About a year ago I purchased a Fabarm Asper O/U double rifle in 9.3x74R. I've been playing with it, trying out different loads and trying to find the perfectly regulated hunting load. Recently I tried shooting it off a commercial rest, not a Lead Sled but still a fairly heavy one that doesn't move much on the bench. I held my hand between the forward suppport and the forearm of the gun, but the buttstock rested directly against the rear support of the shooting rest. The gun immediately began to double, three times out of four attempts.

The gun has a single trigger that resets itself upon firing the first barrel. If the first barrel is empty, the trigger must be reset by applying and then removing the safety before the second barrel can be fired. Is this what is referred to as an "inertial" trigger? And can it be damaged by doubling?

Am I correct in assuming that this is caused by the gun bouncing forward off the hard rear support and into my trigger finger? I can't imagine what else could be causing this. The gun continues to function properly when shot offhand or from shooting sticks, which is the way that I normally shoot it.

Any assistance or insight is appreciated.

John

Does it do it when you shoot off hand?

Since the gun works fine when fired normaly there may be nothing wrong with the gun. Your thoughts of it bouncing back off the rear rest, hitting your finger and fireing are probably correct. A trip to gunsmith would still be a good idea to make sure it is safe.
Yes the trigger reset by the safety is an inertia trigger and no that should not hurt it.
For regulating you would be better off with the gun against your shoulder.

quote:

Am I correct in assuming that this is caused by the gun bouncing forward off the hard rear support and into my trigger finger? I can't imagine what else could be causing this. The gun continues to function properly when shot offhand or from shooting sticks, which is the way that I normally shoot it.

Any assistance or insight is appreciated.

John

John,
Yes, there is an extremely high chance that you are doing what is known as "involuntary second pull", where during recoil from firing the first barrel, you are unknowingly tightening your grip and triggering the second barrel.
This is nothing new, and has been known to sometimes happen ever since single trigger systems were first used on double guns.
If the gun functions fine offhand and off sticks, I'd say the trigger system is most likely ok and that it is the "rest" you're using which is causing this the problem to occur.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the opinions, gents. I just put another 30 rounds through the gun from offhand, with no further problems. When I was much younger, we used to recreate this effect with semiautos...it could even sometimes be made to happen with a 10/22! We called it "bump-firing" and it could extend into several (rather than merely two) full-auto-simulating rounds. I thought that this might be happening here, but wanted some reassurance from those who have used double rifles, rather than merely lusting after them as I have for most of my life.

John

You can do it pretty easily with a bit of practice (not recommended) with a single trigger 12 ga and heavy loads.