Where and when I was growing up - the USSR, 1980s - a double gun was the order of the day. The first time I saw a pump gun whas in a French action movie with Belmondau, and I thought it was some kind of a rifle. There was only one new model of semiauto avyailable, not counting some old ones brough in around WW2 and earlier, it shot beautiful patterns, but was heavy, not overly reliable, and picky about the ammo. It was also four times more expensive than the cheapest double gun on the market, and in shortage - but then, in the 80s everything was in shortage, including good ammo, which was another reason to own a double gun. Speaking of ammo, about the only factory shell avaliable was made to the latest technology of Queen Victoria's reign: fiber wads, paper hull, roll crimp. Among the hunters I knew, only one shot a semi - and he was real crazy about hunting. Actually, a hunter who used a semi was spoken and though of as slightly mentally deranged. So shooting a double gun is a sort of an imprint for me, I can't picture hunting with anything else. I did try shooting a borrowed semi once later, when the Evil Empire bit the dust, but didn't like it a bit.
