What's wrong with inexpensive SXS shotguns?

I've owned a CZ Bobwhite 20g for about a year now......... I only have 250rnds through it so far, but no problems yet.
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Therein lies the issue for me - I'm glad your scores are up - usually indicates this gun fits better than the 870; however, 250 rounds is something I might shoot in one or two days, not one year. Notwithstanding that, the Bobwhite is not a target gun by design, and for many folks, 250 rounds might be a year's worth of bird-hunting usage (Argentina dove excluded :D ), and if it is working - great! Hopefully, you'll get many more year's worth of trouble-free shooting from it. As I said before, right NOW, they seem to be hit or miss; in time, I am sure they'll get to the point of reliability and reputation where folks will clamor for one like they do now for Browning and Beretta
 
Took my old 311 out for a couple of rounds of skeet today. Managed a person best of 23. Also shot a double from the 2 post with a 28 ga Perazzi. Well a single really, missed the hi house because I didn't release the trigger far enough to reset. You'd think for that kind of money they could afford to put another trigger on that thing. Still, sure was sweet.
 
OkieCruffler

Love hearing things like that about old 311's! Nice to know they still have some life in them. My B seems to be performing the same way.
 
Managed a person best of 23. Also shot a double from the 2 post with a 28 ga Perazzi. Well a single really, missed the hi house because I didn't release the trigger far enough to reset. You'd think for that kind of money they could afford to put another trigger on that thing.
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Perazzi will put anything you want on one of their guns - and most personal touches aren't extra.......:D
 
At $10K+ they should come with 2 triggers, 4 barrels and a half dozen swedish virgins to carry it for you.

My 311 really shouldn't shoot well, It's choked full and "almost but not quite as full" or as my grandpappy said when I ask him, "It's choked right and left." LOP is about 2 inches shorter than I'd like it to be. But after 2 dozen years I've pretty much gotten used to it.
 
The less expensive SXS will entice you to spend again some day on an expensive one. That's what happened to me. I had a few Baikals, a Hugo, and some other brands both SXS and O/U since 1978. What they all did was convince me the two barreled shotgun is much more dynamic than a single barreled repeater.
The doubles are two guns in one with two separate firing barrels and systems. They have to be joined to make them uniquely one and that is where the money starts pouring in....
 
Was at Dugan's Gun Shop in Hughesville, PA today - looking for shot - no joy. Looked at shotguns instead.

They had two very serviceable 311s for $259.00 and $279.00. They also had a Ugie O/U 12 ga in very nice shape for $350. One of the 311s, I know for sure has been there for ten years. It's not a SXS kind of area.

Pete
 
It's not a SXS kind of area.
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Those are the kind of places I love to browse through, because you can find some real gems as older folks die off and families sell those "old guns" from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s.........typically at some great prices
 
Well, you've got your wine snobs and you've got your shotgun snobs. Most of the wine snobs I know can't pick out expensive wines from good but less expensive wines in blind taste tests. (There are exceptions to that rule of course, and even I can distinguish real rotgut from good wine.) Similarly, most of the gun snobs I know can't shoot any better than I can with my very modestly priced guns. (There are exceptions to that rule too. I'm not the greatest shot in the world; just adequate, and I think that the people who can outshoot me could probably outshoot me if we traded guns.) But I have to admit, I do sometimes feel real lust in my heart for one of those beautiful expensive doubles. It's just that my practical nature won't allow me to buy one. Everytime I have $5,000 to spend on a gun, I start thinking about how much money I could make with that $5,000 if I invested it in real estate or tobacco allotments, or in barrels of Scotch whisky, or if I bought 30 or 40 low priced military surplus import guns and held them for a few years and then sold them, or if I just put it the money into a CD. Thinking that way is what put my kids through college and allowed me to retire with a boat and a house on the river. But the gun lust is always there and it has nothing to do with what the gun itself will do. Its about what that gun would do for me. Anytime the urge gets too bad, I go to a gun store and fondle one.
 
Come on guys ...life is too short to drink crummy wine....(cheap or expensive) .... But I did pick up a case recently of the new release of an old favorite Napa Valley red wine - Frog's Leap winery / Cabernet Sauvignon ...its selling up here for around $40 a bottle ...but its as good as many $75 dollar bottles. I'd recommend you try a couple bottles..../and laying it down for a few years won't hurt it / but its ready to drink now as well.

treating yourself to a nice gun is the same thing ....but I can't resist making the rounds of my better used gun shops on a rainy day ....you never know what might follow you home .../and shopping for a good deal is way too much fun.
 
hi-volume

Here's a question related to this set of ideas: Does any manufacturer make a SXS suitable for for high volume trap shooting? A gun that will last the aforementioned 50K rounds plus?
Pete
 
Here's a question related to this set of ideas: Does any manufacturer make a SXS suitable for for high volume trap shooting? A gun that will last the aforementioned 50K rounds plus?
Pete
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The Winchester 21 had a trap model made. Any of the better quality guns made for pigeon shooting should last as well
 
OkieCruffler said:
had P O S stamped right on it. Turns out that stands for Pride Of Spain
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My friend, wouldn't it have been in Spanish (perhaps Orgullo de España), not English?
Perhaps it was a third party warning: POS = Piece Of Sh.. :rolleyes:
 
such as?

Oneounceload: This will show you how much I don't know about shotguns but....
Any of the better quality guns made for pigeon shooting should last as well
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And those would be?
I sat down with the current Gun Digest and none of the SXSs were labeled as "Pigeon Grade" - probably I can't afford one that is - so how does one know which is which? If you could suggest a model, that'd be a help. Just trying to satisfy my curiosity.
Pete
 
Many of the Spanish, Italian and British guns had a "pigeon model" that was meant for the heavy duty use at pigeon matches where loads were hot and heavy and a lot of money was riding on the outcome. These guns were typically 1/2 to 1 pound heavier than target guns and up to two pounds heavier than their standard field gun.

Some still use the term "pigeon" today (most notably Beretta), but those guns are not currently built to that spec.

AyA still makes a few models meant for heavy-duty use that I know about. Most folks don't use SxS for most of those purposes any more, unfortunately. I just got my S&W Elite in today - a nicely built 20 gauge that will be for birds - carried a lot, not shot as much. For heavy use, I use my Brownings (until I can convince Zippy to part with one of his P-guns for a mere pittance). My guns are target guns, meant to go the distance. Some are better than others, which is why P guns, K guns and similar cost what they do - pure, rugged simplicity with tolerances NASA would envy and reliability that Toyota would crave.

In short, if you're looking for a serious, high-round count shotgun for lots of targets, an O/U is most likely going to be your best bet. If you can find an older SxS that was meant for trap, pigeons, etc., you might have lucked out.

Now that I know that I, as a LH, can shoot DT's with no issues, my search is on for a nice 12 gauge SxS.........

And the quest continues................ :D
 
1-oz, my friend, you've expanded my knowledge -- thank you. Previously, I thought that Pigeon grade referred to a level of extra fanciness, like a Midas or Diana grade. Does it always indicate a more durable gun or can it be just an appearance upgrade?

I'm thinking specifically of Model 12 "Pigeon" grade trap gun. I know they are fancier than a field version; but are they more durable?
 
That has been my understanding of the use for pigeon grade, although, I believe in today's terms, it also denotes a gun of high quality. Personally, "back in the day", if I was a maker and wanted a name for a highly decorated gun, naming it after a common pest of a bird would not have entered my head, whereas names like Midas, Diana, Exhibition would have. However, if I was making a very strong robust gun designed for that particular sport, then pigeon definitely fits the bill. Now to be fair, most folks who did (and still do) shoot pigeons tend to be wealthy and like nicely engraved guns - hence where the two names IMO crossed over and kept going.
 
Why do they call them traps. Pigeon shooting. Something had to hold the pigeons until they were called for. There was, and still is, huge money in pigeon shoots. Well, okay, some pigeon shoots used a man to throw the pigeons aloft. But I need to leave the office now. John

Trivia. The 1900 Paris Olympics...

"Live Pigeon Shooting was held only once in Olympic history, in 1900. The object of this event was to shoot and kill as many birds as possible. This was the first and only time in Olympic history when animals were killed on purpose. The birds were released in front of a participant and the winner was the competitor who shot down the most birds from the sky. The participant was eliminated once they missed two birds. Nearly 300 birds were killed. The event turned out to be quite messy in the end with dead or injured birds on the ground and blood and feathers all over the place. An award of 20,000 Francs was the prize for the winner, though the top four finishers agreed to split the winnings. "
 
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