Side by Side or Over Under?

Thanks for all your input, I've learned a lot and the bottom line is that I seem to need both O/U and S x S. I'll be shopping for the O/U first but in the meantime I picked-up something to play with. Some of you will laugh but I look forward to introducing myself to the side by side with an old Model 24 20 ga. (28")
 
The 24 is ok. Little wide in the action. I have seen a couple nice ones, at Scheels in Sioux Falls if memory serves me. A nice 24 is getting up there pricewise. Like everything else.
 
This Model 24 is a relatively late 1942 gun that definitely shows signs of use but not neglect. Not bad for a 69 year old gun. The 28" barrels are mod and full so I can use it for trap and that will at least give me an opinion about the SxSs. First impression..... I like it!
 
BenBelly said:
This Model 24 is a relatively late 1942 gun that definitely shows signs of use but not neglect. Not bad for a 69 year old gun. The 28" barrels are mod and full so I can use it for trap and that will at least give me an opinion about the SxSs. First impression..... I like it!
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Good, Enjoy it
 
Have to be honest, when i first started bird (pheasant) hunting i invested in a double ou, then a sxs. Well i started hunting wild birds and hunting 10 miles in a day at times, and two barrels just wasnt enough for me. I am talking birds everywhere it is awesome!!
So i wont carry one in South Dakota, if i go out and i am tired of the Beretta ill pick up my sxs ithaca 20. We just harvest a lot of roosters and you need three, and sometime four rounds. Thank the Lord.


Andy...........................
 
I would say both! I have an old spanish side by side 28 for dove and quail, Stevens 16 side by side for pheasants, and a winchester platinum 101 for clays and everything else...
 
You have a little bit of everything mate, i wish that i still had my 1958 Sweet 16, it was a real gem!! But i really just use a 20, i dont do much dove hunting anymore and boy i REALLY miss my quail hunting!!!
Thanks for reaching out my friend, i live full time in Lake Mary Florida with my little girl Karly , and my wife Tracy.
I love offshore fishing, and freshwater fishing, most of all WW2 militaria. I am 46 years old.


Andy...............................................
 
Yes when you get right down to it you are correct, i have had better luck with my OU and that is the reason.


Andy.......................
 
An affordable SxS

Ben,
I, like you, recently took on this challenge. Being a farmhand I dont have mountains of money to throw at toys. I found a SxS 12g for under $400 new. Its EAA arms corp. It's russian made, but anything else was more than the last 3 trucks I have owned put together. They have 2 models with 2 barrel lengths. One has single selective trigger the other double triggers. they have screw in chokes, etc.
Mine shoots well, and handles well. I havent bird hunted with it yet, but I have blasted some clays and coyotes and it does a fine job. I also checked into tristar arms, they had some affordable o/u as well. I plan on getting a 16g when I get my pennies mounded backup. Good Luck
 
OU vs SS

I happen to shoot a OU and would never consider going to a SS but, a famous, well known, master of the shooting sports, whose name does not come to mind stated that "if God meant for man to shoot an over and under, he would have put his eyes one on top of the other". Definitely, food for thought!!
 
BirdmanMI said:
I happen to shoot a OU and would never consider going to a SS but, a famous, well known, master of the shooting sports, whose name does not come to mind stated that "if God meant for man to shoot an over and under, he would have put his eyes one on top of the other". Definitely, food for thought!!
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I am glad you brought that up, I can't remember who originated that quote but I think of it every time someone starts the Side by Side versus Over Under debate. I have shot both and have had good days and bad days with both. For me it's not about which one is better; it's primarily about eye appeal. The lines of a side by side with a straight stock just look better to me. I would like to think that my side by side "points" a little better than my over/under and maybe it does. I can't prove it. I like the looks of my side by side and that probably makes me a little biased toward it. Most likely it's the fact that my side by side has 28" barrels and my over/under has 26" barrels has more influence on "point-ability" than barrel configuration.
 
O/U hands down, unless you hunt quail in the south with a tweed hat, red/blue plaid shirt, and Filson vest.
 
SXS or O/U?
Not the best question as both have examples which would make anyone swear off stackbarrels or two-rows.
Possessing good balance and trigger, either choice will work fine....for anyone.
But, one has to want to shoot any choice and spend time to work with the particulars each carry.

Believing that because someone only shot a single barrel then an O/U is the best choice to make is too easy....and almost guarantees problems with a SXS.
Some, and I expect eye-related, will find an O/U simpler, much as a two-piece puzzle is simpler.
 
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