doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Combination gun for pheasants/deer?

Mark,

In many parts of the South deer were traditionally run with dogs and most of us used shotguns with buckshot. I have taken several deer with 12 and 16 gauge guns loaded with buckshot. I would recommend that you pattern your shotgun with different loads, i. e. I found that smaller shot sizes (#1 buck and even #4 buck patterned better that #00 in various guns). Buckshot also seems to work better with open choked guns - cylinder or improved cylinder from my experience. Range is generally limited to 40 yards or less.

In South Dakota the deer and bird seasons overlap too. My hunting buddy has like his Remington Spartan 12 gauge/.223 combination gun for using during this time period.

Too bad. That 8x57 would do a number on a dove....

After hunting with drillings for over 20 years and taking big game (moose, proghorn, caribou, deer, blesbuck) and small game (chukars, pheasants, ducks, snipe, quail, Huns, ptarmigan, blue, ruffed, spruce, sharptail and sage grouse along with most of the South African game birds), I still believe a truely useful drilling should be a good shotgun first. I've often carried one bird hunting when "rifle game" is scarce and would only be coyotes or foxes. It should be like hunting with a nice side by side with a bonus- the rifle.

Best,

C.

Dave,
The 8x57 would certainly cut down on lead required!

It looks like I answered my own question. I went on a grouse hunt last evening and this morning (3 flushes, 6 birds total flushed) and afterwards decided to try my French 16 boxlock with slugs. I figured the barrels are nitro proved, so I decided to take a chance. Here are the results from 50 & 75 yds with my ic/choked right barrel, using normal 1 oz. non-saboted Federal slug loads:



50yds off hand resulted in the shot on the left, while the second shot at 75 yds using a tree rest, holding a couple inches high, resulted in the near bullseye. To say I was surprised a smoothbore sxs barrel with a standard brass bead would be anywhere near this accurate is an understatement. Looks like I'm good to go out to 80 yds or so on a deer, which is about the range I'm most confronted with in a bird hunting situation.

My vote goes to the 16x16 over 8.57JRS. I've got a war-years Merkel and for me it is the best of both worlds.

Shoot six more at the same target and see where they go.

Mark, I told you!! Those old hillbillies made do with one gun, a double barrel of course, for decades. Mostly old Belgium hammer guns and Sears and Roebuck guns (Crescent?)but they made them work, and so will you!!!

I hesitate to mention this but a "HillBilly" wrote in to one of the gun rags many years ago, Field & Strem I think. Any way he stated he bought shells (12ga of course) loaded with #5 shot for everything he hunted. For the Bucks he simply opened the crimp & poured it full of beeswax which held the shot together like a slug. As they say "I Don't Advise Trying This at Home".
For the Hillbillies guns I would guess it was about a toss up between an old double & a Single Barrel.