16ga.com ~ View topic

Joined: 01 Jul 2006 Posts: 26 Location: Finland

Anyone out there with experience of 16ga. drillings? I'm considering one for waterfowling. I hunt off the coast of Finland in the Baltic Sea, and the ducks are often out of range for a shotgun. I like long barrels, and my main concern is that a drilling with 28" or 30" barrels might be too heavy. The caliber of the third barrel is another problem, obviously it should be as small as possible, not as small as .22 lr though, because .22 lr is not legal for geese in my country. Any opinions?

Joined: 01 Jul 2006 Posts: 26 Location: Finland

Thanks Britgun. Don't remember the exact requirement, but .22 WRM or anything more effective than that will do. But because of the weight issue and danger of ricochets I would prefer a small calibre. As for the barrel length, I can't afford a brand new drilling (or at least I can't justify the cost Smile

), so I will settle for shorter barrels if I can't find a a gun with long barrels. 30" is probably too much anyway, or what do you think?

Joined: 01 Jul 2006 Posts: 26 Location: Finland

Yes, I know the barrel length doesn't really matter that much even on a shotgun, it's just something I've got used to. Fit and balance are the most important things.

Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 694 Location: MN

Longer barreled drillings are usually older guns. Since the 1960's, the standard lengths for drillings have been 60, 63 or 65 cm (23.6 to 25.6 inches). With a steel action, these guns are usually a bit heavy to carry around much. The light alloy actions are considerably lighter but these alloys prior to 1960 or so had some problems. I don't think they will withstand the stress over time if you are shooting a lot of rifle rounds. Alloy guns from the 1970's on seem to have a better record. Our German colleagues buy mostly all steel guns.

The biggest problem with drillings can be the schaft. Almost all are with cheek pieces but the dimensions are for shooting with a scope. Common is a "Schweinsrücken" or curved schaft (from the comb to the plate). The best place to look for a drilling for small game hunting might be Denmark or Sweden. Drillings with small/medium caliber rifle are common there and hunters do carry drillings for small game. I have seen a number of lighter drillings with caliber 222 to 6.5 x 55 and with normal pistol stocks.

Joined: 01 Jul 2006 Posts: 26 Location: Finland

Thanks for the info JonP. I will check out what Denmark and Sweden has to offer. Had a quick look at Germany, but the rifle barrels were mostly for bigger game. Also, the cheek piece is very common in Germany, and I can do without that. The germans seem to fancy oversized scopes also. Together with the cheek piece it makes for, let's say not a very elegant gun.

I'm looking for a gun with nice small scope that I can mount quickly when a duck or a goose is out of reach for a shotgun. Perhaps I won't need a scope at all, I think most rifle shots will be in the range of 50 to 80 yards.

The sensible thing to do would be to take a separate rifle along, but you know how it is, there's only one cure when you start thinking about a gun, and that is to buy it. Smile

Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 694 Location: MN

The reason our German colleagues like those big scopes is because they do so much hunting at night or at dusk. Those big diameter scopes gather more light. Germans are big into large slow moving rifle calibers-the contention being that they cause less damage and still put the game down quickly. I have shot pigs with 9.3 x 74 and 9.3 x 62 and there is no way they make less of a hole than a 260 (6.5) which would do the job very nicely. 7 x 57 is probably the best caliber for driven hunts in Germany with a barrel insert with maybe a 5.6 x 52 (Savage Hi-Power) for roe deer and fox, etc.

My ideal for a drilling here in the US is a 16/70 over 243 but I have talked with a number of gunmakers in Suhl and they don't recommend the alloy receivers for 243 which generates a lot of pressure. However, I wouldn't be shooting it that much-we probably have no more than 6-10 fox/coyote/year jump when we're small game hunting and we don't shoot that many deer.

Might be something to your liking here:

http://www.stevebarnettfineguns.com/frm_inventory1.htm

Drillings are under Miscellaneous Firearms.

My fave is the Josef Winkler at the bottom of the page. I've never seen anything like it.

Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 694 Location: MN

There are some nice guns on Barnett's site but I can buy 3 super drillings for that kind of money!!! You're paying for a rare barrel combination and the name.
I buy guns to hunt not to collect. Pretty to look at. I don't think German guns hold their value like the English ones do. Was at an auction in Denmark a few years back and Ferlach Drillings were selling for 3-4000, and those are engraved sidelock guns. Even a better Dural drilling in very good condition shouldn't cost more than $1500.

Joined: 01 Jul 2006 Posts: 26 Location: Finland

The guns on Barnett's site are very nice, but somewhat out of my price range. I intend to use the gun for waterfowling on the sea, so I won't buy a gun that is worth so much that I'll be ruined if I drop it, and it sinks to the bottom. I know guys who have lost their guns that way. Smile

there is a man in upstate NY who specializes in Drillings. I'm not positive, but try www.drillinghotline.com The company is J-Mar Enterprises. I don't know about importing to Finland, but I would definitely go there to gather information.

Another place would be the German gun collectors club. www.germanguns.com They have a drilling for sale on their site.

Good luck,

Peter