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Which shotgun do you use


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Bet ya that 80% of the shooters in the Top 10 at EOT will be shooting 97's. Also bet ya a 97 will win speed shotgun! Bet ya $0.50 :lol:

 

 

 

Hells Comin

 

I am more interested in how someone shoots the shotgun over the course of twelve stages. Sidematch day don't mean jack, you should know that by now.

 

PS. take it easy on the 97 guys, the pump gun plumbers are starting to get sensitive.

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A pair of Liberty II hammer guns, 18.25" and a 24", have an SKB on order from Colt McCallister. My '97 comes out for Wild Bunch matches which usually reminds me why I don't shoot one.

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I'm a lifelong side by side shooter. My father gifted me with a bolt action Mossburg 12 ga on my 12th Christmas, which I hunted with until I got a job at age 15 and bought a Spanish SxS with my own money...never shot anything but a double since. So I'm happy to hear that doubles are coming back. I'll wait for the wave of change to reach the east coast.

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Palo Verde and Hells Comin,

 

I shoot a 97 myself, but I've been working with a two trigger SxS. I can't get the SxS to be as be quite as fast for me as my 97 - which is okay, but not real fast.

 

If I had better hands and could pull 4, that is what I'm seeing makes a REALLY big help for the 97's.

 

And my favorite 2 97's have lasted for many years with only changing an ejector spring every couple of years, so yes, my 97's have held up really well. We used to see Stoegers fail after 4 or 5 years of hard use (and I mean really fail), but the smiths now know how to make them last better.

 

As Deuce said, it is a lot up to whether the shooter has fewest fumbles with loading than anything else. And if they have to make up a shotgun target.

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It seems to be about evenly split around here. I did notice that most women shoot a '97.

 

Every time that I start thinking about buying a '97, someone has all kinds of issues with one at a match. It makes me appreciate the simplicity of a double.

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Must be a regional thing…….when I first started there were hardly ANY doubles and nobody that fast was shooting them except Red River Ray. Now in the SE you only have a handful of shooters using the 97’s and since they are the “holdouts” they are pretty good with em’ to.

 

I absolutely LOVE my 97’s they are one of my favorite guns ever made and on some days I could hold my own with em’……..if I could shoot one like Arcadia Outlaw I wouldn’t put it down. But for me over 10 stages I’ll do better with my SKB every time.

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Howdy

 

One more confirmed SXS shooter here. Plenty of SXSs in this neck of the woods. Went to a small shoot yesterday, didn't see a single '97, although there may have been one or two on the other posse. I do own a '97, but I never use it for CAS. It makes a real nice Trap gun though. My main match SXS is a Stevens hammer gun made around 1905. I really like Stevens SXSs, have three more.

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Although I shoot a 97, I think alot of shooters, real good and average, are starting to switch to the SxS for various reason.

 

Heck, we play in a game where CHANGE is a common factor for alot of us.

 

Deuce pretty much said it best. Except, I ain't getting sensitive..... :lol:

 

 

..........Widder

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At the clubs I shoot at in the New England area, I see a pretty even mix between SxS and the Single Shot known as the Winchester '97.

 

Very rarely do I see an 87.

 

Me, I use the 97. I do occasioanlly trot out my Parker for the fun of it, but only once in a while. But at my next shoot this coming Sunday, I plan to use my WW Greener Single Shot.

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I've used 97's since I started shooting CAS in the early 90's - Until now! I just got a Stoger Supreme with a single trigger and have been using it for the last month or so. I find that even though my time for 4 shots is a little slower than with my 97, my accuracy rate is higher. With the 97, I can "pull 4" but I can miss pretty fast too when I slam fire.

 

As far as reliability, I see about as many doubles fail as 97's. They both take action work from someone who knows what he is doing or they will give trouble. Thanks to Marauder's website and Coyote Cap's instructions, my double is now working well and not popping open after the first shot! After 15 years of shooting, I never had a problem with my 97 that stopped me from finishing a match with it.

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I was shooting in a match today and I realized I was the only one on my posse shooting a SxS shotgun. What do you all shoot?

 

The question seems to be which double are people shooting around here it seems. I haven't been able to keep up when I've tried a double or 87, but a lot of folks have made a successful switch.

 

I started with a '97, I have an '87 at the smith and I am working up to a SXS purchase. I see lots of SKB, Win 23 and 24's and other high end SXS shotguns. I think that most of the conversation on the wire right now is about full race guns built on the more expensive SXS guns.

 

I shot a SXS at a match this past Saturday and I really like the gun but I really suck with the reload!

 

Olen

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Shootin' Frontiersman, I gotta use a sxs double....Hammers of course!

 

Not recommending it but an 87 is legal for Frontiersman.

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I shoot a SxS far more often than a '97, and have never owned an '87 - gonna find one and try it someday though.

 

SxS hammer guns - 7

SxS hammerless - 7

1897's - 3

Single shots - 2

 

I use THIS SINGLE SHOT quite often. :lol:

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Own 3 hammerless SxS's, shoot 2 hammerless SxS's... that's all we shoot in matches

Own 1 '97.. kinda safe queen.. only comes out for some side matches.. almost rather skip the side match than shoot it.. :wacko: just not my type of gun..

 

I've been beat -_- by many a "97 in matches... but :blush: I've been beat by SxS's

 

Rance <_<

Come to think about it... I get beat quite regular :blush:

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I started on a '98 Marlin, once it was liabilitied out, I went to a Stoeger with 28" barrels. The wife started with a 26" Stoeger, went to a Chinwester, didn't care for it and went back to the Stoeger. I'm now shooting a TTN coach gun and for me, I'm happy :blush:

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From what I have seen at many shoots, a whole lot of folks are giving up their failure prone 97s and moving to doubles of all kinds. Many top shooters have done so. The 97 is still used in Wild Bunch but in CAS it's use seems to be slowing down from what I have seen. A bigger issue with 97s is the lack of a reliable import now. The biggest issue with all CAS shotguns is the lack of a reliable shotgun, as reliable as a Ruger Single Action revolver for example. None of the shotguns out there were designed to be shot like we shoot them in CAS and they do fail.

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I have to agree with the earlier post- 97's just ain't cowboy(even if I have seen 1 in an old B&W b-western). I shoot a 87 replica with a Rossi hammered coach gun as a back up. both are unmodified. j-r

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Not that it means anything, but my opinion is that the '97 is simply easier for person with small to medium sized hands to get proficient with... And many folks then stay just stay with it. If one has not shot the double before, (and it's quite different than an over-under), the rhythm and hand movements "seem" slower than the quick grab and toss loading the '97 singly. Grabbing two with the fingers and thumb for the double can lead to fumbling until one puts in a fair amount of practice.

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I have Damascus side hammer 19th ce Keystone Arms SxS that I mostly shoot at matches. I also have an American Arms side hammer with fluid steel barrels that I use sometimes, both have 28" barrels.

 

Every now and then I take out my modern Baikal side hammer coach gun.

 

I only shoot B-P in FCD category, and I never come close to winning, but I have fun.

 

As I said, the 97 wave hasn't broken yet in the PA and MD clubs where I shoot, but it is interesting to hear that the tide is turning.

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i shoot both an SKB double and a Winchester 97. most folks down here in FL shoot a 97 but when i went up to GA State most of the folks i shot with were shooting SKBs and they were damn good with them. so i guess it is a regional thing.

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You flip one spent 38 special case into the open chamber of that 97 and you'll see a train wreck. I don't worry about that with my SxS. I've got three 97's and have decided that I have too many thumbs to work them. I'll keep them for Wild Bunch shooting.

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I shot a SxS for 3 years, but recently switched to a 97. And I don't see myself ever changing back to a SxS.

 

My main match 97 was built by Mogollon Drifter. It was Mogollon's backup 97 and he decided to sell it to me.

There is only one gun out there that I would trade it for, and that would be Mogollon's main match gun and he will never sell that one! :lol:

 

Kid

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down here in FL we got some fast 97 shooters- Arcadia Outlaw, Sante Fe River Stan, Dang it Dan, Delta Glen, Badlands Drifter, Deadlee Headlee, Dang it's Darlin and i am sure a few others that i cant think of at the moment. its impressive to watch them all run a 97 for sure. i am fortunate that i get to shoot with them all.

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Here in Australia we don't have "97 wrecks", ...

 

...... matter of fact we (mostly) ain't allowed to have '97s ... AT ALL !

 

 

 

Lotsa hammerless doubles, hammered doubles, the occasional '87, .......

 

 

........... an' one silly wallaby with a single .... :blush:

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I've handled that 97 of Campo's and I must confess, I believe it is the smoothest 97 I've seen.

 

And for sure, Campo knows how to get the most out of it.

 

 

..........Widder

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I shoot one of Nate Kiowa Jones' slicked up TTN hammered doubles. Sweet shooter. I'm even slowly getting the hang of the way T-Bone Dooley handles his. I'm slowly getting speedier...

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