What to Look for in a SxS

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Olon

Olon

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Howdy,

One of my coworkers is bringing me a century arms coach gun tomorrow to look over and possibly buy from him. I've always wanted one for the cool factor. Yep, I know it's not a top of the line type of deal but this gun is going to be purely for range fun and maybe small game hunting if I can shoot it alright.

My question is this: what do I need to look for in this gun? I've never had a break action of any sort and certainly not with exposed hammers. I believe that it's (lightly) used. With it being a cheaper gun I want to make sure that it doesn't have any major issues that will warrant repair right away. What typically goes wrong with these particular guns or similar?

Thanks for the help!

Olon
 
What to look for in a SxS? Not a Century Arms. They are of poor quality. If you want a "play cowboy" gun, or a two-shot to set by your bed, fine. Don't pay over $150 for it. Don't shoot it a lot. They are cyl./cyl. bore, so grouse is about it for hunting. Firing pins and springs are the main causes of malfunction on these, and parts are hard to get; Numrich usually is out of stock, and they are the major parts source in the US.
 
A decent quality but still relatively inexpensive double barrel shotgun is the Stevens-Savage-Springfield line, model 311, 5100, etc. Different names, models, and trim levels, but all basically the same gun made in the millions for about 50 years from the early 40's to the late 80's.

Some people will look down their noses at them, but there are hundreds of thousands of them out there in use by satisfied hunters. They are basic guns but hold up well. Plenty on the used market, the only ones I would avoid are the plastic "tenite" stocked ones.
 
Personally, I'd avoid the century sxs guns. They're heavy, clunky, and poorly machined in addition to being poorly regulated. As Speedo66 said, the 311's are a far, far better gun for what you're wanting and can be had (especially in coach gun format) for a very reasonable price.

Mac
 
look around ,there are many good used guns out there. I,m not a fan of the savage 311 series double barrels for more that a hunting gun as their lock up is not the best and does wear. I bought this charles daly 500 imported 12 ga double barrel made in japan by miroku, the same company that makes browning shotguns(notice the locking lug). for 200.00.
 

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Century hasn’t been known for quality, and side by sides generally take some fine craftsmanship. Unless cheap I’d hold off. You can get some very shootable used ones for not much
 
Had a few spray paint cans that were clogged up so I promptly unclogged them with my new shotgun. Honestly it wasn’t too bad. Really fun to shoot though admittedly less than ideal for aerial targets.

I did have two occurrences of a light primer strike with the right barrel in 38 rounds (19 in that barrel) but maybe I can fix it. Looks like the travel is the same on both sides but the right hammer sits just a tad farther back. I’ll have to mess around with it a bit.

Overall I’m happy with it. For $200 it’s not something I’d bet my life on but that never was the purpose anyway. If I can fix it up that would be even better :thumbup:
 
the advise you got here was not to run your choice down, only to try to steer you towards a shotgun that will last many years with out any problems. good luck with your choice and safe shooting.
 
eastbank said:
the advise you got here was not to run your choice down, only to try to steer you towards a shotgun that will last many years with out any problems. good luck with your choice and safe shooting.
Click to expand...

Understood :thumbup: I appreciate the input, I just happened to make a decision before folks weighed in unfortunately! Still she shoots (most of the time) and I think I’ll get at least my $200 worth!
 
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