doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How Popular Are SxS's In Your State?

Just looked at Fausti's website. Lots of SxS, mainly single trigger. On some models you can order double triggers. That's like driving a muscle car with an automatic tranny!
I shoot with gloftness a lot and our little group is definitely a bastion of SxS goodness in a sea awash with plastic pumps and autoloaders. Yes, those guns have their place - as tomato stakes! I do shoot me some o/u, but half of mine have straight grips and all except one are Italian as they should be.
Regards,
Jeff

About half the ten or so different people I hunt with in MT every year deploy SXS guns for upland birds.

I don't meet many people out hunting, but our clay target and flyer shooting guys include a bunch of side by side shooters. Of course, side by sides are as much about collecting and history as they are about shooting birds. One of my friends admits to owning somewhat more than 70 side by sides, and others don't admit what they own in double barrel shotguns. I'm not talking. We are a bit of a hotbed of serious side by side shooters in the DC area. When I show up at the Southern or the Vintagers, it is like going to the local gun club, same faces.

I think all the Dea models Cabela's handled--both round body and sideplated--were DT guns.

At my duck club in central NY. Out of 26 members, 13 shoot SxS's, 8 Auto's and 5 O/U's. Duck hunting in our area has a lot to do with tradition so many of the guys are interested in the traditions of waterfowl hunting which includes the old doubles. At my gun club Rochester Brooks with 1200 plus members it seems evenly split Autos and O/U. I shoot with a 10-12 SxS shooters but we are a very small minority. Many folks just think it is impossible to kill a duck or break a clay with a SxS that has 3" of drop and two triggers. It didn't slow the old timers down and I think they had a lot of things right when it comes to guns and game.

Very seldom do I see a SxS where I shoot sporting clays. I think most look at me as an oddity carrying around my SxS wearing a strap hunting vest to shoot sporting clays but it's how I get some practice shooting in before bird season.

I started out shooting SxSs and have never looked back. The only diversion from this was after a developed a rotator cuff problem and was shooting a lot of skeet so I switched over to a Remington 1100. Additionally I had this gun set up as a convertible for slug deer hunting which was the only permissible firearm other than muzzleloaders in Illinois where I lived at the time.
As far as numbers go; I have far more SxSs then I could wear out in my lifetime. I hope to eventually pass these on to my grandchildren.
To get back to the original question: I don't see great numbers of SxSs either in use or for sale here. There have been times when I've shot trap or skeet, which is only on occasion anymore, where I had the only SxS in the rack.
Ironically William Larkin Moore is located here but I have no idea if they have a very active local clientele.

Jim