doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Best American Side by Side

I used to get rid of pest birds, sparrows, with the 10 bore Remington. I would wait till they were all perched on a fence line, stand at a slight angle to the fence, and let her buck. Once I took out nine with one shot. Yep those Remingtons have a distinct, solid "clunk" when you close them.

IMHO Sneider (Baltimore-1880's) < 300 made-Not enough to have a
"Following"-in any case to me The Best Of American designed and
made shotguns.
Bill McPhail

Most all of the American makers turned out wonderful guns at the high end of the scale. If you throw out as being beside the point such things as how many big loads can be run through, or how much gold could be put on the receiver, I think what begins to separate them is how well they made their entry level guns.

To my mind Parker quickly floats to the top as being gunmakers through and through. Parker's fit and finish, inside and out, attests to someone carefully seeing that every part was right.

My first choice of "best" American SxS is the Win M21.

I like AH Fox,Parker,Lefever and Smith guns. Bobby

Hands down, The Ithaca Western Arms guns. There are a bunch of drug store cowboys here BUT any experienced shot gunner knows the Ithaca Western Arms models are the BEST. Why? They are stronger than a tank, come in all the popular gauges, are affordable to most anyone, never fail to go bang, lots of them around, and most importantly, are multipurpose. They can be used to club shakes, prop open a door, as a snubbing stake and all round muli-tool. What more do you want? The BEST is its affordable, its reliable, its strong, doesn't require annual factory service. In fact probably no service at all. Always does its duty! What's more BEST than that? (smile icon). --What is the purpose of a shot gun anyway?--For the touchy, feely crowd, I am certain none of this makes any sense.

Walter: You have convinced me. I have never owned nor shot an Ithaca S by S but have owned a 37 which is a great gun. My next purchase will be a small bore Ithaca. I have never owned a Lefever nor even shot one but plan on it for my future. I think with these guns being so affordable is a huge plus as well as their ruggedness! I really like American made shotguns!!

I agree with Bill on his answer except I would put a David Kirkwood Sidelock Featherweight as a very close second.

Best wishes to all on this important Holiday Weekend.

Berrien Moore

Bill,
I have never seen one of the Sneider guns of which you speak. How about bringing one to Las Vegas next year? We'll be at the Lefever tables again.

DrBob-If I come to Las Vegas I'll try to bring a Sneider-have
some pictures on CD I gave you.
Berrien-agree with Kirkwood being the second choice- His
Drillings are the Best American Drillings IMHO.
Bill