Picking your shots / wildfowling gun

[PeterHenry]

This is a revised take on the old chestnut of what gun do you use - but.....

(Presuming using a 8lb ish double barrelled 12 bore) 

If you are walking back over a marsh having been after geese or duck with a heavy gun, would you bother raising it (after perhaps changing chokes and cartridges) to snipe, or other small, quick wild game encountered on the way back? Or would you be of the mind that suck a heavy gun would put you at enough of a disadvantage so as not to bother?

Edited December 2, 2022 by PeterHenry

[Mullard83]

I think if I wasn`t laden down with kit & any wildfowl I was lucky enough to of bagged, then the weight of the gun wouldn`t stop me from adding more species to the bag. I have in fact done just this in the past whilst using my Browning Cynergy as that is the same 8lb weight.

Dan.

[Pushandpull]

If you had to stop and think about it then you would never get a shot off. For the record, I have seen chap I was guiding knock down a snipe when we were coming off after morning flight on the Wash. He was using a double 8 - about 14-15 lbs,

[PeterHenry]

1 hour ago, Mullard83 said:

I think if I wasn`t laden down with kit & any wildfowl I was lucky enough to of bagged, then the weight of the gun wouldn`t stop me from adding more species to the bag. I have in fact done just this in the past whilst using my Browning Cynergy as that is the same 8lb weight.

Dan.

👍

29 minutes ago, Pushandpull said:

If you had to stop and think about it then you would never get a shot off. For the record, I have seen chap I was guiding knock down a snipe when we were coming off after morning flight on the Wash. He was using a double 8 - about 14-15 lbs,

Christ, was there anything left to eat?

That reminds me of one of the accounts of 'BB' in the Sportsman's Bedside Book, when he claims a snipe effectively evaporated after he shot it with his fowling gun and a fowling load at full choke.

Edited December 2, 2022 by PeterHenry

[marsh man]

Using the ( ole fashioned ) side by side the chokes were never a problem , I had a Midland Gun Company 3 inch that had 32 inch barrels and were full choke in both barrels , as I was a reasonable strong bloke the weight never bothered me , walking back from a morning flight I would have had duck cartridges in the breech while walking the dykes up on the way home , we very rarely bothered with Snipe as they were not worth using our hard earn't cartridges and if any late geese did come into view it didn't take no more than a few seconds to get two cartridges from your inside pocket , or wherever you kept them for the just in case moments .

By the way , we didn't have a gun cabinet full of various guns for all different species ( no interest in clays ) , maybe one spare if anything went wrong with your every day gun , when the season finished we used the same gun for the roost shooting and then decoying throughout the Summer until the season rolled round again , as we used the same gun all the year round we never blamed the gun if we were having a off day , come the new season we had our eye in for the early duck , and also the dog was in good condition with retrieving Pigeons throughout the off season , not like some of the fat ones we often see in early September along with there super fit owners 

[PeterHenry]

5 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Using the ( ole fashioned ) side by side the chokes were never a problem , I had a Midland Gun Company 3 inch that had 32 inch barrels and were full choke in both barrels , as I was a reasonable strong bloke the weight never bothered me , walking back from a morning flight I would have had duck cartridges in the breech while walking the dykes up on the way home , we very rarely bothered with Snipe as they were not worth using our hard earn't cartridges and if any late geese did come into view it didn't take no more than a few seconds to get two cartridges from your inside pocket , or wherever you kept them for the just in case moments .

By the way , we didn't have a gun cabinet full of various guns for all different species ( no interest in clays ) , maybe one spare if anything went wrong with your every day gun , when the season finished we used the same gun for the roost shooting and then decoying throughout the Summer until the season rolled round again , as we used the same gun all the year round we never blamed the gun if we were having a off day , come the new season we had our eye in for the early duck , and also the dog was in good condition with retrieving Pigeons throughout the off season , not like some of the fat ones we often see in early September along with there super fit owners 

That's a very sensible approach.

[Pushandpull]

My comment about the chap with the eight was to show that you can't be stopping for a discussion. Of course the bird was fine, only getting a single pellet I think (there is a photo somewhere). 

I can't immediately find BB's anecdote but this would have been before the war when he was still shooting the single 8. He does record 21 knot with one shot in that book (there's economy !). The single eight was sold by him in more recent years but seems to have disappeared from view. His Midland 12 bore is still in good order and in safe hands.

[Penelope]

3 hours ago, PeterHenry said:

This is a revised take on the old chestnut of what gun do you use - but.....

(Presuming using a 8lb ish double barrelled 12 bore) 

If you are walking back over a marsh having been after geese or duck with a heavy gun, would you bother raising it (after perhaps changing chokes and cartridges) to snipe, or other small, quick wild game encountered on the way back? Or would you be of the mind that suck a heavy gun would put you at enough of a disadvantage so as not to bother?

If I could only have one gun it would be a 3" magnum, preferably an English SxS, for everything. It would cover virtually everything I would ask of it.

[6.5x55SE]

3 hours ago, Penelope said:

If I could only have one gun it would be a 3" magnum, preferably an English SxS, for everything. It would cover virtually everything I would ask of it.

Exactly Paul will take care of Tall Pink's to in your face Teal as John stated very easy to change cartridges ( if you have time) . A few unexpected snipe or golden plover has fell to a 3" steel load 😳👍

[marsh man]

Just because you use a three inch, it don't mean to say you had to use three inch shells as the gun will shoot a treat with 70 mil shells and 65 mil , although we might had been a bit rough and ready , more rough than ready 😋 , we wern't rough enough to use a 2 3/4 and feed it with three inch shells , where using a three inch would happily eat most cartridges that were smaller , then on high days when the odd box of three inch shells came your way as a Christmas present , or when the funds were in good health you could put a couple in the breech for what the gun was made for , a win win situation if you ask me 

[Rob85]

I'm (un)lucky that I only have 2 guns and both are ordinary game guns so have to do everything but the ground i shoot has some wetland that I can take duck on so I always carry non toxic when I'm walking that part.

on the way back I usually swap over for any pigeons/game I may happen to stumble across, but I'm never really laden down with much...ducks especially haha. On the subject of cartridge choice I did once manage to accidentally slip a 36g AAA foxing cartridge in instead of my normal 30g 6s and truly annihilated a pheasant, would have thought I had shot it down with a 223, one big hole through the back and out the neck  🤡

[Charlie Anderson]

On a slightly different vein I have started just using one shot size ie steel "3" as I have always found  that when I have duck cartridges loaded a goose makes an appearance and vice versa. In terms which gun to take I guess it's a personal choice based on what you shoot best but I imagine many of us may have tried a few before you find the one you like. I am still searching.....

[scolopax]

5 hours ago, Charlie Anderson said:

On a slightly different vein I have started just using one shot size ie steel "3" as I have always found  that when I have duck cartridges loaded a goose makes an appearance and vice versa. In terms which gun to take I guess it's a personal choice based on what you shoot best but I imagine many of us may have tried a few before you find the one you like. I am still searching.....

In the old days I found that lead 3’s in either 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 oz loads were the perfect dual duck and goose load. 
 

Not really been able to find the equivalent yet in non toxic, not steel at least, and I swap between steel 4’s and Steels 1’s for ducks geese. I have a stock of Hevi shot 1’s and 3’s but they are reserved for geese only, which is a bit daft really but I nearly always have time to switch over to steel if a duck presents on a goose flight.

[PeterHenry]

On 02/12/2022 at 14:50, Pushandpull said:

My comment about the chap with the eight was to show that you can't be stopping for a discussion. Of course the bird was fine, only getting a single pellet I think (there is a photo somewhere). 

I can't immediately find BB's anecdote but this would have been before the war when he was still shooting the single 8. He does record 21 knot with one shot in that book (there's economy !). The single eight was sold by him in more recent years but seems to have disappeared from view. His Midland 12 bore is still in good order and in safe hands.

👍 I think the account also mentions him jumping from a dinghy in his waders and being thankful he didn't lamd in the water, lest the drag him down - I also think it took place in Ireland?

On 02/12/2022 at 15:44, Penelope said:

If I could only have one gun it would be a 3" magnum, preferably an English SxS, for everything. It would cover virtually everything I would ask of it.

Good point 👍

On 02/12/2022 at 19:06, 6.5x55SE said:

Exactly Paul will take care of Tall Pink's to in your face Teal as John stated very easy to change cartridges ( if you have time) . A few unexpected snipe or golden plover has fell to a 3" steel load 😳👍

Another very good point 👍

On 02/12/2022 at 19:54, marsh man said:

Just because you use a three inch, it don't mean to say you had to use three inch shells as the gun will shoot a treat with 70 mil shells and 65 mil , although we might had been a bit rough and ready , more rough than ready 😋 , we wern't rough enough to use a 2 3/4 and feed it with three inch shells , where using a three inch would happily eat most cartridges that were smaller , then on high days when the odd box of three inch shells came your way as a Christmas present , or when the funds were in good health you could put a couple in the breech for what the gun was made for , a win win situation if you ask me 

The gun I'm thinking about using for everything is a Browning Special Waterfowl with 3 1/2" chambers - so the same is true more or less. It works very well wity 2 3/4" for pigeon shooting and by the flight pond.

23 hours ago, Rob85 said:

I'm (un)lucky that I only have 2 guns and both are ordinary game guns so have to do everything but the ground i shoot has some wetland that I can take duck on so I always carry non toxic when I'm walking that part.

on the way back I usually swap over for any pigeons/game I may happen to stumble across, but I'm never really laden down with much...ducks especially haha. On the subject of cartridge choice I did once manage to accidentally slip a 36g AAA foxing cartridge in instead of my normal 30g 6s and truly annihilated a pheasant, would have thought I had shot it down with a 223, one big hole through the back and out the neck  🤡

I've got a feeling that I was probably happier going shooting when I had fewer guns - less to worry about and over think. Its far to easy to turn a very simple sport into a mental quandary... and that's before cartridges...

6 hours ago, Charlie Anderson said:

On a slightly different vein I have started just using one shot size ie steel "3" as I have always found  that when I have duck cartridges loaded a goose makes an appearance and vice versa. In terms which gun to take I guess it's a personal choice based on what you shoot best but I imagine many of us may have tried a few before you find the one you like. I am still searching.....

I love my side by sides to be honest - and i shoot quite well with some of them. However, I've always searching for the one gun that can do it all - from Geese to Snipe. And - I think I've found it, but it's an over and under.... so the head says yes, but the heart says no.

41 minutes ago, scolopax said:

In the old days I found that lead 3’s in either 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 oz loads were the perfect dual duck and goose load. 
 

Not really been able to find the equivalent yet in non toxic, not steel at least, and I swap between steel 4’s and Steels 1’s for ducks geese. I have a stock of Hevi shot 1’s and 3’s but they are reserved for geese only, which is a bit daft really but I nearly always have time to switch over to steel if a duck presents on a goose flight.

Yeah, the lead / steel thing does cause problems. Hence my problem in a round about way - looking for the gun that can do it all with modern / steel cartridges.

[Charlie Anderson]

Having tried a few options, a  wood stocked over and under proofed for steel with 3 1\2 chambers would cover most options but having a deep paranoia of ducks and a lack of camouflage I would if rich enough have a matching pair one in camo and one wood stocked that way I can cover all options not that get invited to proper shoots or do much clay pigeon shooting. Rocking up to a clay ground with anything other than an ou or sxs is not really an option down here.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

1 hour ago, Charlie Anderson said:

Having tried a few options, a  wood stocked over and under proofed for steel with 3 1\2 chambers would cover most options but having a deep paranoia of ducks and a lack of camouflage I would if rich enough have a matching pair one in camo and one wood stocked that way I can cover all options not that get invited to proper shoots or do much clay pigeon shooting. Rocking up to a clay ground with anything other than an ou or sxs is not really an option down here.

Are you receiving treatment for this?   

[Charlie Anderson]

I'm afraid it's terminal 😁