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The Firing Line
favorite shotgun for trap and upland birds?
Uploaded on October 24, 2009I have a question for Mr. petzal and all other gun nuts like myself. what is your favorite shotgun for your trap and upland birds? because i always see the elderly folks on the range talking about thier over unders and how they are the ONLY possibility for competition. and yet i can outshoot my uncle and his remington over under any day of the week (that has been hunting for around 30 year) with my inherited remington 870 wingmaster 12 guage. so i cant see wat is so good about them so pickyour side pump/semi auto or over under/side by side?
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I prefer the pump action. It is very versatile and has the quick shot of several shells rather than 2 like the over under.
i agree with jj44 about the o/u but i prefer the auto because of the speed , but i hav used the pump in the past
I used pump action shotguns for many years and belive the Wingmaster and the Express are good upland bird guns, hard to beat. One has to remember that there is alot going on during the use of a pump gun and the follow up shot and/or quick shot on a second bird can be muffed by a short shuck or the recoil and manual manipulation of the action combination.
An autoloader can take care of this problem but require more maintenance and don't always feed reliably.
The over/under or side by side takes care of all these problems and give you one very nice advantage; the ability to use two different chokes. No pumping or manipulation between rounds and no feeding problems plus different chokes for that second shot.
Downside to the doublegun; only two shots.
I prefer over/unders in 20 gauge with first barrel choked to improved cylinder, second barrel choked to a modified. Works well for upland birds!
My pheasant gun is a Browning Light-12 "humpback" auto I bought new in Korea when I was in the Army thirty-five years ago. Choke is fixed modified. If I'm shooting over a pointer (which is very rare), the modified choke is a bit tight and gauge can be overkill. But my labs usually put them up twenty yards or so away. The combination of gauge and choke produces a nice pattern for that distance. Also, the modified choke is safer for quick change to steel shot that's required for hunting on federal bird refuges. The safeness of many older model shotguns with full choke is iffy with steel shot. The Browning is much lighter and quicker to point than my 870 3" Express. Even with five shots loaded up in it, I find the humpback a breeze to carry in the field. Had a couple of jams once in very cold weather - needed to use thinner oil on the recoil bushing. Other than that, no problems. I tried my brother's over/under a couple of seasons ago on pheasants and couldn't hit water if I fell out of the boat. In the field I am easily batting 500 with the humpback. If you're hunting pheasants over a pointer/setter, I'd go with 16 or 20 gauge and improved or modified choke. Your shots should be pretty close. For quail or hungarian partridge, I'd switch to cylinder bore if you're behind a pointing dog. I have found that hunting over a flushing dog usually requires longer shots and a tighter choke and/or larger gauge. In short, your choice of gauge and choke will depend on species and type of dog you'll hunt with. If you're planning on hunting upland birds without a dog ... well, playing bridge would probably be a more productive pastime.
The smoothness of a light auto in fast shooting or tight situations is hard to beat. Having said that, I have seen too many guys with autos (especially waterfowl hunters) attempt to fill the air with as much lead as they can as fast as they can. The learning hunter should be limited to two or three shells in the gun. Or even a single shot. A shooter who learns to be careful with his/her shots will always knock down more birds than the hunter who thinks that more lead flyihg increases the odds of connecting.
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I prefer the pump action. It is very versatile and has the quick shot of several shells rather than 2 like the over under.
i agree with jj44 about the o/u but i prefer the auto because of the speed , but i hav used the pump in the past
I used pump action shotguns for many years and belive the Wingmaster and the Express are good upland bird guns, hard to beat. One has to remember that there is alot going on during the use of a pump gun and the follow up shot and/or quick shot on a second bird can be muffed by a short shuck or the recoil and manual manipulation of the action combination.
An autoloader can take care of this problem but require more maintenance and don't always feed reliably.
The over/under or side by side takes care of all these problems and give you one very nice advantage; the ability to use two different chokes. No pumping or manipulation between rounds and no feeding problems plus different chokes for that second shot.
Downside to the doublegun; only two shots.
I prefer over/unders in 20 gauge with first barrel choked to improved cylinder, second barrel choked to a modified. Works well for upland birds!
My pheasant gun is a Browning Light-12 "humpback" auto I bought new in Korea when I was in the Army thirty-five years ago. Choke is fixed modified. If I'm shooting over a pointer (which is very rare), the modified choke is a bit tight and gauge can be overkill. But my labs usually put them up twenty yards or so away. The combination of gauge and choke produces a nice pattern for that distance. Also, the modified choke is safer for quick change to steel shot that's required for hunting on federal bird refuges. The safeness of many older model shotguns with full choke is iffy with steel shot. The Browning is much lighter and quicker to point than my 870 3" Express. Even with five shots loaded up in it, I find the humpback a breeze to carry in the field. Had a couple of jams once in very cold weather - needed to use thinner oil on the recoil bushing. Other than that, no problems. I tried my brother's over/under a couple of seasons ago on pheasants and couldn't hit water if I fell out of the boat. In the field I am easily batting 500 with the humpback. If you're hunting pheasants over a pointer/setter, I'd go with 16 or 20 gauge and improved or modified choke. Your shots should be pretty close. For quail or hungarian partridge, I'd switch to cylinder bore if you're behind a pointing dog. I have found that hunting over a flushing dog usually requires longer shots and a tighter choke and/or larger gauge. In short, your choice of gauge and choke will depend on species and type of dog you'll hunt with. If you're planning on hunting upland birds without a dog ... well, playing bridge would probably be a more productive pastime.
The smoothness of a light auto in fast shooting or tight situations is hard to beat. Having said that, I have seen too many guys with autos (especially waterfowl hunters) attempt to fill the air with as much lead as they can as fast as they can. The learning hunter should be limited to two or three shells in the gun. Or even a single shot. A shooter who learns to be careful with his/her shots will always knock down more birds than the hunter who thinks that more lead flyihg increases the odds of connecting.
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