doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Heavy 12s and light 12s, all you'll ever need.

IMO, no one with a light 12 will ever experience the excitement and satisfaction of taking a limit of doves with a .410. How else can you explain the incredible number of .410 shells that are loaded and sold every year? Kiddies ain't shooting them all.

A .410 is the extreme, mind you, but the difference is real.

I am generally against censorship or deleting Threads here, but this idea that a man only needs two shotguns is dangerous in the extreme!

Just imagine the damage and hardship that might ensue if some woman did an A.I. search to determine how many guns a man really needs, and this idea came up as a result. Something like that would spread like wildfire among women, and they would all start nagging us to sell off excess shotguns.

I've tried to come up with some rational explanation for why you might post this Lloyd, and the best I can come up with is that you were either doing some really heavy drinking, or you are posting a late April Fool's Day prank. What ever it is, I'm betting that we won't be seeing you get rid of all but two 12 gauge guns.

This isn't quite as crazy as the nutty idea that it is OK for a gun owner to vote Democrat, but it's getting close.

Stan: If somebody is competent with a .410 (as you clearly are) then more power to them. I'm not saying you shouldn't (at least while this is still a free country) and I certainly understand the appeal, but in a very general reference to humanity, most folks either can't shoot one effectively or probably shouldn't (unless their skill with it is highly evolved). As you mention, the .410 is at the extreme.

Like many folks (most?), I'm purely looking at my own situation and use. I've used my own 28/.410 combo gun to good effect and I've no plans to discard it. I'd suspect that someday it will become even more useful to me. For most of us here (perhaps all?), "want" equates to "need" and if we're lucky or blessed (or both) we get to exercise those wants. I've thoroughly enjoyed the process that got me to this point and I hope (& pray) that I get to keep doing it for many more years, and after all that... I fervently hope that my progeny gets to enjoy those same freedoms.

Are you kidding me????
A .30-06 could successfully harvest everything on this planet.
Surprisingly, I don’t think I’ve ever owned one yet I have three or four dozen other calibers of loading dies.
I think you’re missing the point!
I will certainly agree you could get by on one gun, but to think you would need a light one and a heavy one might be the most superfluous statement of all!

"a 410 has no place on the game field"...

unless one has little or no compassion for the wounded bird...

the above quote is from lord know it all, October 12, 1899...

Ed: This isn't a screed against the .410, you're just looking for a fight.

Marks 21: I'm not arguing for needing only one gun, I'm saying that for pure efficiency (at least in the way I mostly hunt & shoot now) a 2-gun system would work very well for me. Realizing that will allow me to focus my time, efforts (& resources) in those areas.

"Steel shot has no place on the game field"...

unless one has little or no compassion for the wounded bird...

A more modern updated version of the quote . The current issue is FAR worse IMO as the advocacy for wounded birds (the use of steel shot) is MANDATED by law whereas the use of a .410 would be purely optional.

If I had to pick one gauge and one gun, it would be a 12 gauge Winchester 1897, simply because that's the shotgun I am most familiar and comfortable with.

Fortunately I'm not restricted to one gauge or gun and I've bought 16 gauge & 10 gauge shotguns because I wanted to. In the case of 16 gauges I've bought them because they were interesting and significantly less expensive than a comparable 12 gauge. I don't expect to buy a 20, 28 or .410, but if I come across a really nice 20, 28 or .410 I might change my mind if the price is right.

Interesting choice, Chantry.i have one in my hands right now.

I think you got it almost right. A heavy 12 and a light 16 is, in my mind, the perfect two gun battery. A 6# max 16 is the perfect upland gun. The patterning of a 16 with 3/4 to 7/8 shot loads is a thing of beauty and simply outshines a 20. I have a late production NID with well struck barrels and is likely the last gun I would ever sell (and, if memory serves, the one I have owned the longest; 51 years).