your side with the gun tilted slightly, then raise the barrels until closed. The barrels will still be safely pointed at the ground right in front. No mention of holding the toplever. The gun should closed firmly without slamming shut, "as you might close a heavy glass door".

Which also means that the gun is locked in battery while still pointed at the ground - and has to go through a significantly greater arc to be brought into firing position. I prefer not having loaded guns pointed to the ground and swinging up when my dog is out in front. IMHO, lifting the forend to bring the barrels up into battery provides better muzzle control.

BTW, how does a gunner lift the buttstock up and ease the lever over at the same time? Photos I've seen of the "butt up" method show the gunner's hand at the butt end.

Each to his own? Opinions, professional and amateur, all over the place.

Personally, I ease the lever back into position. This may be a backlash from a personal incident years ago when I loaned a trap gun to a friend. He never got to fire the gun because the first time he opened and closed it for familiarization, he slammed it closed so hard he couldn't open it again. Handed it back with some mealy-mouthed comments. I don't loan guns anymore.

Really, it doesn't make sense that the bolt on a well built gun should need a running start to show up for work.

All that aside, it is interesting to note that Winchester was skittish enough about bolts slamming home that they incorporated a stop-bolt to prevent over agressive engagement. Somewhere in one of these discussions a few months ago I said I thought it was a silly idea to even consider putting the issue of depth-of-engagement in the hands of the man on the street. Let's be honest. Not everyone reads the directions, and not everyone can change a lightbulb (which doesn't mean they can't buy a gun). Anyway, I got hammered for my cheeky remark, so there must be a contingent out there that are v concerned about bolt wear and I doubt they are slammers.

The thought is that the act of closing the gun is the time when an accidental discharge is most likely to occur. Once the gun is closed it is easy to point the gun in a safe direction while bringing up the muzzle. If you are unable to bring a gun from pointing at the ground to a ready position without the muzzles sweeping something you don't want to shoot you keep them pointed at the ground.



That's correct, you can't do both. I'm of the belief that gun makers designed bolts to close under their own power.

5E- I agree with you in not loaning your guns out to others as we all have different habits- I went to H.G. Tap Tapply's book circa 1951-1964 Tap shot a 20 gauge M21 for many years- here are his words on this subject and I agree with Tap 100%, on page 270 'The next time you see a gunner about to close the action of his double-barreled shotgun, notice how he does it. If he slams it together as if he were banging a gate shut, he either doesn't know how to handle firearms, or doesn't have much respect for a fine mechanism. But if he holds the piece by the forend and lifts the stock up to it, mark him down as a man who knows what he's doing-and why he's doing it'. Safe gun handling is paramount- best gunning compliment I have ever received had nothing to do with my % for the day- Hunting in MD. back in 1995, when one of my sisters was married to a retired USAF Master Sgt.=-we were both using pumps, and when the Game Officer stopped us for a routine check- I 'racked out' the three rounds in my M12- left the slide back to the rear, inserted my index finger into both the breech and magazine to 'feel nothing but air there' and handed it to him butt first, with the muzzle pointing at the ground- He told me in all his years of checking hunters and their guns, he had never seen a better example of safe gun handling and good manners afield. How we close-or open our guns is important somewhat- but the linchpin here should be GUN SAFETY always.!!

Personally I think the lockup on every gun is different as regards tightness and the amount of effort required for the toplever and underbolts to engage to the proper position.The right method for one gun may not be the best for another.If an action is new or recently tightened and all parts a snug fit,(in some cases too snug ), it may require the action to be "snapped" closed without holding the toplever, until such time as the action has seated in and does not require the same momentum.On handling a gun for the first time I always assume that it does not need to be snapped shut and will hold the toplever over and push into place in order to assess the tightness of the action.Most guns once they have had some use and the bolting has seated in, do not require being snapped shut and I see no reason to submit a gun to the unnecessary wear and strain. JMHO.... Terry