16ga.com ~ View topic - What kind of guns do you spend your hard earned money on.

Gentlemen,

Where do your interests fall when picking shotguns to hunt with?

Is your interest in Classic American & Euro Double Guns for bird hunting?

Is your interest in O/U & Semi-Auto modern guns for Line Shooting and some hunting?

If you purchase shells do you have certain shells you like best?

What age group do you fall in? 25-35, 36-50, 51-75, 76-85

How old were you when you learned to use a shotgun?

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 26 Apr 2016 Posts: 369 Location: Vermont

Where do your interests fall when picking shotguns to hunt with?

Dave I'm 61 almost 62. I use O/Us (Rugers, Winchesters and Brownings)for most of my hunting although I started out and still use autos for some esp ducks and geese. I shoot quite a bit of clays, sporting and skeet but when hunting season is open i'm strictly a hunter. I do use both O/Us and autos for clays as well. I use mostly my reloads for clays, some 28 and 16's factorys. I buy steel for ducks and geese mostly Federal Red box 12 ga. For upland hunting I used a couple cases of Federal premium copper 8's in my 28's ove the last en years or so those are mostly gone. I also use AA 7.5s in 28's for grouse and woodcock. Pheasants I use my reloads for game farm birds in 12 ga, and Fiochhi GF in 28 and 16. I started using a shotgun at 14 or 15 with my Auto 5 16. but learned to shoot a shotgun at skeet when I was 16 -17. i was fortunate to have a guy at the club that was on the All america skeet team help me out.

I

Joined: 09 Dec 2012 Posts: 691

I hunt with pumps. Mostly Ithaca 37 16ga guns, however, I do have a couple 20ga I-37's and 3 I-37 12ga guns, 2 of which are Deerslayers.

I don't have to think about cycling a pump. It is automatic now. I can cycle and shoot quick enough that it sounds like a semi-auto.

I first started hunting with a shotgun in my late teens and really got into it hunting deer because in Ohio only recently were straight walled rifle cartridges made legal to hunt with.

The last time I went deer hunting I clipped the top of the heart of a doe on the run and she fell in a depression, when the gun came back from recoil she was nowhere to be found. She immediately dropped. Not seeing her, I took 2 up on the hill, also on the run.

The farm owner tagged the extra one I had. (I had 2 tags at the time) and wasn't going to leave it to rot.

I am pretty quick with a scoped shotgun. It also translates to rabbits and pheasants but them dang woodcock are still a bit faster than my reaction time. I have to get my head wrapped around it.

I could say interest is in the Classic American doubles but not my pocketbook!
We shoot a lot of trap with Browning O/U's and BT-99. Have Beretta 391 Parallel Target also.
Double guns are Stevens Springfield 16 ga and Beretta Silver Hawk 12.
My son has his grandpa's Remington 58 16 gauge.
Learned to shoot with the only shotgun my dad bought my older brothers, an Ithaca 37 12 gauge. I think they only had "magnum" loads for their younger brother. I was actually fortunate to get that shotgun when he passed.
We now either load or buy 1 oz loads for all.
Probably 10ish when it all started. Now in the middle of the 51-75 group.
Thanks for allowing us to share some of the past heritage.

Member Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 680 Location: MAINE

All shotguns but my passion is Philly Fox sub gauges
RST's exclusively
68 yo
Started at 12yo

Well, I hunt with SXS and O/U primarily
Except dove and I use a different gun each outing

I have people giving me guns ALOT, go figure
Lately they have been Rem 1100s, Rem 870, S&W 1000s etc
So I use them at skeet or doves or pigeons.

I have lots of guns now and just try to use the ones that I have.

Mike

1) Whatever allows me to imagine.

2) See #1

3) Line shooting? The englishters called Trap, Down-the-line...is that what you mean?...irregardless, those days are past for me and SCs holds zero appeal. A bit of informal skeet is enough and no, I would not purchase a gun for that purpose ....just let a birdgun speaks it's lovely part.

4) Probably, but I tend to like a shotshell box's graphics.

5) Physically?....51-75

6) Hopefully, I'm still learning.

Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 2124 Location: Hudson,Wy

jbusch720, this sounds just like our recent conversation. Perhaps the time is right for "the list". Oh, and you really need to tell everyone how you got started shooting. That's a story nobody will top!

I'll play along. I am a double man, I have always like the appearance and I get along with these guns well. A SxS speaks of the era my dad grew up in. An era when he could grab a gun, let out one of the dogs and start hunting from the porch. His neighbors waved as he hunted through. The next day he might be waving to them. Now, I am living in an era where I fear I may outlive my way of life. I go hunt every day I can.

I tend to like the American guns and British guns the most, but can't afford the British specimens anyway. The european guns feel great, but for some reason I have a hard time warming up to the styling of most. And yes, when I buy a shotgun it's for hunting wild birds. Target shooting is just something I do casually.

I haven't had the chance for any Line Shooting games in a long time, there just isn't anywhere to do that here anymore. I suppose I would prefer an O/U for that, even though the auto I once used did recoil less. I got tired of chasing hulls anyway.

I'm on the deep end of that 36-50 age group but never really did quit being a boy. Dad taught me how to spray shot when I was 12. I took up bird hunting in earnest when I was 17 and had my own wheels. As a country kid I soon bought a Lee Load All since I couldn't afford store bought ammo, especially the high priced hunting fodder. Soon after this I traded a surf rod for a Mec press. I burned a lot of powder below the barn and established a "no fly zone" for starlings. My friends joked that the birds would fly over high out of range, in the pattern of a peace symbol. My first shotgun was an 1100 Rem that a trap shooter put a lot of rounds through. I finished wearing it out. With Dad's approval, I traded it for a set of wheels for his 79 F250 one Christmas. I still have that Mec press though. I gave the Load All to a friend.

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 1113

I really like the classic American double barrel guns, but the only one I've found that actually fits is my 16 ga A H Fox Special. So far, I've used it on quail, chukar and doves.

I do most of my bird hunting with more modern SXS's of Spanish or Turkish manufacture. I lean toward single trigger, POW stocks, semi-beavertail forend, and screw in chokes. I also like the weight to be no more than 6 3/4 pounds and preferably around 6 1/2. Last year I placed an order for a Fausti DEA 16 ga custom gun that should be here any day now (11 months) and this will be my first Italian made gun.

My skeet gun is a Browning Citori 525 with Kolar sub gauge tubes that I normally shoot as 20 gauge. My trap gun is a Browning BT-99 12 ga. For sporting clays and 5 stand, I like to shoot my 16 DeHaan O/U.

My western bird hunting trips I shoot a lot of Fiocchi Golden Pheasant in #5's and #6's. For wild quail I use hand loaded Cheddite hulls and 1 oz loads of #7 nickel plated.

I'm in the 76 to 85 age group.

I'm still learning how to use a shotgun, but actually got serious about it 12 years ago when I hunted behind a couple of good bird dogs. That experience totally corrupted me.

Prefer my SxS’s of walnut, steel, and the occasional buffalo horn. Recently picked up a field condition Sauer hammer gun, pow stock. Most other SxS’s are English stocked. Field guns are 5lbs 14oz to 6lbs 4oz. All my doubles except the 525 (7lbs, clays gun) have double triggers. Have been fascinated by German guns since gettin my Draht Greta a couple years ago.

Mostly shooting pen birds while training pointers at the dog training club. Shoot a few clays and a couple dove days a year.

Factory loads I’d take Federal #8’s over most other choices. For my older guns, I load 7/8oz with fiber wads and a roll crimp.

I’m in the 35-50 group, much closer to 50 than 35.

Started shooting clays 20 years ago. Went through a few 12ga clay guns, a weatherby Orion and browning gold hunter. Then I got the Citori 525 16ga after catching the 16ga bug. Almost all the 12ga’s are gone now. A couple classic slide 16’s (37 and 1912) remain. No auto loaders left.

Did pick up a WWII vintage Sauer Model 8 in 12ga recently. Straight stock and weighs 6.2lbs. Have a set of 12ga dies on the PW375 and seemed they needed a purpose. Chokes need a bit of opening to LM and IM or Mod And full. Should be acceptable gun for pheasants or maybe ducks in a pinch.

*Last edited by Chicago on Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:01 pm; edited 1 time in total*

My interests are English doubles and I concentrate on trying to find jewels at the low end of the price spectrum and I have found some very nice 16 bore Army & Navy sidelocks over the last 15 to 20 years. In addition I have a handful of English, German and American boxlocks all SxS, except for one O/U that somehow found it’s way into my gun cabinet.

My favorite shells are RST because I don’t load my own and they work well in my old guns. I have not shot any other shells in a very long time. I fall into the backend of the 51-75 age group.

I learned how to shoot a shotgun with my Grandfather when I was 11 or 12 and I started to walk with him on grouse hunts when I was 7 or 8. He hunted with Fox SxS and that is what I used as a kid and I have never hunted with anything but a SxS. Both of my sons also grew up shooting a SxS and I have a short stock 20 ga SxS in the cabinet for the grandkids to learn on. I figure the SxS has become a family tradition.

Good Hunting,
Mike

Joined: 31 Jan 2019 Posts: 55 Location: Idaho

I will be 59 next month.
I started with shotguns when I was 12, the legal hunting age in Idaho at the time.
My first shotgun was a 410 single shot. That lasted about two days until I was busting hand thrown clays with it fairly regularly.
The next was a 16 ga Rem. 11-48 that lasted for two seasons, then Dad bought me a brand new 12 ga 870 which I shot for years.
When I was young Idaho was all but 100% rural, money was tight and the rule was one gun for everything. So we all shot 12 gauges except women and children, or so the theory went.
I was always enamored with O/U’s and over the years I owned a couple low dollar models. Tika and SKB 12’s. They left me disappointed.
When I became involved with the ranch I was a dedicated 12 ga guy. Guiding exposed me to hunters with more experience with birds and with more money. Most of our clients come from the eastern half of the country.
I was stunned at how few 12 gauge guns showed up with them. One client was a collector of Superposed 20’s and he let me shoot his 1949 20 and I fell in love. I assured myself I would own one.
My first decent O/U was a Beretta 686 20. I was sold!! I have not hunted with a 12 since.
Two years ago I finally found my Superposed. 1953 vintage, 26.5” barrels with a solid rib. The only detraction if you can call it that is that it is fitted with Briley thin wall tubes. It is a hunter and that does not bother me at all.
I now own several O/U’s in 20 and 28 ga.
My first SXS was an SKB 200E. With 26” barrels. It taught me why SXS shooters like longer barrels.
My latest SXS is a Sauer & Sohn 16. So far I love it and plan on it being my main gun for next season, even though I know I will struggle leaving the Citori Superlight 28 in the truck for quail and pheasant, or maybe the Superposed or........ Y’all know the drill.
I dont shoot trap or skeet. They bore me. No offense to those that like it, just not my thing.
I shoot sporting clays occasionally with some of my business customers who are partial to it. I enjoy it but have been shooting a 12 semi as the course is not friendly to sub gauges.

Member Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 592 Location: Minnesota

I've been a 16ga SxS hunter for many years. Although my preference is for the older traditional British upland gun I do have a 1927 Fox AE. I either reload or buy RST/Polywad shells. I'm in my late 40s. Firearms safety course at 12 years old and my parents required that before shooting a shotgun.

Joined: 17 Dec 2015 Posts: 64 Location: Northern WI