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Risky business, but what d'you think of this?


Horrocks
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Mentioned losing my Winchester pigeon grade the other day in return for something with a little more gravitas/was lighter, more wieldable etc.

 

A quick search on Guntrader came up with this, a George Bate and Co. non ejecting side by side: http://www.guntrader.co.uk/GunsForSale/110909141807337

Any feedback, has anyone out there had much experience with non-ejectors, is it infuriating. I read somewhere that you could buy a good gun for less if it was a non-ejector?

thanks

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personally I don't shoot well with SxS. No idea why, learnt on them as a young boy, shot with them for years. Then realised that I shoot better with O/U. Now realised that I shoot best with a semi auto.

 

Have you used a SxS much? Sometimes I think it's better to try a new gun on some clays to see if it suits you before purchase if poss. There are a few lightweight O/U about (eg from beretta and browning), which should be OK when used with a lightish load.

 

Sometimes I might even purchase the new gun in question and use for awhile before selling the gun it replaces, in case the new gun doesn't suit me, in which case you can sell that back and you still have your old faithful to turn back to. If funds allow....

 

 

Good luck

Chris

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Horrocks, that's a really nice looking gun. If it's in good condition it would be worth buying, and worth a little extra to get it fitted to you.

 

Its maker, Bate, commenced in business in Birmingham in 1850 and if you do a quick Google, you'll find that the firm is still in existence. It might therefore be possible to get some information on the gun's age and history.

 

As for it being a non-ejector, don't give it a second thought unless you regularly take part in driven shoots that send the birds over in big numbers. For general shooting, as others have said, you'll be spared having to look for, and pick up, your empties!

 

Here's my argument for getting your plastic out:-

 

It's a good-looking gun that wouldn't be out-of-place on a "formal" day. It's got heritage and tradition. It's got elegance. It will almost certainly have a grace, balance and handling which no over-and-under can match at the price (and which no pump or self-loader can match at ANY price).

 

As I've grown older I've come to appreciate that, like most of us, I shoot for enjoyment, to get closer to nature by spending leisurely days in the countryside and to continue an activity in which my family has been involved for more than 125 years (my great-grandfather started his keepering career in the service of Queen Victoria, c. 1875).

 

I don't need maximum efficiency. It doesn't matter if I miss some, as long as I hit a few to carry home for the pot, to justify my evening dram. I like the tradition, the nostalgia, the feeling that I'm maintaining what went before.

 

The side-by-side is still the traditional British shotgun, and I like the things inherent to it - the elegance, grace, balance, liveliness, beauty, and the fact that every older gun is a talking-point in a way that no modern over-and-under can be.

 

I rest my case.

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I agree with all the comments above, This season I'm using an English non ejecting SxS hammergun from 1895 instead of my silver pigeons s and I'm enjoying it far more. It gives me such a good feeling to shoot especially now that I've adjusted my pace to reloading it rather than trying to speed load it I just gently load and should a bird go over then not to worry as I'm composed and ready for the next.

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Thanks very much for all the comments. This does seem like a beautiful gun and one I'd love to get hold of should it remain in the dealer's hands long enough. I'd have get shot of my Winchester before thinking about getting it, money being an issue.

 

After an experience driven shooting last week with ejectors, I don't think missing them would do me any harm. when a good few came over I found myself rushing, gaining the kind of rythm Nickbeardo mentioned would be a huge help.

 

But what would be the disadvantages of shooting with such an old gun? I'd be using it on pigeon too (although my pigeon shooting isn't manic), would it be worth getting a newer side by side? (I'm not fussed about O/U's, when I've got enough money for two shotguns I'll get one)

 

thanks

 

And Aldivalloch; fantastic comment, I'm totally in agreement with you.

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nothing wrong with non ejectors usually have mine turned off anyway save hunting round for spent carts the gun on trader looks nice but must have some age to it and there's alot of good guns about a lot less than that

 

Can you turn them off on any gun? Say my Nikko ?

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