Just picked up this thread, not realizing it started last year. Obviously a lot of knowledge and experience here offering good insight.

A little off topic, and well outside the OP's 2k criteria, but are there any opinions here on the Parker Reproduction, licensed by Winchester and built in Japan during the 80's?

No first hand experience, but from what I hear they’re well made guns. Went and shot trap with my son today. He shot a lefever 20 gauge made in 1926. Put 125 rounds through her without a hitch... Purty well made gun for well under 2k.

O.K. here's a horror story for you. An ex-friend of my sons somehow managed to pick up a sidelock Parker that the bbls. were starting to separate so he arc welded them shut. It still makes me sick.

NC, not a good end, but it was not a sidelock Parker, because there is no such thing.

I always wanted a W C Scott Monte Carlo B with original non Damascus barrels.

I found a beautiful 1 1/4 puce regulated piece at a show in Louisville. The problem it was severely off face. I could see light from the standing breach with the action closed. The barrels were shifting side to side in my hands when I mounted the gun.

The price was less than 3k. Know what happened. The prior owner had shot 2 3/4 inch American 1 1/4 ounce loads.

The gun was proofed for 1 1/4 ounce shot but only a 2 1/2 chambers based on the 12C in diamond mark.

I hated that I could not buy the gun being off face.

quote:

Originally posted by TWL:
Just picked up this thread, not realizing it started last year. Obviously a lot of knowledge and experience here offering good insight.

A little off topic, and well outside the OP's 2k criteria, but are there any opinions here on the Parker Reproduction, licensed by Winchester and built in Japan during the 80's?

A good friend of mine had a beautiful Parker Reproduction but it would double. He sent it back (they were still in business at the time) and it still doubled.

Nice Spanish AYA no4 boxlock ejector is around $1000 and will be very reliable and looks good

Double barrel shotguns are like hammers; just buy a Stevens or Savage Fox and use the hell out of it. Look at Simpsons web site; literally hundreds of European doubles of all makes for $200. Why pay more?
Disclaimer; I rarely shoot shotguns and when I do it is for deer and we have to use slugs here.
Oh, for cowboy shooting I use either a Win lever action or a Baikal side hammer 16 ga. Or a 97.

A bunch of us were shooting skeet several years ago + most everybody had a pretty classic shotgun. This young man showed up with a single shot 410 + cleaned all our clocks.

Real shotguns have two barrels the best ones have them side by side.



That said I have many different ones.

love my sxs's best value in bernardelli's, parker hale(ugartechea), french and quality belgium. Be careful buying english .

" ......cleaned all our clocks".

At skeet? With a single shot?

Georgi Hemingway did it to the live pegion competition down in Cuba with a single shot 410.

Yes sir TWL, that young man could shoot. Of course not doubles but singles in any position he never had a miss. P dog, I prefer the S/S as well although I do own one Citori.

Wasn't sure if you were asking us to believe he also shot doubles. Now that would have been something to see.

The concept of the over/under in the beginning was to mimic the sight picture of a single barrel gun, whether a pump or a single shot breach loader. I'd bet your young friend would do equally well with an o/u.

Best.....

The best score I ever got at Skeet was 21 ex 25 with a Greener GP. All shot, yes, as singles. English Skeet so we don't shoot Station 8. So your .410 single barrel guy would have an advantage with his single barrel in "sighting" and the huge advantage of having to only have to worry about taking killing one target only on his call of "pull".

I can’t stand the look of O/U guns. They scream city slicker shooting clays at the club in tweeds. Show up to hunt with a sxs in old boots and shredded pants...I’ll offer you a chaw of Red Man.

TWL, yes indeed that would have been something to see + one would have had to see it to believe it + even then doubt it. I do know that after a course at Gunsite I have been using my hillside skeet thrower to shoot my Scout Krag + it's a lot of fun to try + shoot skeet with a rifle. I don't get them all but I'm getting better. It is a challenge.

I like the straight stocks, give a look at the ole SKB 280.

The Spanish double shotguns imported to America are the higher end ones.

You are not going to get a new Spanish gun for $1000.

There are tons of used German and Spanish side by sides made in the 1960's - 1990's in America for good prices. Not on every corner, but they are out here. Sauer, Merkel, AYA, Ugi and so on.

I’ve thought about one of those Turkish guns to mess around with, but I figure it might make more sense to wait and find a more “classic” double to match my English 28 with straight stock and double triggers.

I imported a whole bunch of Huglus back when I was stationed in Turkey.

I wouldn't buy one of their high end guns.

quote:

Originally posted by MoreBS:
I like the straight stocks, give a look at the ole SKB 280.

I vote for this, too, and actually just bought one for myself as a 40th birthday present (I was good all year!). 20ga, 6 1/2 pounds, beautiful, and built impeccably. That'll make my third Japanese double and I find them all to be excellent.

I wonder if the new Tri Star Bristol are any good ($1000)

quote:

Originally posted by kurtbe:
I wonder if the new Tri Star Bristol are any good ($1000)

Or a CZ Bobwhite G2

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Double barrel shotguns are like hammers; just buy a Stevens or Savage Fox and use the hell out of it. Look at Simpsons web site; literally hundreds of European doubles of all makes for $200. Why pay more?
Disclaimer; I rarely shoot shotguns and when I do it is for deer and we have to use slugs here.
Oh, for cowboy shooting I use either a Win lever action or a Baikal side hammer 16 ga. Or a 97.

Tom, there are a lot of differences between rifles and shotguns, which you admit you know little about.

Shotgun shooting requires a smooth, athletic movement to get on a moving target. The eye of the shooter is the 'rear sight' and the barrel bead plays a very secondary role, since the whole focus is on the target. This means that stock fit and balance are far more critical in shotgunning... just any old club of a gun will not be nearly as effective as a fitted, well balanced weapon.



Additionally, the average shotgun is fired far more often that the average rifle, absorbing possibly hundreds of thousands of rounds during its lifetime. Without quality materials and workmanship it WILL fail.

I respect your knowledge and, consequently, your opinions about rifles and 'smithing, but you are wrong about the attributes required of a shotgun.

quote:

Originally posted by model70man:
A good friend of mine had a beautiful Parker Reproduction but it would double. He sent it back (they were still in business at the time) and it still doubled.

Single trigger Parker Repros have a lot of problems with doubling. They did make DT models that function well and are nice guns, but they are rather scarce.