Consider a shotgun that shoots slugs well as a substitute for a drilling for now!

Before I got mine I used a Ithaca Deerslayer and it was very good. Mine has the 20" barrel and is an excellent bird gun yet it shoots 12 ga slugs upon demand.

Here is one. It's not mine.

When it's raining you won't want to take your drilling out anyway.

Fine in theory, but no use in a country where we can't use slugs on deer. And realistically would you take a 150 yd shot on a small Roe Deer - whose body is the same size as a labrador - with a slug gun?

Why wouldn't I take my drilling out in the rain??

It's been out in all kinds of weather, I just wipe it off after the hunt...

It getting wet hasn't caused it ANY problems at all, over the more than 30 years I've owned and been hunting with it!

DM

Weather is not a determining factor for which drilling I use.

Savage 99, no doubt hour shotgun is a good hunting gun.
However it "ain't" no Drilling.
The advantage of a proper Drilling, with a scope is that you have a 300 yard or more depending on the shooter, RIFLE.

That is the advantage of a Drilling or Combination Gun.
I have done a LOT of hunting with Drillings, Double Rifle Drillings, and Combo Guns, I really like them.

My wife's favorite hunting gun is her Sauer 3000 12x12x30/06 Drilling, with its 4x scope in claw mounts.

I have to agree NE. And it still only has one barrel obviously negating the advantage of having 3 different barrels, cartridges and loads available that the touch of a finger....or thumb as the case may be.

We all have different purposes of course but for me a drilling is to be used in driven hunts where you at the blink of an eye need to choose either shotgun or rifle barrel depending on the target and the distance.

i dont see a shotgun as a substitute. a combo yes...the blaser 95/97 is the best..

a pump..? No one would ever catch me with one in my hands..

quote:

Consider a shotgun that shoots slugs well as a substitute for a drilling for now!

Nope, not even close!!

DM

Could have shot 2 160+ bucks with my drilling while bird hunting during deer season in ND. Both were bedded in out of the wind dried sloughs. Both ran to 80 yds and turned to look at me broadside. All I would have needed to do was cock the rifle barrel. No need to re-chamber a slug. Marinate and serve!!! I saw the bigger of the two twice...big square rack, WAY beyond his ears and looked like a small heifer!!!

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
I have done a LOT of hunting with Drillings, Double Rifle Drillings, and Combo Guns, I really like them.

My wife's favorite hunting gun is her Sauer 3000 12x12x30/06 Drilling, with its 4x scope in claw mounts.

I agree Tony! I've also done a lot of hunting with drillings, combo guns and Cape guns over many years, and find them to be very useful in the woods of the USA. I've never owned a double rifle drilling, but would love to have one chambered for 9.3X74R in the double rifle barrels, and a 20 gauge shot barrel on the bottom! I have two cape guns as we speak, a H. Berrela S/S with a 8X57JR on the right barrel and a 16 ga on the left barrel, it is a sidelock exposed hammer, top lever gun and it will print a Brenneke slug right beside the 196 gr bullet from the rifle barrel at 100 yds.
I also have a V. Haffner cape gun with a back action side lock exposed hammers and is a Jones lever action. This one is chambered for a 20 ga shot barrel on the left, and a 58 Berdan carbine rifle on the right. Both fun guns to hunt with.

I would love to have a new Merkel Double rifle drilling 9.3X74R on the rifle barrels, and a 20 ga shot barrel under!

.................................................................Good hunting! Mac

Hello Mac, its been a long time. The only real good substitute for a drilling is a Vierling!!!

Yeah ... like this one...comes with its own tripod...and could bring new meaning to the word "doubling" (quadrupling??)

So is there a "Fünfling"?

A vierling....oh my! That is the one firearm I will never be able to afford that I would like to have. Lovely picture Jon, thanks. IF I could afford one I'd want the shotgun barrels SXS and the rifles O/U. The weights I've read for them are no more than my Shiloh Sharps rifles.

A friend of mine has one, S&S 16-16, 22 vierling under the rib, and 8x57jr below.

I've put it on a scale, it weighs 6-3/4 pounds empty. It's a guild gun in excellent shape...

DM

A Paradox gun is my drilling -substitute- alternative.

I've tried two drillings and each time I traded or sold them off after a while. I know some people swear by drillings and I can understand why. But I found them too barrel heavy and unwieldy. Yes, the rifle barrel is good for shooting 150 yards and beyond but to do that you need a scope. Now you are carrying a scoped, heavy barreled gun that is all but useless as a bird gun. I don't know anyone who shoots birds with a scoped gun. The scope can be removed for bird shooting but then you loose the versatility that a drilling promises in the field. You might as well grab a rifle when going for deer and a shotgun when going for birds. No, to have one gun in the field that is very quick to switch from shooting birds to shooting deer you would need a drilling without a scope and that means you will be passing up that 150 yard roebuck. So, for all practicality, a drilling is a versatile 100 yard rifle and shotgun with heavy, unwieldy barrels. I know drilling lovers will strongly disagree but, for me, a drilling is a clumsy compromise.

I shoot Paradox guns. No, they are not a good choice for shooting a roebuck or anything else at 150 yards. They are fantastic within 100 yards and could go 125 but only if you are willing to stretch your aiming luck on something larger than a roebuck. Remember, though, the same is true of a drilling with iron sights. Paradox guns have two barrels and carry and swing like a fine SxS shotgun. All you need do is load shotshells or Paradox cartridges, or one of each. I have used Paradox guns for shooting doves, quail, pheasants, grouse, and chukar. I have used the same guns for shooting several deer, a few pigs, one bobcat, one collared peccary, and one red stag that I shot at 80 yards.

Paradox guns have gone round the world and their owners have used them on virtually every sort of game you can imagine.

The great African hunter Sir Samuel W. Baker had this to say about Paradox guns:

It is a smooth-bore slightly choked, but severely rifled for only 1 1/2 inch in length from the muzzle. This gives the spin to the projectile sufficient to ensure accuracy at the distance mentioned. The No. 12 Paradox weighs 8.4 lbs. and carries a bullet of 1 3/4 ounce with 4 1/2 drams of powder. Although the powder charge is not sufficient to produce a high express velocity, the penetration and shock are most formidable, as the bullet is of hardened metal, and it retains its figure even after striking a tough hide and bones. The advantage of such a gun is obvious, as it enables a charge of buck-shot to be carried in the left barrel, while the right is loaded with a heavy bullet that is an admirable bone-smasher; it also supersedes the necessity of an extra gun for small game, as it shoots No. 6 shot with equal pattern to the best cylinder-bored gun.

Some basic info about Paradox guns:

Definition of a Paradox gun

Notes on Shooting the Paradox Gun

There are drillings and there are drillings. With rifle, buckshot and slug, there is no more versatile gun from a stand...from 25-200yds. Take off the scope and you are ready for predators or deer if they jump....a little practice over open sights and 75-80 yds is not that difficult. As far as weight...most drillings weigh around 7-7 1/4lbs without scope....but an alloy framed gun will be less. This gun pictured has 25 " barrels, 20/70 over 22 Savage and weighs 6 1/2lbs with out scope...easy to carry..good for small game..have shot two coyote that the dogs have pushed out.


This drilling weighs the same but shoots 16/70 over 7x65R (sort of a 280 "light").


Ammo for many of these Euro calibers is easy to find and of course any 7mm is a reloaders paradise.Find the right drilling and they are a very useful tool.

quote:

Originally posted by sharps4590:
A vierling....oh my! That is the one firearm I will never be able to afford that I would like to have. Lovely picture Jon, thanks. IF I could afford one I'd want the shotgun barrels SXS and the rifles O/U. The weights I've read for them are no more than my Shiloh Sharps rifles.

You want a vierling? Take a look at this beauty that if for sale now... Vierling

WOW!!!! Someone please convert the price into dollars for me.
Thanks
Jerry

Armslist

quote:

Originally posted by Judge Jerry:
WOW!!!! Someone please convert the price into dollars for me.
Thanks
Jerry

Currency converter Converter
This is an auction site. I suspect that the price will go way up before the auction ends. I just bought a rifle-drilling so I am not in the market for a vierling now. But this noe surely is eye-candy.

Skaubjonn, thanks for posting that. What a piece of wood on that vierling!!! No doubt it will go beyond my means.

why don't you ask jesus for some funds "sharp"???

quote:

Originally posted by Goldeneye:
why don't you ask jesus for some funds "sharp"???

That was uncalled for

Jon,

I've lusted over your 20/70 over 22HP ever since you bought it. It would be ideal for where I now hunt.

Until I find one I'll settle for my Kreighoff 16x16 over 7x57R.

quote:

Originally posted by JonP:
There are drillings and there are drillings. . This gun pictured has 25 " barrels, 20/70 over 22 Savage and weighs 6 1/2lbs with out scope...easy to carry..good for small game..have shot two coyote that the dogs have pushed out.

The deadest I have ever killed a deer was with a Model 99 .22 Savage High Power. He was facing me at about 100 yards and the bullet took him square in the chest and completely liquefied his lungs. He went down as if he had been pole-axed and never moved out of his tracks. I wouldn't hesitate to use that caliber on white-tails, if I had a clear shot, free from obstructions like leaves and branches. S&B make a terrific factory load for the cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by Goldeneye:
why don't you ask jesus for some funds "sharp"???

He has already given me more than I either deserve or can repay.