What type of shotgun for pheasant hunting? (sxs, o/u, semi auto, etc)

[mmfan36]

savage 220 with accutips

just have to be very accurate

 

[JD48]

8 minutes ago, OldPiney Woods said:

I have always been a double barrel shotgun guy for all upland birds. Been bird hunting for 55 years. Started with a borrowed 12 gauge at 14. Bought my first one at 16; a 12 gauge Stevens 311. Used that for a number of years until I could afford others. Never owned a semi-auto. Used a pump for one year about 40 years ago; didn’t like it and stuck with doubles ever since then. I have 10 modern light weight hunting model O/Us and SxSs I use for pheasant hunting. O/Us are  four Berettas, one 12 gauge and three 20 gauge; three Browning Citori , two 16 gauge and one 20 gauge. Three SxSs: a 20 gauge CZ Bobwhite, a 20 gauge Beretta and a 20 gauge Ugartechea. I also have four American Classic SxSs: Parker, A. H. Fox and L. C. Smith in 12 gauge and a Lefever Nitro Special in 16 gauge. All these doubles work well on pheasants. I have three 28 gauge doubles that I only use for grouse and chukars.

Piney, that's quite an armory you got, I'm jealous

[Sharpdogs]

I use my son's Mossberg 510 in 20 gauge.  I bought it for him but he never liked it so I put an adult stock on it and has become my pheasant and small game gun.

[Batsto]

If I use a double, it’s my 42 year old Stevens 311. It’s on sale for  $125 back in 1980. My wife had a store coupon and picked that sucker for 99 bucks. A. Great Deplorable Rube Deal! It was the last one at a local discount store next to the Moorestown Mall. Great Gun! If you run out of shells, you can club your game to death.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Batsto

[electricstart]

Beretta 

[JD48]

3 hours ago, Batsto said:

If I use a double, it’s my 42 year old Stevens 311. It’s on sale for  $125 back in 1980. My wife had a store coupon and picked that sucker for 99 bucks. A. Great Deplorable Rube Deal! It was the last one at a local discount store next to the Moorestown Mall. Great Gun! If you run out of shells, you can club your game to death.

Those 311's last forever

[Jim_]

Just a basic Browning BPS 12 ga. I use different loads in the chamber and the magazine. I have flushing dogs. I use it for clays and ducks, too ...so pretty handy with it.

Two Januarys ago, I bought a '54 Browning Auto-5 Sweet Sixteen that will see its first field work this fall.

I bought a nice (for me) Grade III Browning 20 O/U really cheap when Edelmans (Wayne?) was going out of business. I used IC/F with it in Pennsylvania. Sold it to get the BPS and duck gear many years ago, wish it was still in the safe.

[JD48]

1 minute ago, Jim_ said:

Just a basic Browning BPS 12 ga. I use different loads in the chamber and the magazine. I have flushing dogs. I use it for clays and ducks, too ...so pretty handy with it.

Two Januarys ago, I bought a '54 Browning Auto-5 Sweet Sixteen that will see its first field work this fall.

I bought a nice (for me) Grade III Browning 20 O/U really cheap when Edelmans (Wayne?) was going out of business. I used IC/F with it in Pennsylvania. Sold it to get the BPS and duck gear many years ago, wish it was still in the safe.

Don't we all wish we had the guns we sold

[JD48]

One of the most under rated guns are the Ithaca/SKB sxs from the 1970s, great guns

[Swamprat]

44 minutes ago, JD48 said:

One of the most under rated guns are the Ithaca/SKB sxs from the 1970s, great guns

That's what I got. An uncle passed it down to me. It had M/F barrels.  I had the barrels opened to skeet/ic for woodcock and quail. My only complaint is it's a single trigger. I love double triggers. That's why I bought the CZ bobwhite. Has doubles.  

[archer36]

3 minutes ago, Swamprat said:

That's what I got. An uncle passed it down to me. It had M/F barrels.  I had the barrels opened to skeet/ic for woodcock and quail. My only complaint is it's a single trigger. I love double triggers. That's why I bought the CZ bobwhite. Has doubles.  

I often use a skeet choke for Pheasant over pointing dogs. It doesn't mangle them at closer ranges. 

[JD48]

6 minutes ago, Swamprat said:

That's what I got. An uncle passed it down to me. It had M/F barrels.  I had the barrels opened to skeet/ic for woodcock and quail. My only complaint is it's a single trigger. I love double triggers. That's why I bought the CZ bobwhite. Has doubles.  

I had a model 280 20 gauge, beautiful wood, receiver, fully engraved "quail special" imp. &imp., english stock, (straight), couldn't hit anything with it, stock didn't work for me, traded it for Browning Sweet Sixteen

[Swamprat]

9 minutes ago, JD48 said:

I had a model 280 20 gauge, beautiful wood, receiver, fully engraved "quail special" imp. &imp., english stock, (straight), couldn't hit anything with it, stock didn't work for me, traded it for Browning Sweet Sixteen

English stock. Double triggers. That's the CZ bobwhite. I love it.  Lol.

But the trade you made was a good one. 

[archer36]

46 minutes ago, Swamprat said:

English stock. Double triggers. That's the CZ bobwhite. I love it.  Lol.

But the trade you made was a good one. 

Double triggers come in handy. If you have a close shot, pull the first trigger. Only a long shot, use the second. I think a double gun with double triggers is actually the best Turkey Gun. Everyone thinks of Turkey Hunting as only a long-range proposition. You may miss an occasional close shot with super tight chokes. The double triggers give you a choice. 

Single selective triggers are more cumbersome to use and you may forget to switch back. 

Edited August 22, 2022 by archer36

[JD48]

Just now, Swamprat said:

English stock. Double triggers. That's the CZ bobwhite. I love it.  Lol.

But the trade you made was a good one. 

Thanks, Ithaca/SKB, are great guns, you have to keep the stock bolt snug, not tight, not loose or you can crack the scalloped wood around the receiver