Ideas for a 12 Gauge, double barrel (side by side) shotgun

[ATN082268]

I am looking for ideas regarding a 12 Gauge, double barrel (side by side) shotgun. A bonus would be a shorter barrel and/or auto ejectors. Thank you.

[CP93]

Coach gun. I bought a Brazilian Stoeger and it's great.

[FITASC]

What's the intended usage? Some coach guns are somewhat OK and others are just junk. Heavy use, ala cowboy action, or little use as bedside companion?
You could always look for an older American SxS like an LC Smith and have barrel shortened

[ATN082268]

Originally Posted by FITASC

What's the intended usage? Some coach guns are somewhat OK and others are just junk. Heavy use, ala cowboy action, or little use as bedside companion?
You could always look for an older American SxS like an LC Smith and have barrel shortened

The main usage will be a fun gun and secondarily home defense.

[stinkeypete]

You might look at the CZ line of double barrels, esp. the hammer versions. With two triggers, not much to do wrong I should think.

All the CZ shotguns are turkish made and have all the same problem potentials of any imported shotgun. The difference is CZ USA has a good reputation for service,and eventually it'll be right.

A classic American shotgun is a nice option, but even a beat up Sterlingworth is a thousand bucks these days. Knowing your used market double barrels is an entire hobby.

[Pahoo]

NEW:

Coach gun. I bought a Brazilian Stoeger and it's great.

USED;
Savage/Steven; 311 and cut the barrel back. ....

Be Safe !!!

[FITASC]

Skip the Stoeger, too many issues...the Savage/Stevens aren't that great, but a lot better than the Stoeger

[Seedy Character]

Very happy with Stoeger

The CZ is very nice

Fox is primo

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Get the Stoeger! It has served America well! Rugged and FUN!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxe7ubL3J6g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viSmUNpehvk

[Virginian]

With ANY inexpensive SxS, double triggers and extractors are the way to go. Selective single triggers and ejectors have generated voluminous tales of woe. Please don't hack up any more good old doubles.

[eastbank]

good advice on post #10, the select triggers and ejectors need to be done right or problems will rear its ugly head.

[bamaranger]

For heavens sake, don't butcher a vintage double when so many coachguns are available off the rack like those from Stoeger or Baikal. Tight, shooter grade LC.s and even the blue collar Stevens 311's are getting scarce and expensive. The LC's are revered and lopping one would be a travesty.

[stuckinthe60s]

theres nothing fun about firing a short bbl sbs! LOL.

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Originally Posted by stuckinthe60s

theres nothing fun about firing a short bbl sbs! LOL.

You mean for you. I have a number of friends that shoot them quite frequently along with other shotguns. If fact with the Ammo shortage they have been a great way to actually have some fun as we have a good supply and actually do not have a problem with getting ammo like center fire ammo.
Personally, I do not find shooting trap/Skeet fun. Each to his own.(Ps, all we hunt with here in the South is Shotguns.)

[FITASC]

If you do not like trap or skeet, give sporting a try; much more variety and many different target presentations

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Originally Posted by FITASC

If you do not like trap or skeet, give sporting a try; much more variety and many different target presentations

I understand what your are saying and actually did a fair bit of it when I was younger. Just morphed out of it. And now the cost is too much for the enjoyment I get out of it. My club does have a Trap/Skeet range and I help out some times, and get some perks, but actually enjoy just going to the field and shooting clays etc with fast action on the berms. Also just like taking my time and experimenting with different buckshot loads. Deer and turkey is the big thing where I live. Trap and Skeet guys at my club have their own niche. Actually do not see them much on the rifle pistol range.
Not knocking the sport, those that love it, really get into it.

[Ricklin]

Don't you dare lop the barrel off an LC Smith, Please?

There are a lot of the Stevens 311 pattern guns out there. Look for Sears and Revelation names too.
Stevens made a lot of the Dept. store branded shotguns. Lots of web resources to learn who made what, all parts interchange once you know who made it and the model number used when sold under the makers name.

Far too many really fine guns trashed with a hacksaw by bubba. Please save them, there are plenty of strong and cheap doubles out there that would be good choices.

[geologist]

Probably not available in the US but food for thought.

Real external hammers with rebounding firing pins, double triggers and extractors.

[darkgael]

Hmm. I have a Navy Arms 12 gauge MLer that had quite a severe gouge in one barrel from someone trying to dig “something” out. I lopped the barrels to 14 inches (legal with a muzzleloader). It makes a great rabbit gun when walking the edges of fields at dusk. It is also useful in some of the thick huckleberry patches when I am looking for grouse.

[Drm50]

I’ve cut off many double guns. Mostly 12guages. I made some slick looking slug guns out of Stevens 311s and their Store Brand cousins. These Stevens are stout guns and will give good service. You need to look at a blow up of gun you are thinking of buying. A hammer gun is not the best for defensive type shooting. Many of the foreign low end doubles have actual internal hammers with fixed firing pins. This type of gun is junk. Look for good old American made box lock with two triggers.

[FITASC]

As someone who owned a Savage/FoxBSE, the Stevens "upscale" cousin; I disagree about the robustness as the innards are fairly NOT robust, the springs are weak and somewhat fragile........yes the barrels are thick and heavy, bit the trigger was gritty and heavy

[stuckinthe60s]

my 311 kept having its forearm fly off in my hands when fired. got rid of that gun fast. lol.

[stuckinthe60s]

right. ive shot and owned more shotguns in my lifetime than I care to remember! that includes junk. needless to say, the junk are gone, long gone. muzzle rise, muzzle flash, buttplates in skin....no thanks! enjoy.

[bamaranger]

SXS shotguns typically make poor slug guns. I'd suspect that entry level guns like the imports and the old utilitarian Stevens 311 and their kin would be especially troublesome. The regulation of those guns was satisfactory for shot loads, but I really doubt refined enough to place slugs with sufficient accuracy for hunting. Certainly it's been done, and there's always the gun that is the exception, but as a rule, some type single barreled action is a better choice for slugs.

A self detaching forearm would be entertaining, but I'll bet could be repaired. The old 311's were the next step up from really cheap single barrels and bolt shotguns when I was a kid. Lots of my teenage buddies hunted with them, and many were much abused and neglected, subsequently, many used 311'a are in horrid condition. Finding a reasonably tight and shooter 311 these days is not the norm. Given TLC, a 311 can survive for some time. I acquired a 311A 16 ga a couple of years ago, mfg's 1949, that despite being hunted by two generations, since well cared for, is still servicable.

[Ricklin]

The Stevens doubles are robust enough. The plus is they made right around a zillion with their name on them, then a few zillion more for Sears and Western Auto.
Serviceable, there are a lot of them out there. For home defense I'd rather have a pump.
Between the pump guns and the cheap doubles of years gone by, plenty of election without destroying a valuable piece of history.
While the old model 12 is revered by many, I'd cut an old 30"full choke down in a heartbeat, if that's what I needed.
Given it's a plain jane of course. Winchester made a lot of them, and the old full chokes are too tight for todays loads.

While some might freak out, look at the number made and the fact the old gun is given a new life.
And no disconnector can be fun too.