Reading all 82 messages in thread
message board home

3/30/2012 9:52:37 AM

Reply or ReplyNewSubject
Section 5: Shotguns
Subject: Maverick HS-12 Shotgun Msg# 827077

From:

Jerry Webb

Joined 10/31/2001

To:

Allan Tarvid (Read)

Joined 10/5/2000

That was a thorough explanation of the use of doubles, thanks for posting it. I was going to post a lengthy response giving reasons that a double is a poor defense piece, but you have much more knowledge on this, and gave a better experience-based reply. Bow Down

If an old double was all I had, it could be a life saver. But to go out and buy a double specifically for self defense is silly. That money is better spent on a modern defense piece, and there are numerous practical options in that price range that would work better for home defense and carry.

For reference, the above message is a reply to a message where:
Hopefully, all of our discussions here on the forum will remain theoretical... Thumbs Up

Also, I didn't mean to sound like a condescending know-it-all, I am seriously worried about your double-gun preference for the reasons I mentioned.

I agree with Mark that a side-by-side is better than an over-and-under, but I still wouldn't want one without ejectors to sling out the empties. For any lurkers who may not know, some double guns only have extractors which move the empty hulls far enough out of the chambers for you to grab them and pull them the rest of the way out. On the other hand, empty hulls are thrown out of the gun with enough force for them to fly over your shoulder by ejector-equipped guns. I have had the ejectors disabled on all my over and under shotguns used for trap because I reload my hulls and I don't want to have to duck-walk around the range picking up my empties after shooting a round. The extractors lift the shells up and I pull them out and drop them into a net bag on the back of my vest. I have the extractors disabled on my hunting O/U guns because I don't like to litter a farmer's/rancher's property with empty hulls and I always seem to lose one or two that are flung away by ejectors. Trap limits you to shooting one or two shots at a time and when hunting a third shot is never life-threateningly critical so speedy reloads are not as crucial as they are in self defense.

As for the over and under versus the side by side (without ejectors) question, I've noticed that sometimes when I break open my O/U's, gravity does not always open them far enough to clear the empty hull in the lower barrel. When I try to remove it, the brass rim of the empty hull sometimes catches on the frame and I have to fumble with it to get it out. My guns are old but still tight and I have to make sure I force them all the way open before removing my empties. This could be problematic in the dark under stress. Side by side doubles raise the chambers of both barrels the same distance above the frame and wouldn't have that problem. Ejector-equipped side by side and over and under doubles don't have that problem because they don't activate to sling the hulls out of the gun until the gun is fully open.

message board home