Why aren't combo longguns more popular for hunting?

My Dad bought me a Savage 22/410,,,

My Dad bought me a Savage 22/410,,,
This was way back in time when I was about 11 years old.

All of my friends had repeaters of some form or another,,,
I, being the incredibly spoiled brat that I was, shunned the Savage.

It stood unused for several years in the closet,,,
When I got a little older and less spoiled,,,
I went to the closet to get it out,,,
Lo and behold it was gone. :eek:

I asked Pop about and he said,,,
"You never liked it so I sold it to Glenn (a neighbor)."

The ignorance/arrogance of youth bit me there.

Pop had even made me a target for it,,,
He used one half of a broken bow as a spring,,,
Hit a 3" plate with the .22 and it would them throw a clay pigeon straight up.

But again, I was just a kid who knew nothing except what the TV told me,,,
And the TV said that if you didn't own a Nylon 66,,,
You had no gun at all.

Aarond

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Drillings, as those combination guns were dubbed in Europe upon their beginning, were never as accurate with the rifle barrel as even poor quality bolt action rifles. I don't think they're any different these days.
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You'd be very wrong.

I mean sure if you shot rapid strings of fire the POI will shift severly but that is not how you use it.

I use one in .222 and 16g with a scope in qr mounts. easily a sub moa rifle if you take the time to let the barrels coold down.

there are of course cheap ones around but SAuers, Blaser and others are damn fine rifles
 
being limited in number of guns you can own bodes in favor of drillings or combos in Europe,
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not really the case tbh, the drilling is almost a status symbol.

sure there are some cheaper ones out there but most often in too small calibres, people want 6.5.x55 or above to be able to shoot deer and above (we have calibre requirements for deer/pig/moose etc etc)
 
Probably as most dont have a use for a gun like that, Deer shot and you have the shot barrel ready to go to hit a deer or elk at 200yds.
 
If I was going to go with a 3 barrel drilling it would be a 22LR, 30-06 (or 308) and 12 ga.
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You'd be wanting a Bock drilling, they'll have a sub caliber insert for one of the shotgun barrels.
Drillings, as those combination guns were dubbed in Europe upon their beginning, were never as accurate with the rifle barrel as even poor quality bolt action rifles. I don't think they're any different these days.
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Yes you'd be very wrong the good ones are very accurate, my brothers Kreighoff bock is plenty accurate his is a 20g over 7X64r with a 222 rem insert. the insert is adjustable for POA so that it can be regulated to the sights.
As to the OP's question I agree it's a jack of all trades master of none, I love my 22mag/20g savage for doinking around the woods but if I'm hunting something specific I take something specificly suited for that game.
 
A good quality Combo gun is quite labor intensive to produce and therefore carries a high price. I should know. I have made 5 of them. It takes me about 500 hours to make a good one.
Yes there have been cheaper ones made, but most look cheap even in the cases where they are not too badly made. The old Savage M-24 is an example. Really ugly, but most of them worked fairly well.

Interarms imported one fro Finland back in the 70s which was well made, but it was reasonably priced. The demand was not high enough to keep them coming I guess.

No American gun company has made one in many many years. In the USA they were more common in the days of the muzzleloader then they are now.

Game laws can play a part in the answer too (as has been stated in the treads above.) Some states would not allow them and other states will, but "some states" is not enough of an incentive to get a major gun maker to offer one.

Add to this the fact that everyone seems to have a different idea of what calibers and/or gauges they want, and that limits the sales even more.

So all in all the idea of a combo gun does have merit for some hunters, but the guns will still be available only to those that can pay to have one, and that is unfortunate---- but true.
 
They are not very popular for two reasons - too much regulation and not enough regulation.

Combination guns are popular in some countries because it's very difficult to get a gun and there are limits on how many you can own. If you can only own a few guns a combo makes more sense. This doesn't apply in the US, at least not yet.

A combo gun makes sense if you just want to take a walk in the woods and bag whatever you see. Unfortunately, that is a scenario that isn't very realistic these days. Most of the time when I go hunting, I know exactly what I'm hunting and have the proper tags, it's the proper season, etc. There's not a lot of overlap. I could hunt turkeys with the shotgun barrel of my Savage 24, but I'd better not have a single rifle round in my possession or I'll be in violation in California. So I tend to hunt with a repeater that's optimal for the game I'm hunting. One shot - one kill is a terrific mindset, but I'm still going to use a repeater, just in case.
 
I think Wyosmith was referring to the Finnish-made Valmet, which could be had as individual setups as rifle/rifle, shotgun/rifle, or shotgun/shotgun, or as sets that used the same receiver. I may be wrong, but think the rifle barrels were attached near the muzzle and were somewhat adjustable. They were hammerless and selective single-trigger.

Lusted after them for several years, but never could afford or decide to commit to one before they were discontinued.

Just found pictures: www.google.com/search?q=valmet+over+under+rifle&newwindow=1&tbm=isch&imgil=FKPwK-xUuuKzPM%3A%
 
The more I mess with an Encore the more I see the negatives I was warned about.
The static combo makes some of the problems of a switch barrel worse and introduces some new ones.
The Encore is of much higher quality than most of the combo guns you can find in a US gun store.
 
There is one scenario where I use a combo gun - hunting squirrels. I use a Savage 24 in 22/20. I usually use the 22 and try for a shot where there's a tree trunk or thick limb as a backstop. If I just can't get one I switch to the shotgun.

I don't like firing a rifle, even a 22, into the air.
 
I have a beautiful Richard Marhoff drilling I inherited from my father. It's 16x16x22SavHP AI. I recently had it repaired (broken spring) and the gunsmith was blown away that I would actually hunt with such a valuable 'piece'. He couldn't believe I would subject it to such rigors, I guess. My old man hunted with that thing for years and now I do as well.
It is quite accurate, both the rifle and shotgun barrels. I have shot a couple of whitetails (legal caliber here in good ol' Idaho) with it and it killed them very dead.
One reason drillings and other combo guns were (are) so popular in Germany is that many hunts were drives and the shooter literally didn't know what was going to come out of the woods ahead of the drivers. Could be deer, hersch, hares, birds, hogs...they wanted to be equipped for whatever came running or flying out.
Having grown up with a combo gun in the house I guess I just see them as another great member of the arsenal.
 
A high end drilling is really outside what I consider the context of this post. What is a low end drilling running right now? $5,000? The regulation of the barrels is a totally different system and done with much greater care than say a relatively crude survival geared gun such as the savage or chiappa badger. Even the weight issue is reduced as some of the barrel overlaps. I have no experience with drillings, but I can see where they might work better than the combos.
 
If I understand correctly, in Germany there is (or used to be) one hunting season, during which it was legal to take all game. That, naturally, led to guns that could be used for upland game, waterfowl and medium to large game (deer and boar). The situation is different in the U.S., where there are separate seasons that seldom overlap. Further, it is often illegal to carry a gun or load that is not correct for the game that is in season.

The result is that many WWII vets brought back German drillings or other combination guns and found they were unusable for hunting. There have been combination guns of high quality made in this country, but they were not successful, both because of the situation mentioned as well as the high cost.

Jim
 
Ahh, drillings....Here's my ultimate drilling:

--All 3 barrels 22"

--1st barrel - (top left): .280 Rem AI

--2nd (bottom-middle)barrel: 12 ga. 3.0", with interchangeable choke tubes

--3rd barrel (top-right): .223 rem with 1 in 7.5 twist, BUT here's the key to this ultimate subsistence survival weapon: The first 17" of the barrel are rifled; the last 5" of the barrel are reamed wider than .224 (about .28-.32 perhaps), with "straight rifling" to un-spin shotshell loads. This way, you can shoot any .223 in the barrel, but also, with chamber adapters for .22lr and .22 mag, which I already have, you can shoot both regular bullets that use the rifling, AND the .22lr and .22 mag shotshell loads, which will expand in the last 5 inches and "un-spin" some to provide a decent pattern - this is the perfect medicine for small songbirds, mice, etc., without needing to use heavy ammo.

--Hofer of course.
 
.22 Mag/20 Ga.

My OWN gun, just like the OP's, is a great all-purpose survival gun at home. It is too heavy to carry around for what it is but with different ammo offers a great deal of versatility from your home base. At the cabin, with:
  • 5 Rounds of 3" Mag 3/4-oz. rifled slugs
  • 15 Rounds of 2-3/4" 5/8-oz. rifled slugs
  • 25 Rounds of 3" Mag #2 Buckshot
  • 50 Rounds of 3" Mag nickel-plated #4 shot
  • 100 rounds of 2-3/4" #5 shot
  • 200 Rounds of .22 Mag Hollow Point
  • 400 Rounds of .22 Mag FMJ

There's nothing to fear (this side of North America).
 
Drilling

There is a new drilling being offered. It is being custom made for wildernessoutfitters. As I remember it is dual 12 gages with a 22LR underneath. It is fitted with screw in chokes.

As for popular it is a niche markeket and I think that to many people hunters included try to substitute technology for skill and practice.
 
I have turned them down. Too expensive, too heavy, limited firepower. They are a great concept that failed in execution.
 
Baikal has new combo guns

I noticed some combo guns by Baikal at my local Cabela's recently. I think they were mostly 12 ga X 30-06 if memory serves. Pretty heavy if I recall correctly. Here's a link

Have always had an admiration for the German Drillings, there are a few that were standard issue as survival guns for German aircraft during WW2, prices on those are pretty steep.

As much as I admired them, I learned just the other day that I have always pronounced it wrong. It's Dry-Ling phonetically. I always said drilling.

Remember learning to count to ten in German? Drei is three.....three barrels.
 
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