Hey all, just curious to hear what some people have said to you when they see that your using a SxS?

I have a couple.

When my boys were in Boy Scouts they had an Annual "Troop Shoot". Well, we only shoot SxS's, so the first time they went to the shoot they brought their SxS's. They weren't allowed to shoot them because the "Range Master" said that those old SxS's will blow up using modern ammo. My boy's were using a Browning BSS and an AyA Matador III. So, we had to use someones 870. BTW, there were a few "Safe" O/U's there.

The other one I get is why do you use that old gun, or are they safe to use.

So...what about you folks? Any good stories?

Best,

Greg

No good stories. The folks I hunt with are accustomed to my use of SxS shotguns. I guess about the only comment I do get is by my main upland hunting friend who's commented jokingly, on only having two shells available, unlike him, who's only hunted uplands with a 20 ga 870 as long as I've known him, loaded with 5 rounds!

I was once asked by a serious clay shooter; 'do you have to move your head from side to side to sight down each barrel?' And he wasn't joking! Lagopus�.. I thought of asking if he moved his head up and down!

I dabble in skeet shooting and usually use a J. Burrows (circa 1869-1875) hammered double with a Jones under level. The gun had the chambers lengthened 2 3/4" and was proofed for smokeless in 2000. Not really any stories, but some reactions:
Bemused as I rotate the under lever and cock the hammers on each stage
Appreciation and surprise at seeing such a old & beautiful Damascus barreled gun being used
Shock when they ask and find out how old it is and when they get a good look at the gun and the engraving.

At my club, there are high school kids pulling, usually working for targets and ammunition. They come and go, but, two standouts are young ladies from the Spring Lake Park school system, and I seek them out when my Son and I shoot, because they freely offer pointers to the boy. They are phenomenal shooters and outstanding citizens, and I tip both of them very well.
When I am there with a double, I always ask if they want to shoot it, assuming it is just the kid and I on the field, which, happens often in the morning, during the week. �Hell, yea!!!!� was the last reply. Either lady would be game, and I have known the family that runs the club so long that I am forgiven shenanigans like that.

Handed the chick a V19 28 gauge, and pulled for her the last half of the skeet round.

She is a killer. Double gun, or other.

Best,
Ted

I was shooting at a small southern MN club with Cold Iron and another friend about 3 weeks ago and one of the locals came by, looked at the rack and said, "Look at aaallll those SxS's. What do you shoot THEM for?"

"Nice 25"

I usually have a couple of black powder shells to shoot after that type of question.

Normally at least two bodies will hit the ground.

A friend had a comment when he looked over his shoulder to see a mallard drop about twenty yards to his rear. I had shot the duck from the opposite shore of the pond we were shooting from, me on one shore, he on the opposite shore. I was shooting my AYA light ten with 1 3/4 ounces of steel BBs. It was a nice 85 yard shot or a bit better, and would have been a 35 yard shot for my friend if he had seen the duck crossing behind him. His comment as I walked past him to retrieve the mallard: "Who shot that duck?"

Season before last I was in a big, floating blind in the L 'Anguille River bottoms with my friends who own the land. I was using my big SuperFox with 32" barrels, very tight chokes, and 1 1/4 oz. bismuth. I was 3 for 2 ( having killed two mallards with one shot on the second shot) when a lone drake came in from the rear, heading into the slight wind. I thought he was going to set down in the dekes as he had been so vocal. But, he didn't like the looks of something and started straight away, climbing slightly. At about 35-40 yards I put a load dead in his rear. He shuddered, but kept flying strongly. Just before going out of sight around a bend in the slough he put both wings straight out and fell dead. My buddy sent his lab, who had marked the drake falling, though he fell behind some tall trees, out of sight. After 5-6 minutes of anxious waiting we saw Max coming back through the trees with the greenhead in his mouth. One of my hosts, the elder member of the family, said calmly to me "You've got the only gun in this blind that could've made that shot". Over many years of watching that HE Fox they have all gained much respect for what it can do. My biggest regret about it is that I never got to use it on some tall ones with 1 5/8 oz. of Luballoy 4s.

When I go to dove shoots in this part of the world someone usually asks what old double I'm using today, and they pass it around in great interest.

At a sporting clays shoot many, many years ago a smart alec on the squad ahead of me commented to all that my gun looked like it had been run over by a truck and twisted the barrels "sideways". I replied that if God had wanted me to shoot O/Us he would've positioned my eyes that way. I got more laughs with my comeback than he did with his smart comment. All good.

SRH

Just about everyone knows all I shoot are SxSs, except pumpgun Fridays at our club. Been doing it for longer than I can remember seeing how a SxS was my first shotgun. Over the years shooting trap I've used a 870, Browning BT-99, and a Parker SBT, but now I'm back to my Remington 1894s F grade trap models. I've got three of them, so there's no need to shoot anything else. I don't hunt any more, just shoot clay birds, and I find it much more enjoyable to use a old Damascus barrel SxS than some new gun anyone can buy and shoot. There's something about shooting a hundred year old gun that's been around. If only they could talk back to me. I just wonder where they've been and what they've done.

I simply explain that I shoot SxS's because that's how my eyes are oriented!
Karl

"That thing is going to blow up!" Later I walk out of the woods with a turkey and a greener from the 1870's. Gotta love RST!

Many years ago I took my middle son to the boot in Missouri for his first duck hunt. I took a Lefever HE that I was fond of shooting at the time. The guide gave me grief for bringing such a outdated gun. In two day I killed nine ducks with 12 shots. Two were very decent shots but the rest were gimmes as far as I was concerned. By the end of the second day the guide had shut up about the outdated double. Another hunter not with us had shot almost two full boxes of shells and as far as I could tell had not scratched a single feather. He did have a nice looking modern semi automatic in the proper black plastic finish. Shooters like that make a guides day very long and tend to be lousy tippers.

I often get something like �Well you don�t care much about score do you?�

Later I hear �Jeez I didn�t think you could do that with a SXS...�

My first duck hunt in AR was a freebie, paid for by a seed company I did business with. I'd never shot steel in my life. I took a 26" barreled BSS choked IC and M. When we loaded up in the back of a pickup that first morning at the Hartz
Seed Co. lodge outside of Stuttgart I was the only one out of six not carrying a SBE or a long barreled O/U. One guy looked at my little double and said "You going to use that?

Six of us in the blind, I thought, as we waited for shooting light. How am I going to know if I actually killed a duck with 5 others shooting? I figured that only if I beat them to the draw would I know for sure. I decided to not shoot on the first flight that came in, so that I could observe how they came in, how things went in general. They blasted away at them killed two to three, and looked around at me still sitting down. "Why didn't you shoot?", they said. I answered that I thought there would be plenty more chances. I noticed that they came in from my end of the blind, and hoped the next bunch would. They did. I had my feet set properly to stand and take one short step while mounting my gun, my trigger finger alongside the trigger guard and my thumb on the safety. At the guides' call to "Kill 'em!" I jumped to my feet, dishragged a drake, then killed closest duck to him. I had two dead ducks in the air before anybody else got off a shot. The rest of the morning went like that. Nobody said another word about my little gun.

SRH

My son met a girl in college that he wanted to visit in the summer. She lived in a rural area and her dad and brothers liked to hand throw a few clays behind the barn in the evening. He asked to take a gun and plenty of shells to have some fun.

I of course had no problem whatsoever and told him to help himself with whatever he needed. Lo and behold he took a 12 Gauge Ansley Fox XE SXS with 30 inch barrels and in his words made diesel smoke with her brothers and dad. His future mother in law laughs now that she thinks her husband had a bigger man crush on my son than his daughter did at the time.

When shooting clays or out hunting, other shooters will often compliment me on my Parkers. No one has ever been rude or a "wise ass".

I mostly get polite curiosity until they get a close up look at one of my guns. Then they typically want a much closer look at it.

Not a double story but to me pumps are almost a classic double to many. Last year I was invited to a very fancy Dove hunt. Took my Pigeon Grade 42. Host just about wet his pants when I pulled it out. After a few minutes I told him if he wanted to he could use that one and I would shoot another 42 High Grade I had with me.

He was like a kid at Christmas. Put his gun away and took a couple boxes of my shells. Told him I like pass shooting dove with the 42 and he had the perfect spot he said. We setup in a deep ravine with trees on one side, so the birds which flew over us were 30-40 yard shots. It was a lot of fun. He missed his first ten shots or so and walked over to me and asked what he was doing wrong. Stop measuring your lead and thinking about it I told him. Next two shots he killed the birds and he started chipping away at a limit. Almost had to pry the gun away from him when I wanted to go. His offer to buy it was close to my temptation price but I did not let him know that. I do have an invite back this year or maybe it was the 42 which got the invite.

When I began shooting at the local gun club I was almost the only one using sxs guns but as the years have gone by I see more and more of them. I think the disease is catching. And the fellers I mostly hunt quail with have all switched from o/u guns or autos to doubles, some even damascus! I have never experienced anything but admiration of the guns and respect from fellow clay shooters. But then again, nothing less would be expected in the part of the country I live in.

SxS shotguns were never totally out of style in my area, so it was not unusual to see them. I myself didn't own or shoot doubles until I was out of college. By then, I was also using a flintlock for all of my deer hunting, even in the regular season when everyone else was using their bolt or lever action rifles. These days, I know and see more hunters using SxS shotguns than I ever did, so as Joe Wood says, I think they are actually becoming more popular. I've always felt that those who pronounced the SxS shotgun dead and gone were very wrong.

A few years ago, I finally bought a SxS double rifle, and that one generates some comments. I have never ran into another hunter in my state who was using a double rifle.

At my local shooting club, I normally shoot a Fox double of one description or another or occasionally my pre war Ithaca M37 20 gauge with a solid rib. These usually don't result in any questions or comments.

I'll occasionally shoot my cased Holland & Holland back action hammer gun and that often results in strange looks and an occasional "are you going to shoot that?".

To those that are interested, I'll tell them about the gun, when it was made and show them the 1 1/8 oz Nitro Proof marks on the barrel flats. I tell them it has 30 inch steel barrels choked about IC and Mod and has 2 1/2 inch chambers. I shoot it with reloaded 2 1/2" RST hulls loaded with 1/2 ounce of lead shot. And there isn't a target on our sporting clays course that can't be broken with a half ounce of lead shot.

And to those further interested, I'll offer them the gun to look at and point. Most are very pleasantly surprised.

It's a sweetheart.

Yes indeed. Very classical lines. The other word that comes to mind is very stylish

Almost no one down here shoots sxs doubles. There are some who do but they are few and far between.

I am surprised by some of the posts that describe the reactions of guides and range masters. They should know better.

I got my first sxs at 14. I learned to shoot it well. I've never had any comments on using one other than positive ones.

Alan

It is an autoloader world around these parts. Always has been since I've been hunting and a SxS in the field is a rare encounter. Most common question I hear is about shooting with double triggers otherwise comments range from "is it safe" to "why do you use it" to "that is old school". Rarely will someone show much interest or inquire about holding the SxS.

I had a shooter at an nssa skeet shoot tell me that the barrels on my gun were stacked wrong. I replied back "no, yours are wrong. If God had meant for us to shoot an over/under he would have put our eyes that way" He walked away laughing until he found that I shot a better score than he did using my 16ga CZ Ringneck against his expensive O/U.

The guys I hang with shoot every configuration of shotgun, most every gauge, every clays game and most hunt live game. A SXS doesn't get many looks unless it's really unusual.

I purchased an A-5 Light 12 from Sears in 1970, it was my first "real" shotgun; then traded it off for a side x side a couple years later. When my father learned I'd traded my Browning he said I must be crazy because I'd "traded away the best gun ever made". No one hunted with a side x side in my N. GA hunting grounds in those days, and an A-5 was considered the "Cadillac" of fine guns by the locals; but I was fascinated by the craftmanship exhibited in a fine vintage double and wanted to take my game with the same kind of finely crafted implement (killing game with an A-5 was just to easy; and besides, I was the first in my community to get into reloading and that A-5 was costing me too many lost AA hulls). I got some odd looks at first, but in those days I was usually high gun on the dove field; so my gun choice was just accepted as my being slightly weird. Over the years of using double guns I've bagged a wide variety of game from whitetail deer to snipe, but enjoyed more dove shooting opportunities simply because there were sufficient doves to provide lots of shooting. And since dove shooting is typically a social event, uncasing an old double with Damascus barrels always gets the attention of those who don't know me; thus providing great opportunities to meet folks, and also provide a bit of education on things concerning the maker and gun history. In the "old days" when I was shooting regularly and had much better eyes I consistently connected on an amazing shot; and on a fair number of occasions had a shooter walk across the field to ask what kind of gun I was shooting and how it was choked because "some of those birds were dropping at 75 yards". Probably an exaggeration, but most impressive to those folks none the less.

I WAS AT A CHARITY SHOOT A COUPLE YEARS AGO AND SHOT ONE OF THE HIGH SCORES WITH MY 1873 VINTAGE STEPHEN GRANT HAMMERGUN. AS I WAS ACCEPTING ONE OF THE TROPHIES, I HEARD SOMEONE SAY " LOOK AT THAT OLD GUN HE IS USING, "IT LOOKS LIKE IT CAME OVER ON THE MAYFLOWER!

At least they didn't say it looked like YOU came over on the Mayflower!!!

I normally get a lot of looks and comments that they can�t hit anything with a sxs. I was out on a controlled dove hunt a couple years back shooting my AYA #1 in 28 gauge. On my way out I noticed a father son sitting on one of the stations I had to walk past to get back to the truck. Once I past the two, the young boy said to his dad �did you see his gun? His father replied yea, you don�t want or need one of those pieces of crap� I guess shooting some sort of automatic 12 or 20 is the ticket by the way they limit 75 round. And shoot starts at 1200 ends at dusk I was limited out in just over an hour I still had two boxes and a couple left from the first box.

Good shooting, 28 GS. Fifteen for twenty-three is waaay above the average, even on opening day. Well done.

SRH

Shooting an AA 'Falcon' (Uggie) 26" 410.

I'm 6'3" and at the time I was 270 lbs.

"You look like a moose with a toothpick". She did have a point.

I dropped 50 last year and bought a new Browning with the grocery money I saved.

I was on the Lake George pass with my Dewson 10 ga loaded with 4 1/2 dr Fg and 2 oz Lubaloy 4's. I shot once into a flock of Redheads about 35 yds high and three drakes dropped out. Some guy heard the strange FOOM and saw the big smoke column and I heard him quite loudly and with kind of a western twang say "What the hell was that!?"

It is usually explained to me that I've brought the wrong kind of gun. More than once I've beat them all with my "wrong gun".

One guy was actually hostile to our group of shooters. He asked if we rode horses to the range and illuminated our homes with candles. His o/u was chrome plated.

When they see that my gun has double triggers I get these two questions;

Do you pull both triggers at the same time?

Do you place a finger on each trigger when shooting?

That being said- I'm not the only one around here who shoots a sxs, but its a very small club!

They say, "GOOD shot, old chap!"

Funny, I have modified pumps, autos, O/U's trying to create the best bird gun possible, and I came to realize it was perfected well over 100 years ago; the SxS.

When I bring my 4 bore with 40 inch barrels it always draws a crowd. I will shoot a round of skeet with 12 gauge inserts and it sounds like a pop gun. When I get to one of the middle stations and no one is paying attention, I throw in a black powder 4 gauge shell and after the "kaboom", they tell me they almost had a heart attack! Great fun!

I've got a Zabala Bros 10 ga sxs. I use it primarily for cripples and the late morning high flyers (unless it's old smiley). I was in the blind with my buddy and a lone goose came through, way too high but worth a try. After the second shot, my buddy's phone rang. It was his brother in a blind about 400 yards away. He asked, "What the Hell was that?"

Oh, that goose is still out there or died of old age.

Alan

I've also got another Zabal Bros 10 ga sxs with 20" barrels. It's a great novelty item. I always ask around if anyone wants to shoot it. It's getting harder to find suckers.....

I haven't found a comfortable way to shoot it yet. But, whatever I shoot with it stays shot.

Alan

"Don't see those here very often. Are you a hunter?"

"Not seriously. I prefer to think of it as hiking while armed."

Today, at the Whittington Center, "you are one in 10,000".
Which was the staff's response to, "These gun racks are not suitable for doubles, while out on the Blue course."

I tried mansplaining a widow on a sporting clays Facebook group whom was sharing the two sight planes information. Apparently her late husband was the smartest man she ever knew, and took it very personal that anyone would have knowledge that would say otherwise. With the advent of FB and forums I really question going to school for this stuff and my learned experiences.

There are lots of very smart people on this board, just ask them.

I don't have any of these "problems" gents, as I shoot waterfowl mainly by myself now-a-days, and use my LC Smith Ideal LONGRANGE when I can afford Bismuth loads for it. 90% of the "guns" at our Tower shoot pheasant club shoot Binelli autos- I usually use a full choke M12 with express lead loads-- I like to use a side-by-side on the dairy farms for barn pigeons and the stray crow that flies over--my current "fave" is a 1920 field grade L.C. Smith, 30" M&F, DT, EXT. I like this because I pick up ALL my empties, and my doubles with ejectors tend to throw them a bit from my position-- Most of my summer months shooting is evenings, after woodchucks and raccoons, and mainly with scoped varmint rifles-- RWTF

I have helped and instigated several guys who come to my house in South Dakota for pheasant hunting to add at least one SXS to their battery.

I only shoot SXS guns unless it's raining or snowing that day. I pretty much bring 3 roosters back to the house each day. That gets guy's attention and prompts some interest.

We have some "show your sxs nights" each week if there are a few sxs shooters there. We all enjoy that.

I have no idea why I didn't comment on this thread way back in 2020, but to the op's question:

"what kinda ol' dubbabaarl is that you shootin'?"
JR

When on the occasional chance I visit the skeet range I take my Leige hammer gun and a good handful of handloaded BP shells. When by off chance I miss one not a word is said, as it should be.

“Nice gun, if you’re robbing a stagecoach”.

They don't say much but give me a funny look............

I'm using a hammered SxS, some will ask what it is or look at it sitting in it's case in between rounds of skeet. Mostly the gun get curious looks and appreciation.

I was 20 years old and newly married, going to college in the daytime and working full time at night when my boss invited me to join his Saturday dove hunting group. I didn't own a shotgun and couldn't afford to buy one. I'd always borrowed one from my Dad (usually a 16ga M37) or from one of my grandfathers when we went hunting. When I thanked my boss for the invitation and told him why I couldn't accept he said he didn't have an extra gun but let him "work on it". When the next weekend rolled around he said, "Buy some 20ga shells. I've borrowed a gun for you." When we got to the dove fields, he opened the trunk, and handed me a SxS (a 311 as best I remember). I'd never had a double in my hands but as soon as I loaded it I looked up to a dove screaming straight in. Without thinking, I swung up through the bird and dropped him right in front of the group. I certainly didn't say a word and neither did they but they looked at each other and I looked at the double. "What is this magic gun?"

There have been a lot of doubles that have come into this happy home since that fine day and the "magic" hasn't dimmed. Momma still doesn't understand the attraction but "humors" me. In fact, I rolled the roadster out this morning and took her to her favorite restaurant to celebrate our 53rd anniversary.

Nice little story, sir, and well-told. And may you and your Lady dine ad infinitum.

Happy 53rd, FCF. Well done.

Most of the guys I hunt with are used to seeing me with S X Ss. Generally, before a dove shoot starts, they will walk up and ask what I'm shooting today. I hand them the double, tell them what it is, and they will usually ask how old it is. When I tell them the year some of them were built they look incredulous.

In a duck blind they will ask, sooner or later, "Is that 'Bo Whoop' ?", in reference to my big Super Fox.

I pretty much shoot sxs shotguns, primarily hammer guns, almost all the time, including casual skeet and sporting clays, except on the trap field (most of my sxs are choked C or I/C and Mod). It's cause for comment at my club when I show up with something other than a sxs. I do have a handful of O/U guns and one lonely pump (a much worn Winchester Model 12 16 gauge with a Weaver choke system), but could happily live without any of them as long as I have the sxs.

As an aside, the Weaver choke system is so ugly it makes a Cutts look attractive.

My eyes are SXS not one over the other!

typical comment for me is....which is older, you or the shotgun?

best regards,

tom