Sxs or o/u

[Mustang72]

No. But I love my old Fox sxs.--since I reload for it. Does anybody have any experience with the Hattfeild semi-autos. I 've been wanting a 28 for a while and $225 is pretty dang cheap.

 

[Frog4aday]

Most SxS have a straight grip & double triggers. Unless you grew up shooting that setup, it doesn't feel right & takes a lot of practice to get used to. Love the looks of the SxS, but I find a single trigger, curved grip O/U easier & more natural to shoot.

 

[KyCarl]

You can get a single selective trigger on a side by side. You chose with the saftey.
As far as the Jed Clampet crack..Darn right Oil Money! Look at some or these??
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...lAhVxdt8KHXQyAOcQsAR6BAgIEAE&biw=1920&bih=944

 

[Frog4aday]

I did say "most". But thanks.

 

[dreamhunt]

I don't think there is much practical difference between the two. The sighting planes are different and that bothers some users but they both have the same advantages over receiver style guns. I don't believe I have ever seen screw in chokes on a SxS but I may be wrong about that. I do love the option of screw in chokes and an immediate choice between the two in the field.
I think its mostly aesthetics which of course is a personal assesment. I prefer O/U.

 

[KyCarl]

Any option a O/U has a SXS has too Flush mount chokes are very common
so are single triggers and pistol grip stocks. I wouldn't have chokes installed in an old
Purdy it would cut the value in half as does refinishing it may look nice But Original is always better!

 

[codyadams]

I have ran a sxs with ejectors and a selective single trigger (button slide selector on the trigger), pistol grip and interchangeable chokes for a long time. Do I shoot an o/u better?? Maybe......do I feel better shooting a sxs? Heck yes. Plus you won't be like all the other o/u snoobs.....they are like the creedmoor crowd of the shotgun world!!!

Ha ha just kidding guys. If I am on a trap or skeet line and I'm serious about dusting clays.....I grab an o/u.

But in the field....the best way for me to describe it, an o/u on a duck hunt feels like socks with sandals sippin on a white claw. A sxs on a duck hunt feels like my recliner with a nice whiskey on the rocks in my hand.

 

[KyCarl]

Hawk Eyes on the target Read the print on the dome! The barrel shouldn't really matter? This is part on my problem transitioning from Shotgun to Rifle!
For years I paid a guy to tell me STOP aiming..Look ..Mount..Shoot!! His training O/U
didn't even have beads on it!

 

[dreamhunt]

SXS's in the smaller gauges are very appealing, as is the fact the used market for SXS is so vast and interesting.

 

[Frog4aday]

<SNIPPED STUFF>The barrel shouldn't really matter. This is part of my problem transitioning from Shotgun to Rifle! For years, I paid a guy to tell me "STOP aiming..Look ..Mount..Shoot!!" His training O/U didn't even have beads on it!

Hallelujah and thank you for saying it. I've been an advocate for "plain" barrels for years. These "fiber optic" glowing red and green 'beads' are exactly what we don't need on a shotgun barrel. If you are looking at those, and seeing those, you aren't focusing/seeing the right thing (the target.) We shoot best when there is nothing on the barrel to distract us. "Learned" this on the trap range one night. The gold bead went missing on my Rem 870 plain barrel (no vent rib) just before a league shoot. No time to get a new one put on so that's how it got shot that night. And...I broke my first perfect round without it. Bead? We don't need no stinking bead! Lesson learned. Cheek on the stock, eye on the target, and trust yourself...works great.

For what it is worth, I love a SxS for rabbits and low flying game (quail and pheasants.) But I prefer an O/U for higher flying game (waterfowl and doves.) I know...it makes no sense but that's just how it works out for me. Whatever shotgun that will make you happy is the one to get. If the side-by-side brings you pleasant memories of Jed Clampett, then get that and enjoy it. It's all good.

 

[Greyfox]

I have primarily used a side by side for upland game hunting for over 50 years....a lifelong romance. The weight, balance, and wide sighting plane is the perfect recipe for fast shots on upland birds.....Once mastered, its impossible to go back. The use of double triggers becomes an unconscious motor skill and provides an "instant" selection of choke if required. IMO, the SxS is perfect for someone that is looking for an intriguing and effective diversion from the conventional designs.
My Fox XE 20 gauge shown with my 11 month old Brittany, Buck(in training)

 

[Frog4aday]

@Greyfox, that's a beautiful dog and shotgun. Nice picture. Looks like a good day!

 

[Country Bumpkin]

I have and shoot both......the SxS definitely pulls at the nostalgia heart strings a lot more. I think stock fit becomes much more important on a SxS, than on other shotguns. Once they fit, and shoot where you are looking, I find them hard to beat. I also think barrel regulation is much harder to achieve on a SxS, and if it's off you'll always fight it. With the brand you mentioned, I'd go O/U.... If you want a SxS, I'd look for an older quality built one that was built in the good old days. My latest SxS is a 20 gauge, true 7 pin sidelock,from the 60's. It is the nicest one I own, and also shoots the best!

Pics and details of the latest one, please and thank you.

 

[Country Bumpkin]

Side bys are so classic! I love a round body with side plates English stock Splinter fore end Hand cut Border-less checkering not stamped! Skeleton steel butt W/checkered center. But most likely I would get the O/U for hunting.

That's a lot of terms I'm not familiar with. Can you post example pics so I can decipher all of that?