Over under or side by side. Decisions decisions

J

Jay H

Active member
I work a pretty hectic schedule and more times than not i pull in from work at 3 am change my clothes hook up the boat and head to the ramp. After gunning all i wanna do is go to sleep then wake up in time to eat with my sons and wife and head back to work.so i dont have the time needed to give my gear the maintenance it needs/ deserves. And my 1100 has paid dearly for it. Its time for a new gun die to neglect so i wanna turn my waterfowling as maintenance free as possible i sold my wooden garvey before that suffered from neglect as well. I am either going to buy an over under or side by side. I want a gun that dosent have all the internals to clean like my autoloader and i find that most of the third shots taken are a waste. What style gun do you prefer for waterfowl over under or side by side?
 
Side X Sides need less room to break open in a boat, but over under or sxs you still must maintain them, if they get wet,the insides by the springs,hammers and guts will rust up worse then you're 1100.
perhaps an inertia system would need less maintainence,I'm sure there will be other chiming in soon.
Good luck with you're search
 
I shoot an 1892 short 10 ga, SxS parker as a every day duck and goose gun, and its a duck kill machine , I can't remember the last duck I shot with a pump or auto. you will love the history of the old SxS's and the feeling you get when you kill a duck or a goose with it. I shoot mt SxS 20 ga when gunning out of my sneakbox. I shoot 1 1/4 oz BB.2',4's bismuth out of the 10 and 7/8 ths oz 6's out of the 20. scott
 
"
[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica] Side X Sides need less room to break open in a boat, but over under or sxs you still must maintain them, if they get wet,the insides by the springs,hammers and guts will rust up worse then you're 1100.
perhaps an inertia system would need less maintainence,I'm sure there will be other chiming in soon.
Good luck with you're search" [/font]

I agree
 
I have to agree with the others that a double won't solve any reduced maintenance issues. Your best practical choice is probably to rebuild your existing 1100 and send it out for a high tech coating like Lauer's CeraKote. Corrosion protection, reduced friction, interesting color & camo choices.

To answer your question on SXS Vs Stacked. Simply close your eyes and picture your self in a grassed up sneakbox rising up to take a weary black duck, which do you see in your minds eye, double or stacked? It's all about you, which do you like? Both shoot just fine. Personally I could never warm up to an over & under. SXS are just too linked to history and esthetics in my mind. Ever seen a damascus barreled over & under?

Scott
 
Jay,

You are kidding yourself if you think any gun will stay functional with zero maintenance. Some are touchier than others and in my experience a 1100 is one gun that takes consistent TLC to be more than a single shot. I've hunted with several 1100s and owned another - I don't own any now. I really like a SxS for waterfowling and a O/U for upland and sporting clays. Personally, I shoot a 20 ga SxS most of the time. My alternate and long time fowling piece is a Benelli SBE which is 'almost' indestructable though even it has had issues once in a while over the past 12,000 shots I put thru it. No matter how tired you are or pressed for time, most guns can be cleaned 'between hunts' in a couple of minutes and most guns don't need a complete strip down for every cleaning.
 
I know you ae looking at a 2 shooter BUT if you really want a low maintenance gun there is only one way to go in my mind= 870 Reminton. Several reasons not the least is that it points and shoots like your 1100, if you liked it why switch. I can almost do the military blindfolded teardown of my 870 every day if it needs it and most of the time it does not just my $.002
 
you have to love the old short tens

but PLEASE - if you have no intentions of maintaining a gun, do not buy a classic old double. even the 0 grade Parker was hand fitted to close tolerances and as stated they have springs and levers to rust and dirt and crud will keep them from closing.

find a used Huglo or CZ, at least spray it with WD40 after the hunt and then its no loss when you have to scrap it in a couple years.
 
Sorry should have stated i just dont have time to take apart reciever and clean like i used to just wanna get home swab barrels spray down n go
 
Sorry should have stated i just dont have time to take apart reciever and clean like i used to just wanna get home swab barrels spray down n go
Click to expand...

Like Tom said, a pump is the answer.
 
Jay, I understand what you are saying - I've had 1100s in the past. BUT, my Benelli SBE can be stripped to the firing pin in less than 30 seconds - cleaned and put back together - the whole deal less than 3 minutes.

Tom is right, an 870 Remington is probably the most indestructable gun on the market and always has been.
 
Jay,
I've always been partial to SxS's. As far as running a brush and/or swab through between hunts and more thorough cleanings, either would be pretty easy, so it comes down to what you'd feel most comfortable shooting.
 
My dear mid west friends, Jay appears to be hunting out of Toms River so I'll make the assumption that he hunts salt a fair amount of the time. Even if he can break his gun down in 30 seconds it still takes a significant effort to get the salt off. Warm soapy water bath, salt removal solvent, etc. I was hunting salt yesterday, tide falling constantly having to push the boat back into the water, and shifting decoys out too. Waterproof gloves kept my hands comfortable but they were wet, my waders were wet, my SBE got wet and we didn't have the dog in our boat. This is typical of hunting salt, guns get abused badly, I've oiled, waxed, & both at once, and after 15 years my SBE is rusty with some light pitting. Bluing just doesn't protect against salt without constant maintenance and I suck at that. I will get around to sending it out for total surface protection one of these days, just have to get around to it, cost isn't too bad.

Scott
 
I'd like to be able to duck hunt out of my current boat with one of my side by sides. The folding side flaps make it difficult and sometimes unsafe to break it open to load & unload.
 
I knew a guy who shot a hole thru the bottom of a Garvey with a over under because the firing pin stuck out when he closed it..due to salt water neglect
 
Buy an 870 wingmaster. take the time and get used to the pump. I guarantee if you practice you will be faster than a semi and best of all.... It will never, never, ever, ever, let you down.
 
My first gun was an 870...that was 49 years ago (ugh!). It has, as others have mentioned, never let me down. It's still going strong.
Gary
 
I was going to put in my 2 cents worth, but I don't know crap about salt water other than I use it to boil pasta. If you move to the midwest get a A5 or a SBE.
 
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