doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Combination Guns, useful!

For a number of hunting situations here in central Europe a combination gun is quite suitable, and as a matter of fact extremely popular.

Kind regards,
Jani

Brown, if you consider Drillings too heavy, you have a tremendous lack of experience with drillings.

I am constantly amazed at the drift these threads take! We went from discussions about the practicality of a combo gun (3-500 buck) range to the suggestion that a megabuck Paradox might be the way to go...Everyone who owns a Paradox hold up your hand! For that matter everyone who wants to own a Paradox hold up your hand! My comment about my not shooting mine much was TIC. Combo guns do have a use. Combo guns do not have to be expensive.

The new 'Paradox' is a waste of money. About the only thing it's really good for is as blind man's defense gun!
You are wise to find something handy in say 16x16/7x57R. A 20x20/.30-30Win would be a gem, but might be quite difficult to find. Not many made, and eveyone looking for dril wants one.
Main problem is the rifle tube which in old ones tends to be something odd like 8x, 9.?x72,.... Those are relics to be avoided. After all, what is use of having a drilling with rifle barrel for obsolete cartridge when there are numerous SxS smoothbores to choose from.

I will say that drillings and capes are niche guns. How useful they are depends upon where you live.
I have hunted for Sika in VA, and in the location that I hunt you can use rifle, slugs, or buckshot - but strictly OO.
Unless you reload, that is (unfortunately) a 12ga proposition.
That being said, shooting these 100# deer in the open or in the tall grass really can call for two different guns.
A cape or drilling with detachable optics is perfect.

My drilling in 7mm is accurate to any range that I feel confident to shoot, and after I cobble up some 16ga OO, it should fit the bill. Weighs in at 7 1/4# which is far from overweight.
I have hunted with capes and combos, but it is nice to have the extra shotgun round in the 3 barrel.

Cheers.

Pheasant opens tomorrow.

Tom

I thought the post was about comboguns being useful. I know of several Paradoxes and Exploras that were sold for not too much more than what I have seen an RBL advertized. If one were limited to 300 to 500 dollars, I don't know of any combo gun that would be truely useful for both fur and feather.

I just bought a boxlock side by side in .410 x .22. I'll post a photo or two when it arrives. I figure that if I don't use it much it will be there for the first grandchild.

I have no experience of hunting with one, Pete. I've handled a few in Europe and to me they're sort of a like a Swiss Army knife---something for everything. That's not my kind of hunting nor my kind of gun. Regards, King

JC,
It depends where, and what you are hunting. Big horn sheep, or pronghorn in the western US, 175 yds is often times a close shot.

Typically, people focused on sheep, deer, or antelope here in the US are not considering feathered game. That is a huge difference between here, and Europe. In my State, being in possesion of birdshot while legally deer hunting, is frowned upon by law enforcement.

It is not unusual to own a bolt rifle that is consistant out to 300 yards. Finding a shooter that good is a bit more troublesome, but, we are out there. I don't consider that level of shooting anything to brag about, either. My father spent years in the USMC Seventh Rifle Company teaching people to regularly connect with their target at ranges that surpass that by a good measure.

If I HAD to own a combination gun, I suppose I would. I suppose I would pass by longer shots that were really better done with the bolt gun I couldn't own, and I would sometimes regret not having another tighter choked barrel for bird hunting, since I was only allowed one gun, and it had to do it all.

But, I don't have to make that choice-I can own more than one.

I still view a combination gun the same way I view an Enduro bike-not quite the best of both worlds.

But, an Enduro, or, a combination gun, would be better than nothing.
Best,
Ted

Ted, totally agree, it depends.

Best,

JC