You may think that's no
biggie, but a "between the hands" balance point of these
doubles contributes to their superior handling
characteristics. For example, if you are retiring
grandpa's old pump gun with 56% weight in the butt, or
are switching over from one of these new alloy receiver
lightweight over/unders with 62% of the weight in the
front end of the gun, you're going to marvel at the
difference in the handling characteristics of a perfectly
balanced double.
Un-remarked in the specifications
is the fact that the "Solid Raised" ribs mentioned here
have a small taper from the breech to the muzzle. This
presents an optical illusion to your eye, fooling it into
thinking you are shooting longer barrels than is the
fact. Plus, a solid rib means you don't have to pick out
weed seeds when you come home.
All three of these guns come
perfectly choked (Improved Cylinder/Modified) for
walked-up birds or shooting over wide-ranging flushing
dogs. However, if you are shooting pointed birds or clay
target games, you're going to want to consider other,
more open chokes. Both BSA and Marlin offer optional
Skeet choke tubes for these new model side-by-sides. A
minor but inexpensive post-purchase hassle that will
improve your game by opening up patterns on close
targets.
Shooting a long lead hand cures a
lot of problems. It helps keep your head down on the
stock and makes it hard for you to shoot over the bird
(the second most common cause for missing birds). And it
helps involve your torso in your swing instead of just
your arms. So, if you are tall with long arms, you should
be shopping for the longest forearm you can get. American
bird hunters seem to suffer with a genetic flaw, which
prevents them from touching barrels with bare hands even
though it is important to get the lead hand farther out.
A cheap out is to buy and use a shooting glove to
encourage a longer left arm &endash; so you can cradle
the barrels in your gloved left hand. Wave at the Shotgun
Goddess if you agree that BALANCE is a good thing. Use
your left hand.
On the other hand . . .
the first thing that comes to hand (to coin a phrase) is
the grip. The three grip styles represented here: Prince
of Wales, English and half-pistol are all good birdgun
selections. All are superior to a full pistol grip, which
might encourage your right hand to dominate the use of
the gun. Full pistol grips are for rifles and aiming and
scopes and bench rests -- none of which apply to
birdguns. Guys who fall into the habit of overpowering
their birdguns with their right hands end up "steering"
the gun. Usually into poor shooting choices.
The Prince of Wales is quite
popular today because it combines advantages of the
English grip with a little knob that acts as a keel to
help keep you from canting the gun. Even guys with small
hands and stubby fingers can have a comfortable
right-hand hold with any of the three grips represented
here. The half-pistol grip, recreated here on Marlin's
L.C. Smith, was at one time the most popular shotgun grip
available. Traditionally, the English style on Kimber's
Valier II was designed to allow the right hand easy
backward and forward movement between the front and rear
triggers &endash; and it easily accommodates both large
and small hands.
Checkering is viewed today as an
art form. The main idea of checkering is to provide
gripping surfaces on forearm and buttstock. To accomplish
this end, hundreds of tiny pyramids, each with their
sharp tip intact provide a non-slip surface for the palms
of the hands. Unfortunately, this purpose is sometimes
lost in the execution. It is very easy to spoil a perfect
checkering job with an ill-timed swipe of a piece of
sandpaper, cutting off the sharp pyramid tips and
smoothing out the gripping surface.
Machine checkering is quite
popular today because it is cheaper and serves the main
function of providing an excellent gripping surface.
Checkering is sometimes qualified as to so many lines per
inch, with a higher number of lines engraving denoting a
higher-end product. As a practical matter, coarse
checkering works just as well as fine checkering. Maybe
better. Or at least as good. Sharpness counts. Tastefully
done decorative flourishes, such as the fleur de lei
pattern on the Marlin L.C. Smith and the crisply executed
pattern on the BSA Royal demonstrate what machine
checkering is capable of and adds to the aesthetic appeal
of these doubles by giving the grip areas a kind of
understated elegance.
All three main trigger styles,
(all with automatic ejectors and manual safeties) are
represented on these three new 20 gauge doubles. The
single non-selective trigger on the L.C. Smith fires the
right barrel first, then the left barrel. Since most
shooting is done on "going away" targets, this is a
perfectly satisfactory arrangement. The double triggers
on the Valier II provide, of course, instant choke choice
-- long bird or short bird. The safety switch on the
Royal acts as the barrel sector. Set to the right and it
fires the right barrel first, then the left barrel with a
second pull of the trigger. If the switch is moved to the
left, it fires the left barrel first and the right barrel
second.
Of all the useful things
happening at the butt end of the gun, none are more
important than LENGTH OF PULL and ADVANTAGE RIGHT
(CAST-OFF). American-made shotguns tend to have 14-inch
length of pulls and are cast-neutral. Shotgun-fitting is
a science unto itself, but the general rule of thumb is
that you should have an inch of space between your nose
and your thumb when you pull the trigger. Tall guys with
longer necks will feel more comfortable with longer
Lengths of Pull. Note that both the Royal and the L.C.
Smith come with half-inch rubber recoil pads. Rubber pads
in the aftermarket come in a variety of thicknesses, up
to an inch, so it is no big deal to add another half inch
to the LOP to either of these guns.
The ADVANTAGE RIGHT (or cast-off)
concept is important to understand. It is a feature built
intro most European side-by-sides. By moving the comb to
the right when the gun is shouldered, it positions the
sight plane of the gun where your right eye is looking.
This is the basis of "instinctive shooting" or the
poke-and-shoot technique practiced by most birdgunners.
The Shotgun Goddess wants to help you do better what
you're already doing.
If you are left-handed with a
dominate left eye, trying to shoot a gun with cast-off is
going to ruin your day. You'll shoot three or four feet
to the left of flushed birds. With that much lead
built-in, you'll probably do pretty well on birds that
fly to the left, but miss everything that flies to the
right. This phenomenon is often what diagnoses the
problem. Few off-the-shelf guns are available to
left-eyed shooters. So, for the most part, obtaining a
gun with ADVANTAGE LEFT (cast-on) is going to be an
aftermarket process -- probably with suitable sacrifices
made to the Shotgun Goddess along the way.
The following excepts from the
Shotgun Goddess' Little Black Book will enable you to
complete your research with catalogs and brochures for
the BSA Royal by calling 954/581-2047; the Kimber Valier
II at 800/880-2418; and Marlin's L.C. Smith at
203/239-5621.
* * *
