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Jacko3275
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Whichever suits you, it's your gun and you shooting. Its marginally quicker to reload top barrel so some go for that first.

As for choke, most open first, tighter second. But...theres always a but, you can always use the barrel selector if you want to go the other way 🙂

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I shoot the bottom first then top .

The reason is the bottom barrel is more in line with the butt of the stock and your shoulder..so the recoil is more linear - straight  backward  .this means the barrel dosent flip upwards as much as it does when shooting the top barrel  .

The advantage of this .is that its easier and quicker to get back on target (bird ) when you have fired the bottom barrel first .

Obviously  after you shoot the second (top ) barrel .and experienced the extra flip of the muzzle .your out of shots anyway so it doesnt matter.

As far as chokes .i fit 1/4 in top and bottom .this means im not thinking ."oooh which barrel shall i select  for this high crow "./or what ever ..

Instead of concentrating on the bird .

 

Really suprised this hasn'tbeen mentioned yet .🤔

Edited by Ultrastu
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hello, my O/U has multi chokes and it is always more choke on bottom barrel, with my usual 7.5s i use 3/4 and full, there was not much choice years ago with side by side fixed chokes,  as for which barrel to shoot first depends on range and quarry, never thought about this barrel flip, unless i miss with both barrels a say flippin ek :lol:

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All my guns are double trigger, can't afford to upgrade to single or ejectors never Mind multichoke at the minute!...o/u and sxs so it depends on range and if it's incoming or outgoing. But in the real world you will go with the less choked barrel first

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I shoot top barrel first, for reloading speed. Even that is often not quick enough and I have to close the gun with an empty top chamber, flip the selector then fire. The strange thing is under the pressure to change the barrel selector you almost always hit the bird, no time to think... just hit it!

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When decoying - bottom barrel first, 1/2 choke followed by top barrel 3/4 choke. Never really thought about why other than the bottom barrel is one dot and the top is two( I like things in order)! 
 

When shooting driven birds - Top barrel first as this generally is the further shot. 
 

I don’t tend to flick between the two for different shots.

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Pigeon, crow shooting I shoot under barrel first. Generally 1/4 choke. Then upper barrel generally 1/2 choke.

Why? Well my first shotgun , Miroku, came with fixed chokes with the chokes preordained . This dictated under barrel first. When I had it multi choked by Nigel Teague I kept to what I had become accustomed.

I occasionally clay shoot with three buddies who, although they may vary their chokes, all shoot under barrel first.

Edited by Bobba
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11 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Now there’s a man with a proper gun 

There you go , I was beginning to think I was the only one still using a side by side , I was once told that if God wanted us to use over and unders we would have had our eyes above each other , that must had been before the auto's were invented :lol:

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14 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

I shoot the bottom first then top .

The reason is the bottom barrel is more in line with the butt of the stock and your shoulder..so the recoil is more linear - straight  backward  .this means the barrel dosent flip upwards as much as it does when shooting the top barrel  .

The advantage of this .is that its easier and quicker to get back on target (bird ) when you have fired the bottom barrel first .

Obviously  after you shoot the second (top ) barrel .and experienced the extra flip of the muzzle .your out of shots anyway so it doesnt matter.

As far as chokes .i fit 1/4 in top and bottom .this means im not thinking ."oooh which barrel shall i select  for this high crow "./or what ever ..

Instead of concentrating on the bird .

 

Really suprised this hasn'tbeen mentioned yet .🤔

I was going to match those words pretty much word for word. Look at what the "pro" clayshooters do. It is always bottom barrel first.

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2 hours ago, marsh man said:

There you go , I was beginning to think I was the only one still using a side by side , I was once told that if God wanted us to use over and unders we would have had our eyes above each other , that must had been before the auto's were invented 

I have nothing but side by sides.

All of my game guns I have always had bored the same in both barrels. Usually IMP and IMP although one gun I had bored at 1/2 and 1/2. The reality is that unless you are walking up grouse or snipe (or decoying by the method as below) then there is no sense in having the left barrel more tightly choked as usually it's fired at a bird that is closer incoming bird (if you miss) of if you taken the incoming back bird of a flush or flurry or pair of birds.

I can see it making sense ti have the left barrel more tightly choked though if you like to let one pigeon land into your pattern and then take the bird that's coming in after that first bird has landed. Also for long shots at sitting magpies a tightly choked barrel and English #7 makes sense. Once for drey blasting and sitting magpies when I has a 2 3/4" chambered gun I used 1 1/4 ounces of English #7 in Sellier & Bellot paper cartridges. 

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