doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Favorite Gun/Game Pictures - 2023 Hunting Season

Thanks for asking. Yes, it's an Express in .30-06. For four decades, I really wanted the Continental like you posted. I always planned to actually hunt with it, since I am mainly a bird hunter, but most of the ones that hit the market were investment guns. I would lose 30% of the value by just taking them in the field. I'm too practical for that. Besides, I have had a 20 gauge bird gun since 1990, a Browning BSS Sporter with IC/M barrels so the 20 gauge barrels for the Continental were really redundant. I found that Express for sale in April of 2020 just like you see it with Leupold 1.5x-5x scope and swivel studs. I know nothing of its history but whoever owned it, best I can tell, never shot it. The Browning rust preventative put on at the factory had hardened and was extremely difficult to remove. I've killed 8 deer with it and four African animals. Its got a quirk, though, that's a little embarrassing. It shoots the Over barrel 4" higher than the Under barrel...I don't like it but I solve it by shooting a 180 grain in the over barrel and a 150 in the under. The bullets will almost touch at 100 yards. I use Federal Premium 150s with their nickle-plated cases and Nosler brass for the 180s so it's easy to keep the bullets in the right place. As long as I feed it properly, it's deadly accurate with both barrels.

Rubberhead,
When you bought your rifle, did it come with a test target (more than likely a drawing of a heart) with a test group? If so, it should have listed somewhere on the target the make and bullet weight of the ammo used. European ammo is often loaded to different ballistics than American ammo. In my experience, European guns are often regulated with heavy for caliber bullets. You may find it worth your while to find out what ammo was used and duplicate those ballistics with your handloads. If the barrels shoot together with a duplicate of the European ammo over open sights, but not with a scope, you may need to have it reregulated with ammo of your choice. Of course, if the solution you have worked out is satisfactory to you, reregulation may not be worth the cost to you. There is a pretty good chance that you were able to buy the gun because the previous owner was unable to find a load that would shoot both barrels together, with a scope mounted.
Mike

Good question. The short answer is no, I got the gun just as you see without the sling and it in a cardboard box. These guns came from the factory with a leather and canvas case but I didn't get that either.

Here's my working theory based on just a few data points...and the few data points I have are this...every similar gun I know of shoots the over barrel 3" to 4" higher than the under barrel. My theory is that Browning regulated them with the gun in a vise. You see, according to Heym, the recoil of a gun begins to take effect before the bullet leaves the barrel. So, the line-of-sight of a right barrel on a SxS rifle is low and to the left. The recoil from a round fired from the right barrel will pull the gun up and to the right thereby canceling the regulated low-and-left built into that barrel gun when held by a human. The mirror image of that is true for the left barrel. When fired the X shaped pattern will cause the bullets to print in the Center of that X when regulated to whatever distance.

An over-under is very different because the recoil from the Under barrel causes significantly less muzzle jump than the Over barrel and is directed more straight back than the recoil of the Over barrel. This causes the Over barrel to naturally print higher than the Under barrel when the gun is held by a human. But, if you lock it in a vise so the recoil doesn't impact where the bullet prints. So, my theory is that the relative inexperience of Browning with the making of double rifles caused them to think that a gun regulated by very precise bore sighting or shooting it from a vise would reflect real world conditions when, in fact, it does not.

I have heard that the Valmet O/U rifles have a good reputation for accuracy.

I have a Baikal IZH-94 Express Rifle in 30-06 and have worked up a load that converges
at 50 yards, I have a Weaver K-3 on the rifle.

Mike

Not a trophy by any stretch, but some good meat and fun time with my son. It fell dead in its tracks with my Model 70 .308

Rubberhead
The information from Heym is basically correct in general but unstated factors cause variations also. Most of my experience also comes from Heym, both directly and indirectly. During most of the 1970s I lived in Germany and had them make extra barrels for my Heym O/U combination gun (double shot barrels, 60cm long) at the factory. Later I had a local gunsmith that had been "Meister" in the hunting weapons division make a set of rifle barrels for the same gun. Most of the people that worked " side jobs" on guns either worked or had previously during the day at Heym. Since a Heym blank set of barrels was used, the barrels are for practical purposes from Heym. The barrels were regulated for the 293 gr TUG bullet and shot a little over an inch group at 100m. I had them mount a scope in claw mounts and instead of good groups, it shot patterns. I took it back for re-regulation, but it was stolen from my friends shop before it was finished. The replacement was regulated with scope mounted. Before final finishing, I took it to the Rod & Gun Club range to test it myself at 100 meters. I fired an "under" and "over" as quickly as I could get back on target. The two bullet holes were touching, so I took it back for final finishing. Mounting a scope can change the POI, different bullet weights can also change it, and waiting too long between shots, for sure will change it. These changes can happen while what you learned from Heym still remains true.
Mike

Thanks Mike. I understand that the line of sight through the scope is higher than it was with the iron sights. I measured the under barrel at 2.2" below the line of sight. If I could blink my eyes and make the barrels converge with the scope perfectly at 100" with identical loads, I'd do it. If I have spend money and risk what I have now...no way.

Right now I can put an O/U pair within an inch of the bull's eye at 100" and less than 1/2" from each other, from a rest using life jackets and soft gun cases through a 5x scope and some really big floaters in my old eyes. Here's my target from Africa...



I shot the top of my zebra's heart off at 100 yards with the Over barrel, and similary with an Impala Ram at 100 yards with the Under barrel. Here's the Impala, I didn't have the foresight to take a picture of the zebra's heart but it looked identical, only a lot bigger...




I shot the heart out of a whitetail at 175 yards at the end of last season using that same 5x scope. It's got another quirk I haven't mentioned...it throws the first shot from the under barrel after it's been cleaned...



That flyer was U1. The other three were O1, U2 and O2. So, I've learned that I give the gun a thorough cleaning then make sure to put a bullet downrange through the Under barrel before the season.

It's got quirks but I've learned to live with them.

When it shoots where you want it to, you can't ask for any more. I understand about floaters, I'm always "batting" at what I think are mosquitoes.
Mike

After the pheasant opener last weekend, Gus and I went north to talk to a contractor and then grouse hunt. As always, we had a great time.

Gus turned 100 yrs old today, if you believe in the 7 dog years = 1 human year. If so, he still acts younger than me. If I don't lace up my boots fast enough, he gets pissed off and starts barking at me to hurry. Hard to ask for more.

A few pics of birds with the Kimbal/Skimin & Wood and a Cashmore Paragon. After never having even heard of a cinnamon grouse, I've now shot 2 of them this year and a friend shot a third. Beautiful, big birds, but the Spruce grouse are the most striking of all. Did anyone here contribute to the Minnesota DNR study on spruce grouse a few years ago? The results are now out in various forms.









Ran into these guys clogging up the road (I didn't mind at all - it was fun to watch). They hooked up about 12 dogs and pulled off in their F250 flatbed with duals in the back. The dogs were louder than Hell, and having a ton of fun. Gus wanted to jump in and give it a try (or so he said).






I love being next to the water. This place never looks the same twice.