Loved my side by sides, shot them well, and for years...when steel became mandatory switched eventually to a semi auto.
If your good with a double, you can really clean up with the semi. Started goose hunting and the semi was the go to, get em and get out...

Actual wild bird plantations, not release bird operations. Release birds operations don’t care what you shoot or if it’s even plugged. Your paying for a certain number of birds so shoot’em how you want.

Shoot SxS or over and under for most everything. When I started waterfowl hunting in 1970 started with 12 gauge pump. Graduated to an auto when I got older. That 3rd shell came in real handy on waterfowl. Really helped on cripples.

I keep my hulls. I shoot my OUs well.

And, it's OK to enjoy shooting something nice.

What it really comes down to is, what fits you best. Yep I shoot a over under as well as vintage side by sides and a few others. But it took several to find one that fit me well. The same goes for all guns. You need to find ones that fit and shoot well. There is also the cool factor.

I’ve had about every type of shotgun over the years for hunting and shooting trap I have tried them all and prefer my 2 autos because they fit me the best. I find less recoil with the autos when shooting trap all day it can wear on a guy after a few hundred rounds with some style guns.

do see the advantage of the SXS for shooting doubles just boom boom. If was on a long hunt I’d take my Beretta auto because it’s lightweight for turkey I take my Remington auto that’s heavier but set up for Turkey hunting.

My son Gunner and I recently hit some pheasants and quail out west of us, along with a couple others in our group.
Gunner carries an over/under 20 gauge and loves it.
I carried my old Ithaca featherweight 20 gauge pump that my grandfather gave me. This gun is well cared for and is about 70 years old. It’s my favorite bird gun.
We did OK with both guns.

Gunner and his over/under 20.


My old Ithaca featherweight.




End of day. Mixed bag of roosters and quail.

I have singles , doubles , pumps and semis in the safe. Pretty sure I haven't shot anything but my doubles in 20 years. I just enjoy shooting them.

What road will it being going down? I want to at least take a look at it as it goes by.

Boom, boom. Eyes still on target with no cocking in-between. Two chokes for that follow up shot, or second bird.

I love break actions to easily peek inside the barrel for obstructions.

Another aspect no one has mentioned yet is SAFETY. When an O/U or SS is open you know it’s safe. You have to physically be able to see the bolt open on the others.
Hunters load their weapons after getting off their horse/wagon/jeep. Guns aren’t shut until getting close to the guide/dogs. After the shots, guns are opened (safe) and generally showed clear to the guides (help…me) before sliding them into the scabbard’s and getting back on the horse/wagon/jeep.

If I were a guide using my dogs taking people I don't know I would really like this.

I really don't like hunting or being around people I don't know with guns. Had a few close calls over the years.

Once you get used to double triggers it gives you that instant choice of choke. You become adept at it, knowing to stab for the tighter choke for the bird that has already gained ground on you. It becomes second nature. On average, I'd say you have about three seconds to get on a grouse you've heard flush.

They're also faster to load and unload. That's handy when you're bouncing in and out of the truck between small covers.

That's why all the saftey stuff he just described.

We are not a commercial operation. We do have clients, but they are vetted before accepting a reservation. We basically have the same clients year after year. Every once in a while we’ll have “special guests” in for hunts and sometimes clients bring guests as well. Most all our clients know the drill and generally it’s a very safe environment. Some of our clients are expert shots, so much so it’s a thrill watching them drop doubles with a .410 on wild birds. 20ga is the max gauge allowed and I think some couldn’t hit a bird with a 10ga.
We do get some guests that think they’re hunting release birds and that first covey rise is always fun. A covey of dozen birds get up without a shot even fired and the hunters are standing there wide eyed until embarrassment starts to set in. We haven’t had any yet that don’t start busting out laughing when they realize the person that invited them has set them up. Generally they get to declare they’re no longer “wild bird virgins” by the 3rd or 4th covey though.
We even had a client set up a guest who wanted to bring his own dogs. We agreed but told him we’d be running ours at the same time. These were some “high dollar highly trained” Italian dogs. These dogs never left the horses or ventured more than 10ft in front of the group. After about 10min of riding the owner of the dogs rode back with dogs in tow and asked, “Where are the birds?” His question through me off and he asked again? It dawned on me why his dogs were staying on the trail and not in the woods. He wanted to know where we had “placed” the birds so he could put his dogs on them. I tried my best to keep a straight face when I said they’re in the woods. He still didn’t get it and asked “Where though?” I then explained we were hunting wild birds not release birds and he said ok and rode away to have a conversation with the client who invited him. A couple minutes later he told me I could go ahead and kennel his dogs, lol.

To reiterate.......simplicity, reliability, versatility, safety, flexibility, weight, and ............elegance.

On the safety issue I'll add that it's simple to see if your hunting partner's gun is "safe" if it is broken open over his arm. Not so with a pump or semi.

Weight. My 20 ga Beretta 687weighs 6.4 pounds while my buddy's Browning Auto 5 weighs 9 pounds.

Elegance.....comparing my 687 or a Winchester model 21 to any semi-auto is like comparing Melania Trump to Hillary Clinton.

The double gun is a lot easier to clean too.

When I was old enough to hunt, I was handed a Lefever Nitro special, 12ga SxS. It my have ruined me, but I never could operate a pump and be as quick and accurate with my second shot as I could be with the SxS.

I've since bought some semi's and do as good, but I have a spot for doubles.

Safety with new hunters is a big point. If it’s broken open it isn’t going to fire. Fall down in the snow or dirt and crack it open to check for obstructions. That’s just a couple. After guiding over 15 years a O/U is the only gun I never saw malfunction. Not saying it never happens but I’ve hunted with only O/U for 30 years and they have a great record.?Plus if you’re any good 2 shots per flush is all a guy needs.

I think I recall you appreciating this Charles Daly, Ken. It's a beautiful gun that turned 90 this past July. German (Prussian) built. Probably the best made shotguns the world has ever known. I also have English, Scottish and American doubles. They're all good but I think the Germans did it best.

That is a beauty Posco. I also think that the Italian made guns will run longer with more wrong with them than any American made gun.

I had a Sauer & Sohn 16 ga x 8x57 jr drilling made in 1937. It was a sweet piece of art work and fun to shoot.

I lost custody in a divorce