Wonderful information here. Lots of help and much to look for. Sterlingworths are certainly high on my list. But the mention of Foxes makes me wonder, are not all Sterlings Foxes, but are all Foxes Sterlingworths? I recall the gun that was the object of SDH's first book was a Sterlingworth 20, and it would work well.
LCSmiths are interesting, but I rarely see one that isn't totally trashed. At least in Iowa, they are treated poorly for some reason.
Parkers aren't doing it for me. They look like the Industrial Revolution's answer to the Teutonic Double with overkill. Just not my thing.
Someone mentioned the Charles Daley Miroku. A friend has one that I could probably buy from him and might. But strangely, it fires less tan 50% of the time when he shoots it. For everyone else, it fires fine, but it makes me wonder. Not really what I'm looking for though. I would prefer an older gun.
Ithaca NID is one I don't know. What is NID for? I'll have to hunt that down.
After all this, though, not one mention of Lefever. What's up with that? Certainly they can run with an Ithaca or an LC, no? Might they be a better bargain than a Sterlingworth since they seem to have no name recognition to factor into the price tag?
While there seems to be a theme of no 20 for late pheasants, I beg to differ. The birds often hold tight in the snow. So tight that Gus has grabbed a few unfortunately. And those that flush wild aren't reachable with a 10 gauge. More importantly, late season is often done from snowshoes with at least one ski pole dangling from my left wrist. A small gun is much, much easier. On the days that really seem to require a 12, then I have one a couple. But now for something lighter. Just the right hammerless 16 could make the cut but I just seem short on 20s.
Ted, no need to worry about modern ammunition. It's convenient, but not required.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/qclHjMQ.jpg)
