doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Bird Gun.... aka Quail Gun

With all of the yankees posting away about their grouse guns, I'd figured I make a thread for the fellas on this side of the Mason-Dixon line to take about their bird guns.... and of course by "bird" I mean quail.

For me, it going to be one of my favorites... a Miroku Model L-II boxlock. Its a 12bore with tight chokes so its probably not the "ideal" bird gun but it fits and I do quite well with it.



The 12ga is the bottom gun. The top is a Miroku KE 20ga that I ended selling this Spring because I didn't shoot it well at all. I've since replaced it with an AYA #2 Rounded Action in 20ga. I think its going to work just fine!






So what gun(s) will you be toting through the woods and pastures this year?

Adam

I will be toting one of my sweet little Vixen 16 gauge Sterlingworths or an equally enchanting little Syracuse Lefever GE grade 16 or perhaps the long barreled Lefever F grade . Since I live in an area where a mixed bag of birds is the rule rather than the exception I will start the season with one of my open choke guns and then as the birds get smarter and the weather turns colder I will move to one of the more tightly choked guns. By the end of December I will be shooting a modified and full choke gun almost exclusively.

As for me, it will be a VH Parker 16ga on 1 1/2 frame. Best handleing sxs for birds I've come across yet...Geo

This little darling weighs in at 5lb 4oz. It is a 1909 LC Smith 2E 20gauge with 26" barrels choked IC/Mod. It was broken in two at the wrist when I got it but Dennis Smith worked some magic and gave it a new life. The pics are from last year as our season doesn't open for 3 weeks. Being North of the Mason-Dixon, I only have pics of Yankee quail.

adam: careful who you callin yankee, boy...

nice thing bout grouse and quail guns, is that they work pretty much the same north and south...

speakin of such, what is the quail season in alabama this year? also, what are prospects for wild birds, or is it still pretty much a put and take situation?

Husqvarna 103 CS, 12 gauge, 75 cm barrels choked .007 and .014 using a nice easy 7/8 ounce load of #8 or #7.5 shot.

Take care,

Mike
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Fisnfowler, "our quail" have a better paint job than "their quail" anyway! (I just wish they DIDN'T have better legs, too....).

Up North it'll be my Merkel 1620EL.

If I go quailing again down South it'll be my AyA #2 20 ga.

Maine Grouse starts the First of Sept YAHOO

Gentlemen:

Also south of rio Grande we have fine quail hunting and quail guns.

Below a couple of photos taken past season (our quail season starts on january): mixed bag of read breasted bobwhite and bannded quail (unique here in central Mexico).

The shotgun is a Pedro Arrizabalaga 20 ga, 6lb 2oz that performs great with our fast flying birds.

Enjoy.

Best,

What interesting birds, Jose. I guess these are just local variants of the Bobwhite, like the Montezuma blacknecked quail in Yucatan?

What other quail variations are seen around the globe?...Geo

Quail? Why, the Sterlingworth 20ga, of course!

Jose, how did you come to own the Pedro Arrizabalaga? Can we see some closeup pictures? I have a Pedro Arrizabalaga in 28 gauge and it is a wonderful gun.

..... Since all my ancestors fought for the Confederacy I'm with you Adam:

For Dove and Quail and lot's of other stuff....just some old field grade guns.............

16/20 Philly Fox S/W's both 28" M/F........2.5" chambers
20/16 Hunter L.C.'s both 28" M/F.......2.5" chambers

I shoot only handloads in these......7/8 oz. 2.5" 16's....3/4 oz. 2.5" 20's......


All uncut, Callahan & Cody lettered guns.........


1930 Hunter Arms L.C.Smith 16................1925 Philly Fox S/W 16

1939 Hunter Arms L.C.Smith 20................1928 Philly Fox S/W 20



Cheers,

Here's my favorite bird gun by Joseph Lang completed March 6, 1866 with replacement Damascus barrels by James Woodward probably in or shortly before 1872. It has a Jones underlever and non-rebounding hammers. I also shoot birds with my 20 gauge 1926 Fox Sterlingworth, my 28 gauge Beretta 687 and my 28 gauge Ugartechea boxlock. I most likely will commit a cardinal sin this year and shoot birds with my newly acquired pump shotgun a time or two - well, maybe it won't be a sin since it's a Browning Model 42 .410.

Jose:
What beautiful birds and a marvelous SxS. As George asked do you know if they are variants of a Bobwhite or their own species? How far outside of Mexico City do you need to go to find quail hunting?

Mike

Smallbore side by sides for me.20,28 and sometimes 16 gauge.25,26,27 and sometimes 28 inch barrel lengths used. Bobby

Very nice lot indeed Jose.....beautiful Arrizabalaga 20....keep up the good work in January.....!

Cheers,

The most elegant quail I ever saw in Mexico were.... Elegant Quail that I saw very briefly in the thorn jungles in the mountains in Western Jalisco. Exquisite! But not a place to hunt with a birdgun anyway. You could hardly stand up in those senderos, let alone swing a shotgun. Little tunnels of thorns going for miles up and down and up and... you get the picture. About a skinny burro wide.

I'd vote for our western Mountain Quail for the most beautiful quail. Also lovers of "hard places to swing a double," unfortunately.

Gentlemen:

As always, you make nice comments when you answer me. This is the most educated an polite forum in the world!

Just for your knowledge

BIRDS

We have, as I know, 13 different quail species in Mexico:

1. Spotted wood-quail
2. Singing quail
3. Moctezuma or Harlequin quail
4. Ocellated quail
5. Spot bellied bobwhite
6. Common bobwhite
7. Black throated or Yucatan bobwhite
8. Banded quail
9. Scaled quail
10.Elegant quail
11.Gambel�s quail
12.California quail
13.Mountain quail

The banded quail (Philortyx fasciatus)is endemic in a relatively small territory in central Mexico. they cohabit with the red breasted bobwhite (it is a sub-species of the common bobwhite) but do not merge together.
At the begining of the season you can find coveys with 30 or more individuals and belive me, it is an exiting experience when they "explode" in front of your pointing dog.

I hunt those birds about 90-120 minutes drive from my home in Mexico city.



GUN

Pedro Arrizabalaga model #132 made in 1968
I have this shotgun because my granfather bought it in Spain many years ago.
Very well made gun, strong as the best.

We are only a small bunch of quail hunters here, mostly sons and grandsons of european inmigrants that bring this great sport here.





Best,

Beautiful bird and a beautiful gun Jose.......thank you for the follow up and the detailed information on Mexico's fine quail population/species........

Jose, your grandfather's Arrizabalaga engraving appears to have a 'German' flavor to it......very nice......

I have hunted quite a bit in Northern Mexico over the years for Gambel's quail and White Wing Doves, always enjoyed the hunts, the food and the people............too bad the drug wars ruined all that

Thank you for sharing Jose...........

Cheers,

Well folks, we got quails South of the Equator too. Here the species is California quail (Callipepla Californica), introduced in the 1870s by Chilean miners coming back from the Gold Rush. Sorry no quail pictures this time.

They are quite numerous over a 1000 mile range; the open season goes from April to August, bag limit is 25 per daily outting.

My current quail shotgun is a Josef Winkler (Ferlach) 16Ga, 27.5 " barrels, 15.5" LOP. Weight: 5lb 14oz, DT SG.



Last season I had four shooting days averaging 12 pieces each. The usual hunting method implies a beater that shakes blackberry bushes that grow along irrigation canals where quails take refuge. Outgoing quails are not easy targets, success rate is usually below 30%. Dogs are helpful fetching runners.

Next season I am planning to add a second gun; an A.Fox AE 20 Ga that is now with the stock maker.

Regards

EJSXS

Great posts, guys! Keep 'em coming!

Ed, yes, there is still a lot of put and take but there are wild birds around if you're willing to work for them. This year, I and a few others, are taking up a 500 acre lease in Southwest Georgia. This property has a long history of quail management and offers a good wild population. We also plan to conduct early release and maintain established coveys of "almost wild" quail.

This year should be good. We had a severe drought early on which really hurt properties that conducted burning this year (our place was not burned this year) but nesting seems to have been good and insect production was great. Just last week, I flushed 3 coveys (off the road) in 2 1/2 hrs while walking around taking photos.


Jose, thank you very much for your insight. Several years ago, I read an article in an old Pointing Dog Journal. They were hunting banded quail and redbreasted quail in Morelos. It was horseback hunt through farmland in a fairly mountainous area. This article spurred an interest in all the "exotic" quail species.

For those of you who are interested, here are some photos of the some lesser known bowhites (most of which are found in Mexico)

Crested Bobwhite


Speckled Bobwhite


Black-throated Bobwhited


Tennessee Red


Masked Bobwhite



Wood Spotted Quail


I know that was a little off topic but I really enjoy learning about these lesser known quail... especially the bobwhite variants.


Adam

Thanks for those pictures Adam, I'm also very interested in the numerous Bobwhite "variants"...Geo

One would be hard pressed to find better knockabout little bird gun then "ribless" Beretta 'White Wing' 20br.

Really like that hammer gun Lang. And PA24 as usual I can see your super restoration skills at work mate. Thanks for showing them.
T

Thank you on the Lang! That's really a compliment coming from a man who can do the quality work on guns that you do. Smallbore brought this gun over and I bought it at auction back in 2007.

It's a fun gun to shoot once you get used to the non-rebounding hammers. I quit counting last year when I reached 3000 cartridges through it. I'll be shooting it at the Vintagers in two weeks. There's something special about shooting a 145 year old gun. If the good Lord allows me another five years of good health I plan to take it quail hunting on March 6, 2016, for it's 150th anniversary. I only hope that it's successor custodian enjoys it as much as I have.

Fantastic, enjoy the gun. Thanks for the comments.

Dig can "dig" up some gems eh?

Cheers

T

Adam,
thanks for this thread. Quail is my favorite hunting bird as I'm sure it is for many that have posted.

I love to hunt them with my .410's. I've come to completely trust that my .410's are capable and I don't even give any of my larger gauge guns a thought when going quail hunting in the last few years.

Here's a couple of mine.






Some of you may consider these as proper quail guns as well.

An Ithaca 20g grade 3 ejector with a factory single trigger restored.


Parker 28g Repro 28".

I've only hunted a few varieties of quail. The ones that come to mind are Tennesee Reds, Mearns, Scailed, Gambels, and California (Valley) quail. But they've all been great game bird experiences.

My personal favorite is still the California (Valley) quail. The beauty of the bird, the terrain, and their flight habits are all something I really find to be the best wild bird hunting of my region.

Here's some pics

Browning Sidelock, 20 gauge. 28" IMod/ISkt, 6 lbs.

1928 Philadelphia Fox Sterlingworth 2.5" 20 ga......28" barrels, M/F......Gambel's Quail......

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Perhaps a little humbler provenance than the other fine guns posted here, but this little RBL28 is a lot of fun to shoot quail with.

I hope to be heading out on a quail hunting trip with my Husqvarna 44 16ga in a couple days. Seeing all the exotic quail species makes me wish for a trip to Mexico, current geopolitical concerns notwithstanding.

Here's a couple new recent pics of my hammer gun:

1913 Ansley H. Fox A-Grade 20-gauge. California Valley Quail in Columbia County, Washington.

Philadelphia Fox A grade sixteen, 5lbs 13oz, 26" barrels:

A little English Hinton 16 ga. with 28" cyl & modified barrels that weighs 5 1/2 lbs. With extra light 3/4 or 7/8 oz loads, it's about as deadly a quail gun as one could devise. Works pretty good on doves over mojo decoys too. My shooting buddy Joe Wood sold it to me in a state of temporary insanity induced by the urge to get a new gun...he won't get it back. If I can figure out how to upload some pics, I'll show it for your approval.

Think we got this going.......Hinton 16 ga. quail gun (with doves and one teal from the pond) Joe Wood's loss....my gain.

A gun that I covet; Cliff's Winchester 21 16 gauge with no. 6 engraving. "It's a sin to shoot a beautiful bird with an ugly gun"