I think the mark has possibly been missed on terminology def & intended use in this thread.
It is my belief that these guns were much more what today I would call a 'dove shooter', i.e., a tightly bored 20 with some weight [6.5~7.5#] and that the term as it is now being grasped is rather misleading and therin lies the confusion. Older classic 20's used here in the states were likely used to shoot passenger pigeons and so in that context they certainly could have been ref'd as pigeon guns. Today the same kind of gun may be used effectively in S. America where there is opportunity for considerable shooting and where such a gun is a very good to ideal choice. The addition of a safety, particularly an automatic one, simply would serve to slow down the rate of fire. Pass shooting was the norm from what I have read on the subject. If memory serves, somewhere I read that the last known living passenger pigeon passed in Cincinatti, OH in 1920. It lived at the zoo.
In England the same types of guns may have been preferred for wood pigeons by some for pass shooting or even decoyed birds, but I will defer to smallbore & others here who have actual experience about those guns and hunting the warry wood pigeon.
I do not think it likely that any of these guns was used in the competitive race sense, be it boxed birds or hand thrown, nor would they have been ordered for that purpose. Oh, perhaps some damsel [or gentlman with shoulder/recoil problems] has used a 20 by choice, but all of the many competitive flyer shooters I have seen have used 12's. The use of a 20 in flyer competition would have to qualify as an anomoly, and certainly not by anyone actually contesting a race.
Collumnbare [hand thrown], chokes are often quite open in the first bbl.
Just some thots & observations. Have enjoyed reading the thread. Good sport to all of you this season, be it clays, collecting, or game.
Kind regards, tw
