Are you ready for a double gun?
S ome bird hunters and small-game enthusiasts view shotguns as nothing more than tools. For them, a gun is made to load, shoot and kill game — nothing more, nothing less. As long as the gun functions mechanically, it will serve its purpose.
There are other hunters, however, who are interested in guns for their own sake. For these outdoorsmen, guns must meet multiple requirements. They must fire, of course, but they also must be “shootable” — possessing the handling qualities of good balance and pointability, feeling good in the hands. That is why, in this latter group, you will find many who have a special love for “double guns” — over/under and side-by-side shotguns.
I suppose I fit into this group, at least to some extent. Of the many guns I own, my favorite is a Remington Arms side-by-side, double-barrel 12-gauge I inherited when my father died. Prior to Dad’s death, I hadn’t used a double-barrel very often. But when this one was passed down to me, I took it out to hunt with and immediately fell in love with it.
Now I frequently use that old Remington while pursuing squirrels, rabbits, quail, woodcocks and other game. I don’t know what model it is or how old it might be; there’s nothing on the shotgun to indicate these things, and I’m anything but a gun expert. But that double-barrel feels good in my hands, and I like the way it shoots.
I often wonder if my father liked it as much as I do. If appearances are any indication, he did. The stock is pitted and wellworn. The barrel needs rebluing. It’s obvious the shotgun didn’t just sit in a rack; it was used for hunting. When I have it in my hands, it feels like a part of me.
When shooting skeet or sporting clays, a double gun is my favorite once again. In this case, however, I prefer an over/under Browning Citori 12-gauge that also belonged to my father. I hunt with this gun occasionally, but mostly it’s reserved for busting clay birds or other target shooting. And though I’m anything but an expert marksman, I can hold my own with most fellow shooters at the trap or skeet range whenever I am sighting down the barrel of this beauty.
I have several semiauto shotguns, one pump and a couple of single shots, too. But the double guns are far and away the favorites in my gun cabinet. I’ve also learned that I’m not alone in my love for these special shotguns.
Many firearms enthusiasts believe double guns are the ultimate refinement of hunting arms, both in mechanics and handling qualities. That may be the case, for these trim, racy shotguns can be exceedingly expensive. Current prices for a new Purdey, for example, begin at more than £40,000 ($56,000) for a side-by-side and at better than £51,000 ($72,000) for an over/under. New guns built to order by other top-quality makers in England and Europe are equally pricey.
Thanks to improved manufacturing technology, however, quality machine-made double guns can be produced for a fraction of what even semi-custom guns might cost, putting them in a price bracket affordable to a large spectrum of hunters. Many are currently available for less than $2,000. You can save even more by searching gun shows, pawn shops and sporting-goods stores where affordable used double guns often can be found.
Why buy a double gun? “There are all sorts of reasons, both aesthetic and practical, for choosing a double,” says Michael McIntosh, a bona fide double-gun disciple and author of several books about shotguns. “To my eye they are the most beautiful, graceful and elegant guns of all. Their