What gun, guns, gauge, etc would you recommend for a driven partridge shoot in Spain or Scotland?

Going this year....

Impossible for me to tell you what to take. However, simple logic says to make your life as easy as possible so take the 12 bore gun you shoot best and call it done. You'll be comfortable, you'll have a good time, you'll shoot well and you'll have a good choice of ammo.

If I had to think about it any further I'd suggest also taking a relatively new gun that would shoot steel shot as in Scotland you have to use steel over wetlands or water, so a drive might face a small river for example. Also you might fancy a morning or evening at wildfowl during your trip.

Nobody is going to turn you away if you turn up with a side by side in 12,16 or 20 gauge.
An under and over will cut the mustard also.
A semi auto or pump action don't do it !

Will there be loader's and do they want you to bring a matched pair or will they just be stuffing your gun? I personally would take 2 30" Browning Superposed choked IC and Mod, but hey that's me. What guns do you shoot the best? I have a beautiful Grade 3 superposed that came from London and was no doubt used for driven shooting. I would like to take it back someday for a workout.

definitely a matched pair of
field grade over under 12 ga guns set to throw a 50/50 pattern.
driven birds are incoming or directly overhead.
covering the target and following through on the swing with a flat shooting gun will pay off.

i used a miroku o u as the pump action shotgun were illegal.

The Miroku guns have seemed quite popular in the UK if some reviews on the net are anything to go by. I have a 12G Miroku Model 7000 Sporter O/U with invector chokes of which I have obtained extras to the set of 4 that came with the gun so now have 2 x skeet, 2 x 1/4, 2 x 3/4 plus 1/2 and Full. My Miroku was made in 1984 and "all hunting or sporting shotguns, over-and-under or semi-auto guns, by Browning, Winchester and Miroku fitted with original chokes, Invector, Steel Invector Plus, Stainless Steel Invector Plus, Teague, Briley, Midas, Diamond or Signature chokes, can fire high performance steel shot cartridges" (quote from information published by Browning/Miroku).

My single selective trigger Miroku would give me the utmost versatility when taken on any gamebird or upland bird shoot anywhere in the UK, or the world for that matter.

I spend a large proportion of my time shooting driven birds here in the UK, are you going on a traditional partridge shoot i.e. birds shown over small valleys or hedgerows or the newer generation of shoots where the lowest birds will be 50yds up?

I use side by sides with 30" barrels, raised flat file rib, Teague chokes and prince of wales grips and use anything from 32g no 5 shot up to 46g no 4 shot depending upon where I'm shooting and the time of year, we are lucky that here in the UK we have some very good high performance game cartridges.


In Spain you can either shoot the more traditional shoots with birds shown over slight rises and that offer lots of different angles to the shoots that cater for the higher English style driven birds.

Regardless of the type of shoot make sure the gun fits you and that you put in some practice beforehand.

In the UK of which Scotland is part the vast majority of driven phaesant and partridges will be shot with a 28" barrelled over and under in either 12 or 20 made by Browning / Miroku or Beretta in a sporting or game style, and the choice really is up to the individual. Some shoot well with the Browning, others with the Beretta.

Many do however still shoot with a side by side, and the vast majority again will be boxlock ejector in 12 with 28' barrels. Cartridges - a 1oz to 1 1/16oz is plenty of No 6 or 7 shot. In metric that's a 28 gm load.

Chokes, Modified and a Quarter is usually plenty, some do like a bit more. Modern cartridges though do tighten things up. There are some shoots now that are producing very high birds requiring tighter choke and heavier loads - think high flying ducks.

Unless you are a very odd shape, speak with whomever you are shooting and they may well be able to loan you a gun. Will make life a lot easier in terms not having to bring guns across or having to store whilst you are doing other things than shooting.

In the UK if you turn up with a pump action or semi-auto, there will be lots of coughing, jokes and if its a smart shoot, you will be encouraged to borrow something else.

If you are bringing your own gun your host will need at least three months to get a visitors permit for you. Go on any shoot and there will be plenty of 12's and 20's and most commercial shoots will buy these by the pallet load. If you have a 16 or a 28 then cartridges are readily available, but do make sure that they are ordered in.

My advice to the OP is speak with your host.

But if you are shopping for a gun the upland / field version of the Beretta Silver Pigeon or Browning 725 with 28 or 30" barrels in 12 or 20, or if like a side by side the AyA No2 Sidelock or No4 Boxlock will do everything you need.

I assume you are thinking of choosing one versus the other in terms of Scotland vs Spain?

The hunts are quite/very different but the main thing is that in Spain the 20b are less available than they are in the uk.

I shoot almost all of my driven game with a 30”browning 20g choked Full and three-quarter. Only on the ultra tall pheasants do I find myself undergunned with an ounce of 5’s.

My advice is to shoot a single gun unless you have practiced double gunning. It is almost as fast, safer and there’s is nothing worse than denting your barrels when they clang each other if you have not done it before.

I have a tutorial on my site HERE that we did in the grouse butts that shows how to shoot double guns.

Let me know if you need any more info on the locations, although more will vary between estates than it will between countries if that makes sense.

Regards,
Kiri

Kiri and all,
Thanks for the help,

Kiri, you need to bring me a 12 ga. I need all the shot out there I can get!!

Tim, I’m on the case. We will be shooting with a pair of 12 browning O/U’s. in fact I think you used one of them on the driven ducks that we shot together last time you hunted here.

I can’t wait. I think driven grouse are my all round favourite game bird hunt.

K

everyone knows (biebs excluded)that a shotgun must have 2 barrels side by side

Says the man with a matched pair of bespoke Mossberg pump guns :-)

I use my Browning B525 Game One 20b with Eley VIP 30g 5 loads for Pheasant, Partridge and Pigeon. I might drop to a 28g 6 load for Partridge.

My choice : FN-Browning B25's, 12 ga. ;


If steel shot is mandatory, Browning B525, 12 ga 3" steel proofed.

Nice shotguns Andre. I brought one of those 'fishtail' Brownings that belonged to my German friend back to NZ but couldn't hit much with it until I patterned it and found the shot patterns with #4 that we used back then on ducks, was terrible. Down sized to #7 shot and got better patterns from the fixed chokes. Used the Browning for some of my early trap shooting but the stock shape was poor for this.
When my German friend finally emigrated to NZ we made up spreader loads for his Browning.

It was then that I purchased my Miroku, identical to your Browning B525 except it has a Miroku logo Pachmayer ventilated recoil pad fitted and the invector chokes.
Your Browning has those too I presume as it was likely made by Miroku as many Brownings were and still are?

I have never looked back with the Miroku, a wonderfully fitting and extremely versatile gun with which I have shot many years of trap, skeet and game birds/wildfowl.

You're correct. The B25's were handmade <1973 and semi handmade afterwards ; they're marked FABRIQUE NATIONALE HERSTAL BELGIQUE - Made in Belgium - Browning Patents. The B525 is simply stamped BROWNING but is made by MIROKU.

28" side by side is my choice with 28 gram fibre wadded 61/2's

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Ross, Is it Scotland or Spain ?

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