Two triggers. To be sure, I've never spent enough time thinking about which trigger I'd squeeze during a quail ambush, so it has nothing to do with choke selection for me. I just like the classic look and feel of two triggers. When I finally bought a really nice classic SxS last year, I went out of my way to get one with two triggers.

I have shot single trigger over/unders all my life. I have a double trigger side by side that I can shoot just fine on clays, but when a wild bird flushes in front of me I can never remember to pull the rear trigger if I miss the first shot. I practice this a lot and I still can't make myself do it. I guess I'm relegated to single triggers.

For shooters with relatively small hands, the single trigger saves a lot of knuckle cuts and pain when the recoil shoves that trigger guard back onto your fingers.
With my big hands, DTs have never been a hazard.

"Is the second right behind the first?"

Basically yes.

My upland work is done with an O/U 20 gauge with a single selective trigger. The barrel selector hasn't been moved except to clean the gun. Bottom barrel is improved, top is modified. I shoot the improved first. I've had several shotguns with double triggers, both sidebys and O/U's, never did I see an advantage from them. If I dud a barrel in the O/U there is always another chance or another day!

I duck hunted with a 12-ga. side by side with double triggers years ago. I almost always tried to pull that front trigger twice. I never did get the hang of it and sometimes it beat up my knuckles.

I was just a pup then and I'm thinking of trying it again, but with a short, quick pointing 20 instead of the big 12.

I've got a buddy with a 12-gauge side by side with double triggers. Sometimes he pulls both triggers at the same time just to cream goldeneyes and canvasbacks, but I don't think I could handle it.

I watched him do it one morning, then fished a band-aid out of my wallet for one of his bleeding knuckles.

Jersey pig,

I've never had that problem with a Beretta or a Browning. It happened with a Ruger Red label 28 so I returned that POS and got a Beretta 28 end of problem. Never could get used to double triggers or side by side guns. A few yrs ago I saw a guy shooting a 5 figure O/U having the same problem. Think it was a Krieghoff (?).

maybe i've got it backwards, i always fire the rear trigger first, and then the front.
i was pretty sure my barrels were set that way.. maybe im crazy.

Oh no, it's double triggers. That's the way God intended them to be.

I learned to shoot with my grandfather's Model 12 20 guage. After shooting a s x s I never looked back. 2 triggers all the way.

I've had two SxS with double triggers but just never got used to them. Once I had been deer hunting and had an opportunity to hunt dove on a farm that belonged to a friend of my father-in-law. I met him out there and realized I didn't have my plug in my pump so he gave me his big old 12ga SxS. I shot one dove, nearly jerked the foregrip off the thing then remembered what I was doing and tried the first trigger again before moving to the second trigger under clear skies. Then went and found a stick to use as a plug for my pump. Hard to change things up when you are so used to something very different.

Phil, I shoot all single triggers-Citoris in all guages, and an Auto-5 12 guage only. Of course I've got an old Topper for starting kids. I do have an old Riverside Arms Co. 12 guage S*S in 12,with 2 triggers but it can't be fired anymore-it'd blow up I'm sure. It now hangs over a mantle. Use to shoot doubles that others at the range let me try, and while I enjoyed them, I never used them enough to get used to them. As Mike Diehl said-they sure look nice!
Hey Armchair, either your dog or mine seems to get around.
Thanks!

Ishawooa

I think I will seriously pattern my 20 ga. Stevens and start using it for upland shooting. I think the full/modified barrels are choked a bit too tight, so those might need to be modified by my 'smith.

I hear you on the empties. That is the one thing about my autoloader that I don't like. It flings the ejected hulls so far that I have a hard time finding them in the grass. I try to pick all of them up, but I miss a few. I also pick up other's hulls and brass when I find them. Trash, too. I take a plastic bag on almost every waterfowl trip and bring out as much trash as practical. Leaves the land a little better than I found it.

Good post, Phil, and I agree with you. I shoot either, myself...my O/U's have single triggers, but my little 20 s/s has double set. The only problem I have experienced is the 20 ga. is now doubling, shooting both barrels at once. Yes...I am taking it to the shop. Thought it kicked a little more.

Blue

I started shooting a 20 ga. Ithaca Model 37 pump at age 12. As a teenager, I got a 12 ga. Marlin Model 90DT O/U (still have it). In addition to a number of DT Model 90's, I also have two single trigger O/U's, a double trigger SxS, a semi-auto and three pump guns. I shoot all of them and have never had a problem transitioning from one to the other.

Some of my guns have manual safties and others have automatic safeties. I always make sure the safety is on when carrying a loaded gun in the field. A problem I do have when shooting skeet or sporting clays is sometimes forgetting to push the automatic safety off before calling for the target.

I remember reading one time that professional geese hunters would shoot the Full choke first for a direct kill, then as the birds moved away, they would shoot the Mod. barrel for a chance at another goose. I always did the oppsite while upland hunting. Sounds logical to me. anyone agree?

I want 2 triggers for any dble bbl firearm. I have a Fox, in l6 ga, a Stevens in 12, and a WC Scott with exposed hammers in 12. I feel that you need a trigger for each bbl. I also own 2 custom built rifles with dble set trigges along with my T/C HAwken B/P 54 Cal and a T/C Renegade with dble set trigges. I love the dble set on my centerfire rifles. But, all depends on what,where, and with whom I'm hunting with if I use the dble set. Some times i just use the one trigger. Earlier production rifles had such a heavy pull, that he dble set became necessary to avoid a pull off to the right. Now with the adjustable triggers I now use the Rem 700's entiely when on a Guided hunt or hunting with othe hunters. For some reason, I don;t trust the single triggr on shotguns. With 2 trigges, and one fails, you got the 2nd as a back up. I've had many mis-fires on shot shells and the dble trigges save the day. But here we go again, it's what we want and use to shooting.I recall my first single shot gun at 10 yrs of age, and thought I was on top of the world. Too bad we all spoiled now and want more. Make that first shot count and no worry needed about a 2nd shot. As I've said many times shoot-um-straight and pratice a lot and often.

Great to hear from Ishawooa and WaMtnhunter about picking up shotshell empties and trash. I live right across the road from a state wildlife area and as a Division of Wildlife volunteer, I do my bit to keep things tidy when I do the daily dog walk on this property. Hell, I even have my name on a sign at one of the property's parking lots. Seems like every rain brings up another crop of old shotgun shells to the surface in the food plots. I would encourage others to volunteer with their Game and Fish departments.

There is something about double triggers on a sxs that causes me to momentarily slow down on the second shot and adjust lead or align on the second bird instead of triggering two fast shots with a single trigger. I shot in a SXS sporting clays event today with a 103 year old Fox choked .035 & .045 (full & xtra full) close targets were puffed, long targets were broken cleanly. Misses were the fault of the ass behind the gun, not the chokes or the shells.
Michael

WAhunter a friend of mine has the old Stevens in all gauges. He bought them when it was all he could afford. Now he owns a rack full of expensive S x S guns including my coveted desire Connecticut 20. One of the Stevens was restocked somewhere along the way before he bought it with nicely checkered better than average figured wood. It is a very attractive and useful gun. Those old doubles were hard to beat for the money, still are if you can find one for sale.

@duckcreekdick

I have always thought, "How is leaving empty hulls/brass lying around any different from pop cans and candy wrappers?" All littering to me, I suppose. No small wonder so much land is closed off to hunting and shooting.

BTW, are you near the Duck Creek near the Crazy Mountains in MT? I know there are gazillions of "Duck Creek's" around. Just a thought.

It shames me to even visit some of the DNR gravel pits in our area. I have seen everything you listed except the department store dummy, but would add paint cans, freon cannisters, old TV's, and other stuff that are hazmat if you try to take them to the dump!

High $$$ shotguns are nice to own and wipe and rub, but when huntin time rolls around, My Stevens or Fox goes with me. Both ahve dble trigges and I think in my experience a single trigger is asking fo a mis-fire. I don't trust that switch over on a single trigger. Would like a dble bbl 30-06 rifle like EAA made at one time, then sold them to Rem of which Rem never was able to prodce in quanaties needed. May try to fnd one of the use EAA's in 06. Shoot-um-straight and very often.

The triggers are in a fore and aft arrangement. You can pretty much only fire both triggers at once if you push two fingers through the trigger guard.

American Shotguns should have 2 Triggers and Two Barrels Side by Side of the Largest Guage you can find. (You can allways download your reloadsbut you cant go the other way)

If God ment us to be shooting single trigger Over Unders he would have made us British.

Capt Walt

Newenglandcharters@maine.rr.com

PS:

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I grew up using a double trigger on a 16 ga. Parker. For me it was always easy to adapt and learn and I never missed a bird because of such. That gun was choked a tight Modified and a tighter Full. Those double triggers were advantageous when dove hunting. I can remember hunting in Maryland and taking incoming doves further out first with the full-choked barrel, then the next bird closer with the modified barrel. Ditto for taking a bird up close and missing(?), and then taking it further away with the tighter choke.