Shotguns-db-12

Alot of people are buying shotguns for home protection these days. Theres a lot to be said for that, because a shotgun requires little training to be effective, the overall costs are relatively low, and the deterrent effect is on the awesome side, even though no shots may be fired. But what shotgun to get? What type and gauge is best? Thatll depend on your location and type of home to some extent, but there are some absolutes. Beginning with caliber, the 12-gauge has the most to offer in load variety, availability, and ammo cost. While there are good arguments for smaller calibers, particularly when light, young, or recoil-sensitive personnel may be using the gun, for this report we considered only the 12-gauge.We had never compared "police" shotguns with double side-by-sides, so decided to have a look at the two to see if there are obvious or perhaps hidden advantages to one type over the other. We chose a police-type Remington 870 Express Magnum Folding Stock, 12-gauge pump (MSRP $505) to test against a double SXS Stoeger Coach Gun, made in Brazil by E.R. Amantino (MSRP $369). Both had 3-inch chambers.Although the Stoeger had 20-inch barrels, it was 2.5 inches shorter at 36.5 inches overall than the 870 with its 18.5-inch tube. Of course you can fold the stock on the Remington to give an overall length of 29.3 inches and itll still be functional. We tested with three types of ammunition. These were 2.75" Federal 1-ounce #8 Game-Shok, 2.75" Estate 1.25-ounce High-Velocity Hunting loads, and with 3" Winchester XX Magnum 00 Buckshot (15 pellets). While the obvious difference between these two guns is many shots versus two, thats by no means the whole story. Lets take a closer look.

Can the American-made side-by-side compete with the best handmade British game guns? In our estimation, no. But if you don't know your stuff, you can get burned on foreign models.

Dove hunting offers prime September shooting action in many states, and the quest for the best gun for that sport continues unabated. Because most dove hunters have batting (shooting) averages on par with a AAA shortstop coming to the bigs—if he hits his weight, he's lucky—there's always interest in finding a better gun to hit the tricky-flying birds.

The side-by-side has largely fallen from favor—witness the paucity of them in most companies' lines. But we test two inexpensive models to see what they offer the budget-minded shooter.

Outfitting yourself for a Cowboy Action event involves sixguns, rifles, and shotguns. Most stages of a typical Cowboy event require all three types of firearms. Many words have been written about today's handgun choices, and a fair amount of copy has been penned about rifles, but precious little has been mentioned about shotguns.

The Cowboy Action-shooter's shotgun has to be either a non-eject side-by-side double—with or without hammers—or an appropriate pump or lever shotgun from the tail end of the 19th century. Some shooters use vintage guns, some of them over a century old, but we think most shooters will be better served with modern shotguns. In this report we look at three double guns suitable for the game, all of them 12-bores with 20-inch barrels. They came from EMF, TriStar, and Stoeger. All were blued, and had wood buttstocks and forends. One of them was choked. One had hammers, but the others were hammerless. All had double triggers, and all were made with the Cowboy game in mind. Here's our findings.