Yeah, I know they are both.

But I am guessing they handle more like a shotgun with the added bonus of having a rifle with you than a rifle you can also use to swing on a bird.

I have wanted one for years, but curious if I should judge their fit like a shotgun or a rifle.

Duckear, The only drilling that interests me is a double rifle drilling! That is two rifle barrels S/S with a shot barrel under, and even better is a double 375 flanged mag, with a single barrel chambered for 6.5X57R below. In either case they handle like a double rifle. What you are thinking of is the old standard drilling with two shot barrels and one rifle barrel, and they handle more like a shotgun!

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It depends upon the specific make of Drilling.

The Sauer 3000, also imported as the Colt Sauer Drilling and the Weatherby Drilling handles like a good shotgun.

I like it better for wing shooting than a Browning Citori. The 30/06 barrel is very accurate. The wife and I bogh have one with scopes in claw mounts.

The Blaser Drillings handle a little more like a rifle, but they are extremely rugged and more accurate.

Drillings are some of my most favorite guns to hunt with.

My wifes Sauer 12x12x30/06 is her favorite hunting gun.

quote:

The Sauer 3000, also imported as the Colt Sauer Drilling and the Weatherby Drilling handles like a good shotgun.

Can't say I agree. The alloy framed drillings handle like shotguns...and the small framed Ferlach Drillings but the Sauer 3000 is more of a gun for sitting in a stand...especially if its a 12 gauge over 9,3. You're talking a pretty hefty gun for small game hunting.

JonP

All I can say is the wife and I both have a Sauer 3000, 12x12x30/06.

They do have an alloy reciever. We use them for most of the wing shooting we do, dove, quail, and even ducks over water.

We use them for grouse, deer and pigs.

The both have quality scopes in claw mounts.

They are a great drilling.

I had, and do hunt with it in preference, to my 12 ga Browning Citori.

Of ALL the Drillings I have ever handled it handles the best for wing shooting.

Don't think I have ever run into an alloy 3000 in 30 06. They are a bit lighter than the steel action guns.

All the ones I have seen are alloy.

Even though they are 12 ga, the bottom of the reciever is quite narrow.

They handle like a light 20ga...

IF I could have only one hunting shotgun, it would be a Sauer 3000 Drilling.

That is how much I like it AS a shotgun.

PLUS, it has a 30/06 barrel on it as well.

quote:

All the ones I have seen are alloy.

I think we are talking about oranges and apples here. An alloy gun has a duraluminum action...and weighs 6-8oz less (on average) than a comparable gun in all steel.

This is an alloy gun and probably weighs under 7lb without scope. I have never seen an aluminum action gun in 30-06....almost all are in the rimmed cartridges 6.5 to 8mm.

http://www.waffenboerse.ch/sau...l-16-70-6-5x57r.html

I'd like to see a pic of your alloy Sauer in 30 06, if you don't mind.

Some prewar( befor -45) made drilling is light weight also with long barrels and all in steel.
I would stay away from dural action .
I preferd a drilling with rimmed cartridges, its more easy to load rimmed ammo! 8x57JRS kill everyting 30-06 kill.

quote:

I would stay away from dural action.

I think Krieghoff, Sauer and others have proven that dural construction will hold up. I agree that pre-war dural guns had some issues.

The 30 06 killed the 8mm cartridges in this country.

The alloy duraluminum is a very good alloy, that is used in the making of the landing gear struts of airline aircraft which take some real shock stress on landing of aircraft like Bowing 747 400 that huals the NASA space shuttles piggy-back. I don't think a little pip-sqeek 30-06 will bother it!

I have several Beretta hand guns that are almost 40 yrs old that have Dualuminum frames with thousands of rounds fired through them with no sign of even any wear, much less cracking!
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I have a 9.3x72r under 16x16 J. P. Sauer; if you close your eyes when handling it, you would think it was a shotgun, and not a heavy one.

I've only had two drillings. Both handle like shotguns. The first was an older Sauer hammer 16/16/9.3x74, the other is a Sauer 12/12/9.3x74. Both are all steel. The first handled like a light bird gun. The second is a bit heavier, but handles more like a later Fox Model B 12 bore. A caveat: I haven't had an opportunity to hunt with the latter, yet. It's off getting some work done. I've noted in the combinations and cape guns that I have and had that there are some that feel like a rifles, and others that handle like shotguns and a few that are something in between. It seems to be a some magic between barrel design, balance and stock shape.
Bfly

I had wanted a drilling for many years and finally had the chance to get one. It was a 16x16x.30-30 Grefeldt. Once I had it the mystique was gone. The rifle tube added so much weight to the barrels it handled like a double rifle and not at all like a shotgun. I have owned a few combination/cape guns and I saw and understood the utility of a three barrel system. It was a lot of gun to carry around for a single shot rifle. It was a lot of gun to carry around for a poor handling shotgun. I also found the whole thing too complicated; which trigger, which switch, which lever to push or pull. If I had taken the time I could have become accustomed to it but I don't think it is practicable to try to make several different systems "second nature". I now stick with one trigger for one barrel, two triggers for two barrels, and a simple safety - no selectors required.

I never understood the utility of scopes for these guns. Once you put the scope on it is a dedicated rifle, you wouldn't shoot shot with a scope, right? If you are going to carry a dedicated rifle then you are better off with a rifle and not a gun with extra tubes that are serving as dead weight.

Some shooters love these guns and swear by them but as I said, for me, the mystique wore off immediately.

I carry a light weight drilling when hunting with pointing dogs....just for the opportunity to shoot at the few coyotes that will push out of the cover ahead of us. Very often they will turn and look at you 100yds away or so...I've gotten pretty good at hitting a pie plate free hand. I do carry the scope...you'd be surprised how often you have enough time to snap it on. We also see some poor mangy animals too...they can still run when they cross the road....we put them out of their misery.

I got that JP Sauer when I was stationed at Ft Stewart, where you could see deer, wild hogs, and squirrels (and copperheads) all at the same time. I carried shot in the right barrel, slug in the left and a 9.3 in the rifle tube. It had a safety button on top that operated the rifle barrel and once I mistakenly shot at a squirrel with the 9.3. Missed. The rifle barrel on that is very thin; adds very little weight.

I have had three drillings, two were hammer guns and one was hammerless. One of the hammer guns had 16-gauge 65-milllmeter chambers and the other two had 16-gauge 70-millimeter chambers. The rifle barrels were 9.3x72R, 8x57 IR, and 7x65R. The hammer guns both handled like shotguns. The hammerless was a bit clunky for a shotgun, but was ok. If I could find an affordable one, the perfect drilling to me would be a modern drilling with all of the controls on top in 20-gauge with 75-millimeter chambers over 8x57 IRS. A lot of the European guns have a large objective scope in the 3.5 to 10 power range for use in a stand that is not generally practical for hunting here in the U.S. I believe that a smaller scope is better for our hunting here in the U.S.; generally something like a fixed 4x or 6x power or a lower power variable such as a 1-3/4 to 6 power.

NO 2,

The Sauer 3000/Colt/Weatherby drillings have a steel receiver. It looks like alloy, but it is steel.

Without the scope, and with my beavertail forend trimmed to a substantial splinter forend my 12/12/30-06 Weatherby era Sauer 3000 does handle like a decent SXS shotgun, as does a great old Dural-receiver pre-war Triebel, Augsburg 16/16/8X57JR I have used for many years.

The best handling drillings I owned/own were the early sidelock Sauer/Daly side-cock guns. I have one in 12 and 30-30, and I had one in 16 and 30-30 that was built on the smaller action Sauer used for 20ga and light 16ga guns. It was one of my all-time favorite guns of any sort.

To those who see no use for a scope on a drilling, you probably don't hunt where I do with my long rifle shots being the rule, not the exception.

I shoot birds well enough with the scopes mounted, also. If a guy keeps Both eyes open and gets used to ignoring the scope, they are not an enormous handicap. They can be a hindrance for sure, however.

I use mine during deer season where we have chuckar and blue grouse in the same terrain. I often keep a 22 insert barrel in the right barrel for those blues that sit up in the spruce and pinion trees.

The hardest thing about using the average drilling as an upland gun is the Greener side safety. The Daly/Sauer sidelocks solve that problem, as they have a top-tang saftey and a side rifle cock/de-cock lever that selects the rear trigger for the rifle.

I don't think Krieghoff alloy framed drillings have problems... I bought one new, hunted with it a lot, and it still shoots VERY good,



To me 12ga drillings are too heavy and are too wide, and for those reasons i never kept one.

DM

I just picked up an alloy frame Kreighoff in 16x16 and 7x57R. The stock is a little high (but perfect for the mounted scope) but I was hammering trap and 5 stand clays last weekend after I figured out I was shooting high.

I will dig my Sauer out in a day or two and check it with a magnet.

It is so light and handy, and the reciever is Alloy looking, so I assumed it was not steel.

Still it handles great.

Grenadier

While I have not done any wing shooting with a scope on my drillings, I have shot a lot of birds, and small game for the pot with the scope on the drilling/double rifle drilling, including rabbits, squirrels, dove, quail, turkeys, grouse, guinea foul, and even a few ducks.

I would pick my Sauer 3000 12x12x30/06 Drilling, as my only "shotgun" for all general purpose bird hunting use, here in the USA.

I would want a 3" 12 ga gun for Geese.

There are times, when using the Sauer Drilling,[or other drillings/combo guns] say, when hunting in a group, or hunting with populated areas nearby that I do not carry a 30/06 rifle round in the barrel.

That way there is no posibility of accidently shooting a 30/06 round.

However it is easy and fast to load a rifle round and afix the scope if you need/want to shoot a deer, wild pig, coyote, etc.

When the wife and I were hunting driven guiena foul and frankolin in Zimbabwe, with our Sauer Drillings, a BIG Kudu was spotted.

The wife loaded a 30/06 round and with the iron sights shot the kudu...

A few days later when I was hunting Leopard, and the wife was going to shoot a couple of guinea foul for the barbie, they saw a MONSTER warthog. The wife loaded the '06 barrel, attached the 4X Kahles scope, did a great stalk, and shot one of the biggest Warthogs I have ever seen.


One of the most Perfect Hunting Guns, IMHO of course, is a good handling Drilling, with a scope in claw mounts, with a proper rifle calibre, say 7x57 and up.

Well, I got out my Sauer Drilling today. I hefted it and said to myself, "them guys" do not know what they are talking about, this reciever has to be aluminium...

Then I found a magnet and CLICK, IT STUCK TO IT...

Well I was suprised. I still think the gun is light and handy. I compared it to my 26" Citori and I still like the way the Sauer handles best...

ya the french gray on the reciver dose look a little Dural but they are all steel.
I'm with you mr T I love my 30-06 12 ga M3000.
I'm not sure I would say it handles like a best poke Italian or Britt upland bird gun but mine shoots so well I'll take it most times.
My 16 ga 8x57 feels much better in my hands with it's smaller frame and splenter forend but when I point the Sauer 06 at something it hits the target every time (almost).

I trimmed down my Sauer 3000 beavertail forend to a substantial splinter one. I much prefer the gun this way.

The one above it with the gold receiver is a dural-frame Triebel 16/16/8X57JR that handles like any great upland gun should. The gun is pre-war and remains tight as a drum and on face.

Still, I prefer the old Sauer/Daly sidelock/side-cock drillings as upland guns.