What are the best handling shotguns in your experience?

[Cumbrian]

An entirely open ended question, as per title. I am assuming that fit is not in question, though gauge might be, likewise side by side or over and under could be a determining factor. I suppose also there might have to be a distinction between guns for clays and guns for game, though with any luck the ideal gun would excel at both. And it would be nice if the gun were still available, at least second hand. By 'handling' I mean a combination of balance, weight, pointability - and anything else you might consider essential. To start things off, I will declare that I use mostly (for game and clays) a Browning 325, 30 inch multi choke, weight approx. 7 lbs 14 oz, which I think is a great gun but probably not the best handling one in the world.

[fortune]

. a combination of balance, weight, pointability - and anything else you might consider essential.

Expensive but a Holland and Holland Royal. It had everything. balance, weight, pointability, looks, wood, Engraving the full set. But that's why they cost as much as they do. it was like an extension of the body like pointing a finger at the target.

[robbiep]

I'd say that pretty much any O/U will be out of the running. S/S guns just handle so much more beautifully.

[winnie&bezza]

Shouldered someone's round bodied John Dickson 12b sxs once and that was lovely. Probably even better in 20b.

[Gordon R]

Salvinelli Monaco - best handling gun I have owned or even shot with.

[Salop Matt]

If the cartridges didnt cost so much more then for all around shooting bar pigeon hide shooting for me it would be a Browning B525 20bore 30". I dont shoot real high birds and I would happily clay crunch with 21 or 24gram cartridges in a 20bore, I also just find 30" barrels so nice handling.

 

ATB

 

Matt

[ChrisAsh]

How do you define handling its to much of a open question that has no real answer, what one person likes another has a different point of view. what may suite a mounted shooter (should be banned from clays) may be way out for someone who shoots unmounted (more natural)

[Gordon R]

My Salvinelli is quite a heavy trap model, but feels quite light. Most people who have tried it think it is a lot lighter.

 

Some guns just feel like a dead log in your hands. Krieghoff seem like this to me, although many would disagree, I'm sure.

[Savhmr]

Nicest handling gun I've ever owned was a Zoli sidelock side/side. Lovely balance. I think point of balance, weight and weight distribution plus stock fit and "pointability" will determine this on an individual basis. What's right for one person wont necessarily be right for another.

[Blackpowder]

I am fortunate I own mine. an 1889 John Dickson Trigger Plate Round Action Shotgun. Not only is the handling and balance superb but load for load the the recoil seems less than with the same cartridge in my W.R. Pape boxlock.

 

Blackpowder

[Westward]

Best handling gun I ever owned was a fixed choke Miroku. Fabulous game gun but it took several years to work out that it wasn't great for clays because it was too light overall and especially too light up front. Nowadays I like a clay gun to be over 8lbs, with a slight forward weight bias, light barrels and with light trigger pulls. Blasers fit the bill very well for me but so too does my CG with a very similar fit and feel to a Blaser but at around half the cost and a million times better looking.

 

Hard to beat a SxS for handling in the field though but I'll pass on using one for clays.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Westward

[Milo]

Boss over and under.

[Junkyard Dog]

Perazzi SHO, live pigeon gun, or a Fabbri, again a pigeon gun.

 

If you have a price limit, an MX20 SCO Oro Perazzi, or an S010, or at bottom end a nice little 687eell in 20 bore.

[Vince Green]

The old Baikal O/Us were remarkably comfortable you know. Don't laugh.................

 

tin hat on

Edited October 6, 2015 by Vince Green

[wymberley]

Have never shot a real top of the range London gun but have shot Churchill (2), Linsley, Patstone and Hellis - the last 3 all being 2" - and countless Spanish and Italian offerings but I always come back to AyA and the XXV BL in particular. Now staying with the one I have.....mind you the little Linsley.........

[archiebald]

for me it has to be a s/s aya yoeman 28 inch barrels iv got on with everyone iv used.

[welshwarrior]

I found the new Purdey Sporter OU handled very nicely in 20 bore.

 

Most top English sidelocks I've used if not unbalanced by alterations have handle beautifully especially a boss I handled last week.

 

More modern really liked the MK60 high pheasant or a well set up SO5.

[winnie&bezza]

Agree, XXV BL are lovely.

[JohnfromUK]

A 'best' English s/s. This can be either boxlock, sidelock, or trigger plate (i.e. Dickson type). For me it should have 28" barrels, double triggers and weigh about 6 1/2 to 6 3/4 lbs with a 14 5/8" straight hand stock

 

I can't choose a make as I have only regularly shot (and own) two makes, William Powell and Henry Atkin. The late Gough Thomas was particularly fond of Atkin spring opener models. Note that quite modestly priced boxlocks can handle as well as anything. The only Purdey I have shot was rather too light for my taste and had a very lively recoil.

 

My AyA s/s is a very close second, as is a William Powell hammer gun I have.

 

For an o/u, I have shot several of the more expensive Beretta/Browings including the SO6 Beretta, but the nicest handling o/u I have used has been the Merkel 303E.

 

One thing to note is that no gun will appear to handle well unless it is a reasonable fit to the person doing the handling.

[wymberley]

A 'best' English s/s. This can be either boxlock, sidelock, or trigger plate (i.e. Dickson type). For me it should have 28" barrels, double triggers and weigh about 6 1/2 to 6 3/4 lbs with a 14 5/8" straight hand stock

 

I can't choose a make as I have only regularly shot (and own) two makes, William Powell and Henry Atkin. The late Gough Thomas was particularly fond of Atkin spring opener models. Note that quite modestly priced boxlocks can handle as well as anything. The only Purdey I have shot was rather too light for my taste and had a very lively recoil.

 

My AyA s/s is a very close second, as is a William Powell hammer gun I have.

 

For an o/u, I have shot several of the more expensive Beretta/Browings including the SO6 Beretta, but the nicest handling o/u I have used has been the Merkel 303E.

 

One thing to note is that no gun will appear to handle well unless it is a reasonable fit to the person doing the handling.

GT also had a pair of AyA XXV S/Ls He came up with the clever method of inhibiting the ejectors if required - either eject or not by the turn of a screw.

[figgy]

For me a nice AYA number one delux. For the money second hand they take some beating.

 

My 30" Damascus barrelled Hollis London made gun, at first I wasnt so sure of the fit, but a day on the partridges snap shooting and three first barrel kills stone dead makes it a keeper for me. Great handling and not to whippy like some shorter barrel sxs can be.

 

As people have said what suits one may not suit another. I've handles some top end guns like Purdy and Holland & Holland, nice but didn't impress me for the price. A AYA Yeoman sxs I had on loan while my gun was getting fixed fitted me better and felt more balanced. But then I don't conform to the average size for gun fit.

 

Some one I know has a lovely AYA model 53 with silver coin finish and gold washed locks, handles and looks superb. I've looked all over and never found one like it.

[chris1961]

The best gun is the one that you can hit the targets with

[Hamster]

Handling and shootability are two entirely different things. You can pick up a gun off the rack and marvel at its fluid movement and seemingly effortless pointability but this usually means the darn thing is too light and next to useless for clays if not game too truth be told.

 

One of my early OU guns was a G3 Miroku 6000 with 30" barrels which would steal most hearts with looks and graceful handling but which sadly shot rather poorly. My original spec 682 which served me well for a decade handled rather poorly (many will know what I mean) but shot handsomely.

 

You can build fluidity into most guns by getting them balanced neutrally but the only way to know if you gel is to shoot them a while. There are exceptions such as the K80 which seem to suit a rather narrow band of individuals almost regardless of how they're balanced.

[Scully]

I can only refer to those guns of which I am familiar, but for me the 28" Diamond Grade I once owned handled superbly, and even as big a fan as I am of the Grand European, the 27.5" barrelled Field Grade 101 I own takes some beating.

However, the 682 ported Supersport I owned was also very good, but the 28" Perazzi I own is in a different league.

I deem handling based on how a gun performs on bolting bunnies, where the weight and balance of that weight is crucial to results. For me, on results, it's either the heavy 101 Sporter or the Perazzi, and in my opinion the latter edges it.

[JohnfromUK]

GT also had a pair of AyA XXV S/Ls He came up with the clever method of inhibiting the ejectors if required - either eject or not by the turn of a screw.

 

I recall that and have supplied a scan of the article to a couple of Americans who (being great reloaders) were anxious to inhibit the ejectors. GTs own Henry Atkin was sold at auction quite recently (last year?)