Closing a double, whether a sidelock or a boxlock, ejector or extractor with the muzzles pointed down at the ground and your trigger hand lifting the buttstock up to close it- that was shown in 1934 Paul A. Curtis' fine book- Guns and Gunning- I do see bro Legg's point- you then have to lift up the muzzles with the gun closed, and that arc of movement might cover a dog or fellow gunner.
Longer barrels and a longer LOP add a longer lever to the fulcrum- ie" the hinge pin or pivot point- also closing an ejector gun with the ejector springs tripped usually requires more pressure than closing an extractor gun.
When looking a double shotgun handed to me, both empty and broken open, I will ease the lever back against my thumb and close it- But with my own doubles- Smiths, Parkers and a Fox, when shooting them, I close them with the muzzles down and lift the buttstock from behind the grip and let them snap closed, in battery and ready to fire. Some of them are 100 years of age, still on face, no worn bolts or hinge pins-and I shoot them a lot- year around.
I also differ with the late Michael M. on chokes- I have NEVER altered the factory chokes in any of my shotguns- mainly 12 bores- if I need a wider pattern from the first tube I use a spreader load- BUT I am not a true upland gunner- I don't hunt grouse, woodcock or quail- mainly pass shoot waterfowl and Tower shoot pheasants- or hunt native pheasant in MI and MT and NE with flushing dogs- so a tighter choked 12 works best for my shooting habits.
I also enjoy "rag-ripping" crows and barn pigeons with tighter choked 12 bores with AA reloads (no 8 chilled shot) as they are not for the table- and as the late T. Nash B. once said in his article "The Dove": "You've about had all the thrills shotgunnery offers when you reach out and crumple in mid-air flight a high speeding coo-coo mourner"-- You don't get a 40 plus yard crumple with a cylinder bore, IMO. Now if we could only get doves on the legal "Hit-List" here== probably same long-shot odds as Obama getting a NRA Life Membership that he paid for himself--
