20ga over-under advice?

[French G.]

"I got a 20g Ithaca model 37 for Christmas right before I turned 14."

The Ithaca 37... another one of my weaknesses.

I have my Dad's Featherlight 12 gauge with the corncob forearm. LOVE that gun, even if it beats the everloving *expletive deleted*it out of me.

I've been considering getting one in 20 gauge for some time, but it has to have the corncob forearm. It's such a classic look.

The Ithaca Gun Company also brought out a version of the 37 in 28 gauge. That one has also been plucking my banjo strings, so to speak...

I got a featherweight with rifle sights for $100, a police trade in but bought in a divorce divestment package. I promptly tested a lot of every brand of slug I had. Beat the ever loving crap out of me is an understatement. Think I was over fifty rounds that night. It is the only social shotgun I have left.

[AZRedhawk44]

I got a featherweight with rifle sights for $100, a police trade in but bought in a divorce divestment package. I promptly tested a lot of every brand of slug I had. Beat the ever loving crap out of me is an understatement. Think I was over fifty rounds that night. It is the only social shotgun I have left.

I have a Stevens 350, which is a clone of the Ithaca 37 but it has dual action bars versus the original Ithaca only having one.  I liked that it didn't poop its shells out across my nose as a southpaw, but then I learned about the problems of it ejecting out the feed port and how short-stroking it can cause that.  I also can't breech load it.

It's my "office" shotgun, demoted from "bedroom" shotgun in favor of a Mossberg 590 bought after taking a couple of defensive shotgun classes.

[RoadKingLarry]

Bunch of rotten SOBs.   

Now I'm shopping for double barrel 20 gauge.
 

[Brad Johnson]

Sigh.

Passed on a Ruger Red Label when I was working at the gun store 2011-2012. I thought $600 was just too much. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess...  :'(

Brad

[grampster]

"I got a 20g Ithaca model 37 for Christmas right before I turned 14."

The Ithaca 37... another one of my weaknesses.

I have my Dad's Featherlight 12 gauge with the corncob forearm. LOVE that gun, even if it beats the everloving *expletive deleted*it out of me.

I've been considering getting one in 20 gauge for some time, but it has to have the corncob forearm. It's such a classic look.

The Ithaca Gun Company also brought out a version of the 37 in 28 gauge. That one has also been plucking my banjo strings, so to speak...

I saved my money when I was around 16 and bought a brand new Ithaca Featherlite mod 37 in 12 ga. with the corncob forearm pump. Cost me $65.00 NIB.  I have a great story about the first time I used it and missed a huge Rooster pheasant with it.  Had to  do with forgetting the safety was behind the trigger guard instead of the thumb safety on the Ranger double barrel.   Several of my hunt buddies got quite a laugh at that.  Sadly I traded it for an Ithaca 20 ga XL900 semi auto in 20 ga with a shot and slug barrels that I still have, though.  I do have my FIL's 16 ga Featherlite of the same vintage.  I still have my dad's Ranger double in 20 ga, too.

[JTHunter]

Bunch of rotten SOBs.   

Now I'm shopping for double barrel 20 gauge.
 

HEY !!
 I have an old Stevens SxS 12 gauge (Mod. 311) with double triggers on the gun rack next to the bed.  I have fired both of those barrels at the same time but from the hip, not my shoulder as it is easier to get both fingers in there when lower.
Imagine the kick with a pair of 3" shells in it !!

[RoadKingLarry]

I'd love to get a 12 gauge SXS. But, my shoulders tell me it's a really bad idea. I sold my Henry .45-70 lever gun because I was honestly afraid to shoot a standard load through it. Sure I could work up a light load for it but I can do that with my (Pedersoli)Sharps 1874 and be much cooler doing it. :D. That, and my nephew really, really liked it.

I'm looking for a 20 gauge coach gun. If I can find one with real hammers it would be a bonus.

[K Frame]

Mine is the featherweight delux newer than the corncob forestock. Gee it would be over 51 years ago. Dad got one just like it that we picked up on our way to Nebraska that fall. My sister now has it.
I had a 20g with plain barrel and cob forestock but sold it years ago. Wish I had kept it too.

Featherlight

Ithaca never used the term Featherweight. Featherweight MAY have been trademarked by Winchester, but I'm not 100% about that.

My Dad bought his sometime around 1950 or so, not long before they changed the forearm style.

The other of his guns that I absolutely treasure is his Remington 521-T rifle. He bought that around 1948-49 with money that he saved from his working on his grandparent's farm.

Danged thing was, and still is, a tack driver. I used to do a lot of damage to the squirrel population in Central Pennsylvania with it.

[K Frame]

I got a featherweight with rifle sights for $100, a police trade in but bought in a divorce divestment package. I promptly tested a lot of every brand of slug I had. Beat the ever loving crap out of me is an understatement. Think I was over fifty rounds that night. It is the only social shotgun I have left.

The worst recoil experience I ever had was with Dad's 37. Some friends and I went to the local sportsmen's club to shoot some clay birds. Somehow a paper-cased slug had worked its way into a box of my Winchester AA reloads. No clue how I managed to do that. Not paying attention.

So, I put it in the gun, popped it up to my shoulder, and pulled the trigger. It was hot out, I was wearing a T shirt, didn't have a recoil pad, and neglected to get a decent shoulder and cheek weld.

It went about as well as you can expect.

The stock drove back into my shoulder like a pissed off rhino and my right thumb came up and caught me in the cheek and nose. Gave me a bloody nose.

I didn't shoot that day. I just ran the trap.

And gained a LOT of appreciation for basic shooting fundamentals. 

[K Frame]

Bunch of rotten SOBs.   

Now I'm shopping for double barrel 20 gauge.
 

As well you should be. As well you should be.

My Stevens 311 is one of those guns that I would be very loath to ever part with.

[K Frame]

My other double barrel is an Ithaca Gun Company double barrel 12 gauge.

It was my Great Grandfather's farm gun.

It's a double trigger double hammer gun. It does have fluid steel barrels, but unfortunately it is, as a farm gun, beat to hell. Firing pins are broken, the forearm lug has pulled loose and needs to be resoldered... IF it can be resoldered...

I've toyed with the idea of sending it off to the Diamond Gunsmithing for restoration, but it looks like I've screwed up and they're no longer accepting new work as of March 1.

[French G.]

And if you like turkey hunting just come east and find a national forest. I am enjoying watching them this spring, nearly run over two family units in the last week. Birds everywhere.

[JTHunter]

As well you should be. As well you should be.

My Stevens 311 is one of those guns that I would be very loath to ever part with.

Ditto !!  Especially now that I had a gunsmith bore it out and put in screw-in chokes.  That basically turned my 311 into a 511.  With those tubes, I can choose two quarries or two ranges for one. 

[K Frame]

Ditto !!  Especially now that I had a gunsmith bore it out and put in screw-in chokes.  That basically turned my 311 into a 511.  With those tubes, I can choose two quarries or two ranges for one. 

I thought about having that done with mine, but since it's just a range gun, I don't think I'm going to bother.

[Tuco]

My old 12 SxS was handed to me as tight modified and full.  At 6lb9oz, briley (1998) did not want to consider screw ins and they came back 0.00 CYL and Mod, an excellent combo inside 40 yards.

[AZRedhawk44]

You guys raise an interesting point I hadn't considered before.

Is it common on SxS or O/U shotguns to have one barrel be wider choke for first shot and the other barrel tighter for longer shots?  The thought being that flushed birds move away from the shooter and a miss on the first barrel results in 5-10 yards farther for the 2nd shot but additional time to refine aim?

In O/U, does it really matter which barrel is assigned the longer range tighter choke if so?

[charby]

You guys raise an interesting point I hadn't considered before.

Is it common on SxS or O/U shotguns to have one barrel be wider choke for first shot and the other barrel tighter for longer shots?  The thought being that flushed birds move away from the shooter and a miss on the first barrel results in 5-10 yards farther for the 2nd shot but additional time to refine aim?

In O/U, does it really matter which barrel is assigned the longer range tighter choke if so?

Yes, for fixed chokes, choke tubes, do whatever you want/fits how you want to use it.

Some were choked the same.

I have an old Belgium hammer double 2.5" 12 gauge, and it's choked full and full. I'm guessing it was for pass shooting waterfowl.

[K Frame]

As Charby says, yes.

Most .410 doubles I've seen have been choked full/full.

My Stevens 20 is, IIRC, choked modified and improved cylinder.

[JTHunter]

You guys raise an interesting point I hadn't considered before.

Is it common on SxS or O/U shotguns to have one barrel be wider choke for first shot and the other barrel tighter for longer shots?  The thought being that flushed birds move away from the shooter and a miss on the first barrel results in 5-10 yards farther for the 2nd shot but additional time to refine aim?

In O/U, does it really matter which barrel is assigned the longer range tighter choke if so?

FYI - before being re-bored, that Stevens 311 was choked FULL on the righthand barrel (front trigger) and MOD on the lefthand barrel (rear trigger).
From what I've been told by more knowledgeable people, righthanded shooters (the majority) would use the front/right trigger first, then "fall back" to the rear/left trigger.
Now, with screw-ins, I usually use the front/right barrel with the more open choke for close-in game.  If I made a bad shot and they were getting away, the rear/left barrel would have a tighter choke for more distance in the hopes of "redeeming myself".   

[Ben]

Depending on what you buy, you'll have a barrel selector switch as well. My Red Label has no tubes and is choked impr/mod. My DeHaan has tubes, but I still keep it imp/mod usually for upland stuff.

[AZRedhawk44]

So it seems that shot shell adapters are a thing.  I've heard of them before, but they escaped my memory and were just reintroduced to me as I was researching O/U topics.

Let's say I have a 12ga O/U and barrels set for modified choke.  What happens to its pattern when I load it with 20ga shells and adapters?  Will it be the same dispersion as 12ga modified but lower density?  Or will it go wider than 20ga cylinder choke?  Are there choke adapters for shooting 20ga in a 12ga gun or is that playing with the devil from an obstruction perspective?

[RoadKingLarry]

I think you could tighten up a size on the 12 ga. choke tube and be OK. That's one of those things you'd have to take to the range and pattern it to see what it will do for you.

[charby]

The adapters I have seen are barrel length sleeves for a smaller gauge.

[MechAg94]

I neglected to mention before that Chiappa / Charles Daly make a Triple barrel shotgun.  They do make versions in 20 gage and in hunting lengths last I looked.

https://www.charlesdaly.com/category.php?id=20

[AZRedhawk44]

I neglected to mention before that Chiappa / Charles Daly make a Triple barrel shotgun.  They do make versions in 20 gage and in hunting lengths last I looked.

https://www.charlesdaly.com/category.php?id=20

Good grief, that sounds heavy.

I did a circuit through several pawn shops over the weekend and didn't come across anything worth picking up.  But I did call a gun shop on the edge of town, one that trends more towards milsurps and hunting than modern tactical stuff, and they've got a few used ones on the wall.

I really miss backpage.