doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How do you define a best gun?

Rocketman,

The term Balance over in Europe covers what you call handling in the US plus a fair share of general ergonomics. Gough Thomas coined the term Eumatics to cover these qualities. He also described a dynamometric contraption to measure swing dynamics, which a physicist friend copied and the results were fascinating.

Best guns inocrporate these characteristics. They feel lively, despite the weight, are easy to manipulate, and are pleasant to touch too. I would say they do not fight you when you use them and offer sensory pleasure in all phases of use. At the risk of being denounced by a SXS crowd, I found the same tactile qualities in some smooth pump guns.

Yes you can get these qualities in a "lesser" gun, but you expect them in a best, if for no other reason than you are being royally charged for them.

Personally I pay little attention to the balance point etc. From experience with many (possibly thousands) of guns I found that when each major part is center heavy, in the disassembled state, the assembled gun tends to be a lively handling one. By adding weight to the right place it is possible to alter the feel up to a point.


Darne doubles, regardless of quirkiness or not, are among the best handling doubles because the design favors center heavy parts, and the absence of a bottom rib helps too.

I am eager to handle an Alex Martin Ribless some day, to see how the absence of ribs affects its handling.