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Why have SbS shotguns gone out of fashion.


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As above. It seems as if a lot of people feel that unless a gun is a 30+inch, single trigger, multi choke o/u  gun then it isn't any good. There are loads of superb SbS's on the shelves of gunshops that don't move and the value of them is very low. Most gunshops won't consider one in a trade in. They just don't shift. But why they will bring down pheasant or anything that they are designed for. Now I have all sorts of guns singles, pump, SbS's, O/U  I don't favour any one over another. So why have SbS's gone out of fashion?

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I've been after a decent side by side for a while picked this up this evening  AYA Yeoman no 4 it's in tip top condition the barrels were like glass well chuffed now got to get a day off to try it out

For me it is always a sxs hammer gun for both game shooting and pest control  using both nitro and black powder. Feltwad 20 bore  sxs by Smythe  of Darlington

I am not advocating any sort of gun because I've got all sorts but I kind of get the feeling that for some reason some guns are looked down upon as if they of no use whatsoever. It's like short barrel

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SbS are lighter and that is the ONLY advantage if you are walking or standing for hours.

 

O/U have less muzzle flip, the extra weight reduces the effect of recoil and bear in mind many of today's cartridges are faster than those of years ago, single sighting plane, single selective trigger, multi chokes of offer many different uses/aspects of quarry shooting and finally, the weight helps to keep your swing steady although it takes slightly more effort to start the swing.

 

I could NEVER to back to shooting a SbS with double triggers, no wonder they don't sell in the shops.

 

Phil

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Is all of the above  a perceived sort of plasibo effect? When I've been on game shoots, People who shoot sbs with double trigger knock em down dead just as well as those who use an o/u. It is only shot going down a tube after all. I have a whole raft of stuff from single barrel, sbs, o/u, pump with single and double trigger and I don't have a preference for any of them. I can understand it from a competition point of view but not for general shooting. I know that some people chop and change their chokes at every station but I put 1/2 choke in and I never change although I have the option to.

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I am not advocating any sort of gun because I've got all sorts but I kind of get the feeling that for some reason some guns are looked down upon as if they of no use whatsoever. It's like short barrel guns. Back when in the day of black powder barrels were 34" to get the velocity of the slow burning powder. When nitro came along barrel lengths reduced down to the famous XXV churchill. No one wants to know anything about short barrel guns now which is just fine because there are some super bargains of quality to be had. Nowadays the fashion states that it has to be a single trigger O/U  somewhere between 30 and 34 inch multichoke which has to be changed every couple of shots to optimise the shot. Personally I dont tend to burden myself with what might be the fashion this week. I like 30grms of 6 through half choke in both barrels.

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4 hours ago, Meece said:

I am not advocating any sort of gun because I've got all sorts but I kind of get the feeling that for some reason some guns are looked down upon as if they of no use whatsoever. It's like short barrel guns. Back when in the day of black powder barrels were 34" to get the velocity of the slow burning powder. When nitro came along barrel lengths reduced down to the famous XXV churchill. No one wants to know anything about short barrel guns now which is just fine because there are some super bargains of quality to be had. Nowadays the fashion states that it has to be a single trigger O/U  somewhere between 30 and 34 inch multichoke which has to be changed every couple of shots to optimise the shot. Personally I dont tend to burden myself with what might be the fashion this week. I like 30grms of 6 through half choke in both barrels.

I couldn't agree more with your comment on perceived fashion which has been found over and over again in the clay shooting scene, some of which were of no use whatsoever whereas others proved to be a great success. I confess to a strong liking for multichoke however I tend to set chokes for the task in hand and not change them during that type of shooting. I use a 32'' gun but still own a 26'' which still puts a smile on my face when I do use it on occasion.

I will use 24 or 28gr for all clay shooting from skeet to Olympic trap with the appropriate choke. 29 or 32gr for pigeon/crow shooting along with the odd pheasant. rifle for rabbits.

 

It was wrong of me perhaps to down cry SbS guns and of course they do have a following but not a growing following whilst o/u guns is where the gun trade places it's future and there must be good reason for that. Just my opinion.

 

Phil

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One of my favourite shotguns is a SBS AYA that is older than me and cost me the grand sum of £25. I can lean it anywhere, not worry about scratching it and it kills the same as any other gun. Fox loads in it smart a bit though.

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Well I just bought a very nice Spanish sidelock sbs  with super wood, concealed third bite and side clips, the gun will probably last for the next 200 years, I have owned a few o/u but I really dont like them, I use an auto for wildfowling, but for me personally, a sbs with a flat top rib is far prettier (although I accept looks have little to do with performance) and much nicer to carry over the arm, each to their own, but for me as a game gun its the sbs everytime.

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A nice old brown beast there. I wonder how old it is? I bet that could tell some stories of days out in the field and the men that have used it. About 20 years ago I had a bit of a sort out of old guns that had accumulated from various sources and I gave away 4 guns that I considered to be junk. 1 folding sb 410, 1 folding sb 12 pedretti and 2 hammer 12 bore doubles. 1 was quite reasonable and after the event I wished that I hadn't have offloaded the best 12 hammer. Still that's unfortunate. I probably wouldn't have used it anyway.

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2 hours ago, Meece said:

A nice old brown beast there. I wonder how old it is? I bet that could tell some stories of days out in the field and the men that have used it. About 20 years ago I had a bit of a sort out of old guns that had accumulated from various sources and I gave away 4 guns that I considered to be junk. 1 folding sb 410, 1 folding sb 12 pedretti and 2 hammer 12 bore doubles. 1 was quite reasonable and after the event I wished that I hadn't have offloaded the best 12 hammer. Still that's unfortunate. I probably wouldn't have used it anyway.

This gun was built approx. 1885 -90  at his Darlington shop , he also had shops at Stockton , and Middlesboro I had the gun restored and  nitro in  1990 for which it has served me well .

Feltwad

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