doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Value; pigeon guns v. game guns

i can't wait till i get mine and shoot some federal gold medal pater shells through it. it's a 7lb8oz gem with looong and thick Krupp laufstahl barrels and european walnut that grew in kalifornia.

Lowell,

Again comments from somebody who's never shot pigeons. In the UK pigeon shooting was a sport of the common man, gentlemen, and the gentry all. How could you imagine some back alley card shark could afford a pigeon gun from one of the big makers in the first place? Your statement really doesn't make any sense if you'd read it twice.


Destry

MarketHunter, where do you read "big makers" in the topic?
Pigeon guns v. gameguns - and not your slide-show.

What'd Ma'Paaaka say ?

It takes more talent to make a heavy gun feel light than a light gun feel light ergo the "big three". Only the best could master the craft. Competitve shooting is hard on the gun and the shooter. To be able to make gun that both will survive is the epitome of gun making.

As an example of what Older Doc states: I shoot my Purdey hammer pigeon gun almost every weekend during the summer at sporting clays. I am often squaded with good shooters who have never shot anything except O/Us and gas guns. Often after a shoot they request a few shots with my gun, and I always let them. After a couple of pairs that are "smoked" there is always a grin of delight on their faces, and a comment on how great the gun moves. The gun weighs 7#7oz. with 31 inch barrels and a 14 7/8 length of pull. and feels like a game gun. It has all the bells and whistles except ejectors which any maker can put together. It is the feel and balance that make the difference.

All the best, Mal

"All the bells and whistles," do include the ejectors.
Anyway!
I've always been taken back by the heavy gun and the owner's need to declare it a dedicated fowler, or pigeon gun.
Hey! it could be just a heavy ol'gun.
No such stories needed with the light sidelock ejector 12b gamegun.
You know right away when putting it to your shoulder.

Picky. Picky Picky.... Lowell time to pull the thorne out of the glen. A light gun is not necessarily a better gun. Any shooter that shoots a couple of flats per diem appreciates a heavier gun and more so one that is well balanced and made to perform better than any light gun.
Having flyfished for Salmo Solar for years with heavy cane rods and Bogdan reels, a well balanced rig and a good knowledge of casting technique makes using these heavy "Spey" rods a joy. Maybe that is also the point with shooting, knowing how or just talking the game.

I'll rise to the bait as well,

The factory letter on my Purdey states that the gun was completed in 1910 with 31 inch Whitworth bbls.,3 inch chambers [non-magnum], file cut rib,rounded action bar, third fastener, clip sides to action, loose front trigger[hinged], and Silvers heel plate leather covered. The hammers are short and low set with very heavy mainsprings for quick locktime. The bbls. are choked .020 and .030 with a recess behind the constriction for a "hot center" Both barels deliver 90% patterns with most target loads. The left bbl. places 70% 1-1/8 oz. 7-1/2s into 8 inches at 20 yards.[the right 55%]. Stock dimensions are "modern". Not your average heavy old gun! There is no need for ejectors in the pigeon ring, or the clays course.
All the best, Mal

I can think of many hunts, that I've been on, where I would have been willing to trade that 8lb. duck or pigeon gun for one like my 12 ga 6 lb. 3 oz. bird gun, and pay some boot. When you are duck hunting, at Pecan Island, La., in the marsh, where every step you are up to your crotch in marsh grass and mud, and also in Picayune, MS, where you will walk miles of hills and swamp, hunting quail and woodcock, the lighter gun will prove its worth. So, this all comes down to the purpose for having the weapon.

If you are just going to the skeet or trap field, the heavy guns are decidedly better, but I suggest there are way more hunters than clays shooters, and therefore more potential buyers for the lighter weapons. I know, I have ALL the 8 lb. guns I will ever own, and that's only 2.

JMHO

binko