SHOTGUN: o/u or pump?

well it sounds like some people are uptight about what firearms one uses to hunt- target shoot and if you don,t you will not be invited back. if you want to toe their line to shoot- hunt and mingle with them go ahead. here you can hunt-target shoot on public-private land with no concern about what firearms (o/u-ss-pump- semiauto) you decide to use. here we can buy any type of legal firearm with out a waiting time and no hassle from the government. it seems most countries don,t trust their people with legal firearms and put up many road blocks to stop-curtail ownership. you get the kind of government you vote in.
You can buy anything you want but show up on most Southern quail plantations / farms or a Texas ranch with a 12 bore much less a pump or a semi-auto and they’ll frog march you to the property line - politely, but they will mean it - been that way a lot of places for generations. There are all sorts of released pheasant shooting clubs in the east and southeast limited to break open guns. And probably 50% of the clays and skeet courses across the country won’t allow a semi or a pump.

They are also fundamentally safer - particularly on a clays, skeet, or trap course where an open gun leaves no question whether or not it is loaded or unloaded, on or off safe.

And lastly, a break open gun is to my mind far more practical. Nothing like an instant choice of two different chokes.

What the Boer War might have to do with India, I have no clue.
 
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well it sounds like some people are uptight about what firearms one uses to hunt- target shoot and if you don,t you will not be invited back. if you want to toe their line to shoot- hunt and mingle with them go ahead. here you can hunt-target shoot on public-private land with no concern about what firearms (o/u-ss-pump- semiauto) you decide to use. here we can buy any type of legal firearm with out a waiting time and no hassle from the government. it seems most countries don,t trust their people with legal firearms and put up many road blocks to stop-curtail ownership. you get the kind of government you vote in.
Leslie , l am a proud American too :) but , l re-read the guy's post and then yours . Unless I'm missing something , the only reference the guy made to the British is that his dad LIVED in the era when India was still a British Colony and owned a shotgun from Hollis and Sons which was a British exporter of guns into India at that time period . What's there to get political about this ? He just said that he likes over unders and then gave his reasons for liking over unders based on his experiences in the field. And ITALIAN over unders at that . Not British . Also , l can attest that a lot of countries unfortunately do not allow repeater shotguns . I naturally find such laws stupid , as l own a Browning Gold 10 gauge Semi myself :) But does that mean that l won't hunt Elephant in Africa , Water Buffalo in Australia or Roe Deer in Sweden ?
 
well it sounds like some people are uptight about what firearms one uses to hunt- target shoot and if you don,t you will not be invited back. if you want to toe their line to shoot- hunt and mingle with them go ahead. here you can hunt-target shoot on public-private land with no concern about what firearms (o/u-ss-pump- semiauto) you decide to use. here we can buy any type of legal firearm with out a waiting time and no hassle from the government. it seems most countries don,t trust their people with legal firearms and put up many road blocks to stop-curtail ownership. you get the kind of government you vote in.
Leslie Hetrick ,
I fail to understand your reason for getting excited about a man’s preference for certain fire arms over others . But l will answer you in a dignified manner , regardless of the spectacle you choose to make .
Firstly ,
I have not once in my post , made any comment about British or anything remotely pandering to them . My father and mother were from the era when the British colonized India . India became Independent when l was a child . I merely mentioned that my father owned an I Hollis shot-gun which was of British make and being that he lived in an era when over-under shot-guns were not yet produced , he used and was very adept at using shot-guns with side by side barrel designs. I merely stated a fact .
Secondly ,
I have been hunting for six decades and killed dangerous animals and guided clients who killed dangerous animals for eight years , for a living . I am an old man now and perhaps some of my choices in the field are outdated . However , l stand by them as they worked for me . I may not be the most knowledgeable about all kinds of modern fire arms but understand this . I do not write about things or give recommendations unless l have first hand experience with what l am saying .
Thirdly ,
I did not wish to get into politics in a forum which l joined for recreation but as you have brought it up , let me enlighten you. I have guided clients from many countries in my career . And l learnt that nationality cannot he used to determine whether people are good or bad. There are good Americans . There are bad Americans , There are good British and there are bad British . There are good Indians and there are bad Indians. Many of our politicians who demonized the British were arguably worse .What the British did to us was not good , but they did do some good things which one will be a fool to deny . They introduced education for women and stopped Satee . Let me enlighten you on what Satee is . Before the British came , Hindu widows were being burnt alive the moment their husband died . After India became independent in 1947 , this practice resumed again in some villages and this barbaric practice is followed there even today . Before the British came , Muslim rulers would impose Jinxa tax on non muslims . This , l do not support . So yes , l am glad that the British brought some positive changes to us , even though we were mistreated . At any rate , that is more than seven decades ago and l fail to see why you are obsessing about it now . And America does not have the most freedom in terms of fire arm ownership. If you would like to get technical , then the answer would be Switzerland.
 
i shoot the clay games three times a week weather allowing and the only thing that is required was a shell catcher on a semi auto a 11.00 dollar ts item on a rem 1100. by the written reports the mistreatment was on a very large scale. if your meaning about Switzerland is with a reserve soldier having a full auto at home, he had a packet of ammo that was inspected to make sure none was fired. I can buy a full auto for the cost plus a 200.00 dollar tax stamp and shoot it any time I want and I can have all the firearms I want to own that are legal with out government interffence. most countries don,t seem to have hunting for the common working man of all races with all the costs-rules and restrictions placed on them. I just bought this Russian sks in 7.62x39 and was shooting it the same day. and you would not have to worry about frog walking me anywhere and I would not be there, I just can,t get into riding around on a wagon towed by a tractor and stopping when the dogs make point and climbing off to shoot.

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Gents, lets go to the subject of o/u or pump....
 
Red Leg, you broke the spell...(y)

Well perhaps that Churchill was an officer in the Malakand campaign and a ‘war correspondent ‘ in the boer war... oh forget it, I’m reaching here Red Leg. Is it 5:00 somewhere?
 
Well perhaps that Churchill was an officer in the Malakand campaign and a ‘war correspondent ‘ in the boer war... oh forget it, I’m reaching here Red Leg. Is it 5:00 somewhere?
I am Austria at the moment and it’s a bit later. Just corked the bottle. ;) I’m reaching for bed. Hunting report coming in a few days.
 
Well perhaps that Churchill was an officer in the Malakand campaign and a ‘war correspondent ‘ in the boer war... oh forget it,

That was Winston Churchill, but in fact I was thinking of E. J. Churchill - English fine shotgun maker....(y)
 
"What the Boer War might have to do with India, I have no clue".

Probably his great-great-grandfather is a victim of British imperialism.
Kitchener did not invite him for tea and sent him to the front instead.
That still has an effect today.
In the way he expresses himself in every case.
Enjoy Vienna ;)
 
That was Winston Churchill, but in fact I was thinking of E. J. Churchill - English fine shotgun maker....(y)

LOL, yes I was referring to Winston! Churchill the gunmaker was quite good but a little misguided in his promotion of25” barreled guns and their requisite shooting technique.
 
Hey WAB, how do you think this swings?

Churchill-with-Tommy-gun.jpg
 

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"What the Boer War might have to do with India, I have no clue".

Probably his great-great-grandfather is a victim of British imperialism.
Kitchener did not invite him for tea and sent him to the front instead.
That still has an effect today.
In the way he expresses himself in every case.
Enjoy Vienna ;)

@leslie hetrick and his "like" button:
Anyway, you've got a sense of humor.
And that's nice, shows you don't take everything so seriously.
Cheerio:K Irish:
 
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yes I was referring to Winston!

But you were not entirely wrong!

Sir Winston Churchill, one of the finest politicians of XX century, from early start in his young days wanted to go to high politics and one day to lead Great Britain, and to do that as per his own ethics, the only way to do this, was FIRST to serve the British army and visit ALL the colonies.

Already in Malakland campaign he made him self known in London, as simultaneously he was making extra income as a war correspondent then, and was noted in London for his writings. Describing himself then as a "knight of pen and sword"(He did in later,years after ww2 won a nobel prize for literature )

Less known is his later trip to East africa, were he did (of course) some hunting.

What is to be noted, is that his trip to Kenya - British East Africa was made in 1907, two years before Theodor Roosevelt famous safari of 1909 (which started modern safari tradition - and subsequently brought all of us together , on this forum a century later)
(y)

https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-180/churchills-african-journey/
wm 1907.jpg
 
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I don’t think I was wrong at all, I own and have read every book he wrote. I was just jokingly giving up on creating a rationale for Leslie’s bizarre comments!
 
Unless you are shooting from a blind the O/U is the handier of the two choices (barring the SxS option). The O/U will likely be better balanced and point better (more instinctively), it is also simpler to operate no need to operate the action manually. If you do a lot of shooting from a blind you may find that the deep drop of the O/U barrels may hinder ejection and loading, so a SxS would be a better choice. Either way, get an ejector gun to speed reloading. A proper double gun has a trigger for each barrel and this is most commonly found on SxS guns but also available on Berettas and other Euro-made O/U guns. I prefer an automatic safety.

My O/U guns (Perazzi and Browning Superposed guns) are very reliable and will hold their value over time. My SxS guns are the guns I use for almost all game shooting - they carry well, move well, operate flawlessly - - and some of them are still going strong after more than 100 years of use.
 
I Personally prefer double shotguns , I've hunted everything from geese to squirrels with a sxs. Another added bonus if you plan to rent out your gun to clients sxs or o/u are both ambidextrous where as most pumps are dirictional.

I full admit I'm bias though , my family line is English and I learned to shot on doubles. Father gave me a sxs 28 as soon as I was old enough to carry it which I still carry although not as regularly as shells have become harder to find.
 

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