Side by side

[xDom]

What’s the story with side by side double barrels? Are they considered to be less accurate than under and over.?
Are they an old fashioned format?
I love the look.

[duncan61]

Side by side are a farm gun usually fixed chokes U/O are sporting and have changeable chokes and are 28 inch for trap and 26 inch for skeet.They both work fine in the field.I had a 36 inch bolt action goose gun that was great fun

[No1Mk3]

G'day xDom,
In a way, yes. O/U are inherently more accurate than the older format SxS due to having the line of sight directly over the barrel your firing, giving a quicker and more accurate sight picture. This is why all champion shooters use them. Having said that, if you use a SxS and practice you can achieve levels of proficiency that will allow good scores or game bags. Some records held by old time shooters using quality SxS have still not been beaten by modern O/U guns. I don't own a O/U any more, by the way, but still have several SxS because they look better, feel better to me. A 1st quality SxS is still the pinnacle of the gunmakers art, and always will be, Cheers.

[bigrich]

What’s the story with side by side double barrels? Are they considered to be less accurate than under and over.?
Are they an old fashioned format?
I love the look.

interesting question dom. living in south east queensland there's not a lot of rabbits around , and duck shooting isn't legal . however clay shooting is a common passtime , i consider it a social thing like golf with guns . when i got back into shooting a mate pushed me to get a shotty, gotta have one . essential for the safe i was told . he knew a fair bit about them, i ended up with a italian made fausti under/over (nice well made gun ). after trying clay shooting for a bit i was frustrated with it . realised the stock's drop at comb didn't suit me (i'm 195cm tall ), so i went on the hunt for another shotty and found a "as new" ruger red label 12ga u/o that has fantastic build qaulity and fitted like a glove . my shooting improved dramatically. but my mate when coaching me noticed i close my left eye and sight down the top rib like a rifle . i can't shoot with both eyes open as is the accepted way to do it . i found out from my local gun shop owner after trying to use a aimpoint on a lever gun i'm left eye dominant and both eyes open don't work for me in some circumstances ( we're all different ). the upshot is the ruger is a bit of a safe queen, so i bought a old belgian made "leige" sxs 12ga made in 1948 for $500 for occaisional field use on rabbits over the border in NSW. and mate ! can i shoot with that thing ! i've only shot clays about six times in the last 18 months, so i'm not that experienced . the other weekend i got 23 out of 25 clays thrown . it shoulders like it was custom made for me and sighting down the centre between the barrels seems so easy and natural. the old sxs is light and points much quicker than my u/o. i love side by sides. they seem more practicle and really work for me . fixed chokes are the downside , the chokes on my leige are 1/4 and1/4 and it has extractors instead of ejectors which i prefer instead of having to pick up fired shells off the ground. the build qaulity on my old gun is better than some new $1000 shotty's i've looked at as well i hope this story on my experiences so far are of use to you dom .

anyone looking for a beutiful ruger red label in excellent condition , check out ozgunsales . i like my old sidey better

[hzj80]

The fore end on a SxS is usually a lot smaller than an U/O - a 'splinter' fore end. It makes for a different grip, where you're holding the barrels instead of holding the fore end. Just something to consider.

[TassieTiger]

I have an old baikal sxs (handed down from grandparents) and I shoot it as well as my u/o ata...
Thing is with the side by side for clays, the clay dissappears to the point of impact so you kind of have to anticipate where the clay will be, but a dedicated and set up u/o shooting high, will allow you to site the clay and pull the trigger with the clay visible to your eye.

[xDom]

Thanks. As a rough guide, how much would I need to get a reasonable clay thrower?
I’ve always been up for buying the good quality base models as opposed to the top level cr@p models.
At this stage it’s all for a bit of fun.

[bigrich]

Thanks. As a rough guide, how much would I need to get a reasonable clay thrower?
I’ve always been up for buying the good quality base models as opposed to the top level cr@p models.
At this stage it’s all for a bit of fun.

Mate, I would get one of those cheap hand held plastic ones and get ya mates to take turns throwing. Or if ya got them get ya kids to do it for their pocket money

[TassieTiger]

I got a workhorse model for 290 and it’s great - holds heaps, light enough to carry, flocks em 75m or so on a good day. Small 12v battery and foot remote to throw. 2.0 secs between throw.
Only thing is:
It’s manual adjustment for flight variation - I’d like some randomised throws (can buy aftermarket wobble plate).
And it won’t throw doubles....

But for the money...

I’ve got 2 of those hand throwers...they suck. Unless all of clays are very uniform in size, they are s**t.

[bigrich]

I got a workhorse model for 290 and it’s great - holds heaps, light enough to carry, flocks em 75m or so on a good day. Small 12v battery and foot remote to throw. 2.0 secs between throw.
Only thing is:
It’s manual adjustment for flight variation - I’d like some randomised throws (can buy aftermarket wobble plate).
And it won’t throw doubles....

But for the money...

I’ve got 2 of those hand throwers...they suck. Unless all of clays are very uniform in size, they are s**t.

what did ya pay for your electric thrower taz ?

[TassieTiger]

$290 + $80 delivery to Tasmania from QLD.
I approached my local and he said he couldn't buy them for anywhere near the purchase + post price a certain shop was selling them for.
It's great fun...
Someone suggested weighting some of the clays in different places to get a different flight path intermittently, but I haven't tried that as yet.

[xDom]

You got that for a bargain! Looking around the workhorse seems to be around $600.
There’s a cheap Champion model that only seems to hold 2 clays. About $90. They might be ok? If you don’t mind reloading for every shot.