Best Gun for Waterfowl

[RPZ]

Any well made side by side double.

 

[SwampWolf]

My current and probably final shotgun is a 3” 12 gauge Benelli M2 in MOBL camo with a 28” barrel and a Kicks High Flyer Full Extended Choke. I shoot Winchester Dry Lok #2 3” 12 gauge shells.

I got my first Benelli Semi-Auto this past season—-an M2 American—-made in Italy in MOBL w/28” barrel but no comfort tech furniture. Came with one choke and a cardboard box. The first morning with it, first group of ducks in the AR Flooded Timber, I doubled: Sold.

Wait-do you still have it or did you sell it? Do you mean you "doubled" and killed two ducks or the gun doubled with one pull of the trigger? I'm thinking you mean that you shot two ducks from the same flight which "sold" you on the gun.

Welcome to The High Road, Blue Feather.

 

[Blue Feather]

Wait-do you still have it or did you sell it? Do you mean you "doubled" and killed two ducks or the gun doubled with one pull of the trigger? I'm thinking you mean that you shot two ducks from the same flight which "sold" you on the gun.

Welcome to The High Road, Blue Feather.

I still have it. I shot two ducks right at legal in the flooded timber of Bayou Meto—- two ducks; two shots. One was a Drake Wood Duck the other was a Drake Hooded Merganser. They fly fast. Normally I don’t shoot trash ducks ——- only Green heads but it was late in the season and you take what you can get. Glad to be here thanks.

 

[SwampWolf]

Normally I don’t shoot trash ducks

Sawbills take a lot of bacon to be fit to eat.

 

[RPZ]

Guns which will work well in low temps rain sleet etc are many, but add wind blown sand or mud into the equasion it needs a special gun to keep on spitting them out reliable.
The side by sides and O/us are of course reliable in that second shots are at least generaly guaranteed, but with just a little mud or debris in the action frame hung up in the bite its a no go wont shut and function . So unfussy as they seem on the face of it they can and will give issues.
Now the drop of the barrels to reload is good in that you can check bore is not plugged by an acidental touch down in your shooting possition or hide. so checking is arguably more nessasary, OUs have a big gape need a fair old drop to get the bottom barrel, so again loading can be a pain holding an OU up in the air as you shut it too, whilst keeping your muzzles clear of hide net mud dogs hide poles is a task all in its self.
And to add to this sat low in a possition putting shells in the barrels tend to be angles slightly up hill shutting the breach involves lifting the breach but stock hulls do tend to want to fall out land in the mud water boat grass whatever and saltty mud eats chambers if your not careful about your gun hygiene.
I feel the SxS is the best in the double guns for fowling they have less gape for loading in tight areas are generally lighter to equivalent Ous. Now finding multichoked SxS guns in 3.5 inch is tougher than say Ous semi autos or pumps, but plenty of 3 inch and 2 3/4 inch SxSs around still able to be capable performers on waterfowl.
So in general i believe INLINE action designs rule, Pumps autos these have disadvantages checking for the previously mentioned mud plugged muzle is not as easy but loading is a synch muzle always faces up hill easy to load and unload, in fact pumps and semi autos are way eassier to unload in a seated rock pile on a shoreling or that mud hole on the green shore . pumps have the advantage of manual functioning where in a filthy contaminated gun a little bit more mussle power saves the day, the same with wind blown sand or snow blown in the port and froze up.
But semi autos do have built in lower felt recoil for big loads which might be of some value to some waterfowlers but not all.
So now makes and models, PUMPS. Model 12s win 1200 mosberg 500 *35 Moss/ mavrick 88 rem 870 all work ideal along with nova and supernovas, but personaly i would go portless with BPS or Ithaca Mod 37 these bottom eject less ingress of snow water debris and in pumps i think they are the way to go. My choice would be the BPS hands down. Not the slickest action but certainly tough and dependable at practical price point.
Semi autos, Now again many will pass muster and function up to a point in waterfowling, Berttas extrema A 400s all the 300 series 301 302 303 390s and the urekas outlanders etc all great guns, but i have seen them get sticky when the snow gets in them snow sorts the men from the boys out in a waterfowl gun, build quality is all well and good, but a helpfull amount of designed in slackness in the working parts is a destinct advantage in waterfowling semi autos. Here the Bereta range good as they are get to see jams when the sittuations start to get cold and bad, Next up and again my opinion Browning golds maxus Win sx2 sx3 sx4s These if lubricated and clean function great, but hang ups can happen , again they hate\ snow rain too and although a Browning fan myself i have to admit they do give issues probably more than expected in poor conditions.
Benelli Autos these are often claimed to be the best waterfowl guns, well made inertia opperated super tough, but in use they too give issues when it gets cold, and the benelli semi auto ranges generaly fussy lubrication requirements can start to bring about issues in the cold and for me at least inertia or not they get side lined because of this just like berettas brownings etc We must touch on the new A5 its inertia and it is a performer but as the benellis the short recoil inertia guns can give issues, but i would pick a new A5 over an SBE for reliability in poor conditions but i would pick a vinchi over all of those short inertia guns mentioned. .

Inertia as its merits but i believe we must travel back in time to a bygone age to get true inertia toughness and reliability, The old A 5 the long recoil king this gun just never failed to impress its tough reliable keeps on chunking away in blizards whatever and apart from the wooden stock on most examples are pretty much the perfect waterfowl semi auto for reliability certainly the longest lived and best made ever.
Big downside in the OLD a 5 is the need for turn screws to field strip these guns this aspect steals them of the crown in my eyes, and in long recoil semi autos i chose to own three in the Franchi 48 A magnum 3 inch these are technicaly inferior to old A5s but in magnum have steel action frames and pins to field strip and to be honest are quite close to perfect waterfowl guns let down only by woodwork and unavilably aftermarket synthetic furniture, some demand in an ultimate waterfowler.
So as we close we have missed out OH so many guns Stogers Hatsans older winchesters mossbergs 9200s 935s and others 935s are incredible waterfowl guns but low powered ammo typicaly used in decoying ducks can give issues in opperation on some 935s but they are indeed exellent and the 10 bore barrel may or may not be of interest to you.
So the winner for me in any case is the Baikal MP153 its cheap nasty crude ugly call it what you want but it keeps on going year in year out i have had one 15 years its yet to ever jam and its seen action in snow filth rain sand you name it its flawless functional perfection cycles 7/8th to 2 1/4 lead loads on one gas setting the highly toleration of debris action design and build mean dirt normally encountered change nothing in function it just spits them out regardless.
We all know there are better guns out there but the MP153 is like the AK47 its not a AR15 its not a presice tool its a functioning brute of a gun built to survive in the russian environment maintained with the minimum of tools and knowledge super simple super tough and Cheap. For me they are where 12ga waterfowl guns need to be to function in the cold harsh environments we chose to hunt in.

I used a "cheap" Spanish (Zabala Hermanos) double SxS in freezing conditions, rain, sleet you name it (coastal Europe) on a muddy tidal coastal river estuary without any problems. If you are careless enough to drop a gun in mud etc you probably need to pursue a different hobby instead.

 

[RPZ]

Touch one of them off and you'll feel worse than the goose.

My first 12 was a Baikal single barrel (2 3/4 chamber) that had visible play when you grabbed the pistol grip and barrel. That thing used to pound my middle finger behind the trigger guard so badly I had to bandage it.

 

[Blue Feather]

When you wade a half mile in the ice in flooded timber before daylight, things get dropped in the water. It’s just a part of it. When you fall, you drop to your knees and don’t flail. Everything you carry with you has a strap or a string on it. All shotguns are slung. It’s dangerous otherwise. There is nothing like having 20 to 40 ducks come in and parachute on top of you under the canopy of the oak trees. It’s surreal.

 

[cdb1]

If you are careless enough to drop a gun in mud etc you probably need to pursue a different hobby instead.

That is a ridiculous statement. Stuff happens.

 

[WestKentucky]

I’m a cheap-donkey when it comes to shotguns. If looking at reliability, I would look at 3 names. Remington, Mossberg, and Ithaca. All in pump varieties. 870s are bulletproof machines, and for hunts where I was taking a boat all the way to a blind I would hardly consider anything else. Mossy 500s are just as reliable but are lighter. More pounding on the shoulder when firing, but less to carry through a swamp on the way to a blind. If “walking in” I wouldn’t consider anything else. The Ithaca guns just feel a bit more refined, and have a reputation as being durable. I can’t speak to their qualities since I have never hunted with them, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use them in the field in place of either of the aforementioned pumps.

 

[SwampWolf]

That is a ridiculous statement. Stuff happens.

I don't know. I've hunted in some pretty sloppy cedar swamps over the past fifty years or so and I don't recall ever dropping a gun into the soup. "Stuff" does happen but a sling helps keep it from happening.

 

[Blue Feather]

If you clean a semi auto after every trip, it extends the time between major PM work. Semis will fail for sure. I just like the light weight of the Benelli and the very fast second shot capability. Mossbergs are good too like you said, they hammer the shoulder with heavy loads but they can take abuse.

 

[cdb1]

I don't know. I've hunted in some pretty sloppy cedar swamps over the past fifty years or so and I don't recall ever dropping a gun into the soup. "Stuff" does happen but a sling helps keep it from happening.

I don’t recall ever dropping a firearm either but that doesn’t mean an accident can’t happen even though a person is being as diligent as possible. If you are dove hunting and get bitten by a rattlesnake, are you telling me there is zero chance you’ll drop your shotgun? Get real. Even a sling is no guarantee.

What immediately comes to my mind is someone’s great grandfathers shotgun with nicks and dings all over it. A shotgun from a time when the vast majority of people only owned one shotgun because that was all they could afford. So you know extra care was taken. But those old shotguns still are battered. Not all of course but many are.

When my daughter was a baby our house had a detached garage. One day I was walking from the garage to the house with her in one arm and a bag of groceries in the other. Right as I cleared the garage I got hammered five or six times on the back of my head by wasps. Without thinking I slapped the back of my head with both hands, which means I dropped my baby girl. I would die for my kids as we all would but that doesn’t mean a reflex action can always be sublimated. My wife saw it happen through the kitchen sink window. She tells people it was the fastest she’d ever seen anyone move their arms when I went for the back of my head to swipe at the wasps, until a microsecond later when my arms swooped down and caught our daughter before she hit the ground.

 

[Blue Feather]

I’ve fallen in and dropped so many shotguns in the water I’ve lost count. It’s not big deal. Strip it down the the pins, blow dry it, let it dry fully at room to and give it a good oiling. The way we duck hunt, I would not take an heirloom shotgun.

 

[SwampWolf]

I don’t recall ever dropping a firearm either but that doesn’t mean an accident can’t happen even though a person is being as diligent as possible. If you are dove hunting and get bitten by a rattlesnake, are you telling me there is zero chance you’ll drop your shotgun? Get real. Even a sling is no guarantee.

Nobody has said that it's impossible to drop a gun for any reason. If I was diligently as possible standing knee-deep in the backwater of some swamp while hunting mallards with my trusty Browning and got tangled in a decoy anchor line while my Lab was trying to get a bite of the sandwich I was holding in my left hand and my right hand was being stung by wasps, while a platypus in heat crawled down the wader on my right leg as a fully-charged electric eel crawled down the wader on my left leg, I might very well lose my grip on the gun and, well, "ker-plunk".

All I said was that when "stuff happens" (as it always will), a sling can help to keep a gun from falling in the drink. That's being "real". A sling is obviously no guarantee for keeping a gun dry after a mishap. Nobody even implied that.

 

[cdb1]

My post was not aimed at you SwampWolf though in retrospect that is exactly how it comes across. Your points about a sling are real.

The statement, “If you are careless enough to drop a gun in mud etc you probably need to pursue a different hobby instead.”, really got under my skin and I was continuing my rant about it. I do believe the statement is ridiculous and condescending.

 

[RPZ]

That is a ridiculous statement. Stuff happens.

Stuff happens. I've taken plenty of slips, slides and falls. But never dropped a gun in the mud.

 

[cdb1]

Stuff happens. I've taken plenty of slips, slides and falls. But never dropped a gun in the mud.

Far out and solid. Neither have I. And your point is that if someone has a ever dropped a shotgun they shouldn’t hunt?

 

[RPZ]

Far out and solid. Neither have I. And your point is that if someone has a ever dropped a shotgun they shouldn’t hunt?

No. I just don't see things like dropping a double in the mud as being a significant reliability factor. If you constantly maintain control over your gun - regardless of type - it won't get dropped in the mud. It is also a key gun safety issue, even if you are out solo.

If you can't do that, yes maybe you should consider another hobby.

 

[cdb1]

Whatever.

 

[SwampWolf]

If you constantly maintain control over your gun - regardless of type - it won't get dropped in the mud.

I don't care how safe, careful and "in control" you try to be, it's obviously quite possible, if not likely, for anyone to drop their gun in the drink. They weren't "dropped", but two shotguns, two hunters and a Golden Retriever were thoroughly submerged when a canoe was tipped over while hunting ducks on the Perch River in upper New York state one cold November morning a few years ago. That doesn't mean that I should now have to take up golf...

 

[RPZ]

I don't care how safe, careful and "in control" you try to be, it's obviously quite possible, if not likely, for anyone to drop their gun in the drink. They weren't "dropped", but two shotguns, two hunters and a Golden Retriever were thoroughly submerged when a canoe was tipped over while hunting ducks on the Perch River in upper New York state one cold November morning a few years ago. That doesn't mean that I should now have to take up golf...

Not quite the same thing. I'm sure many a bush plane has gone down in the drink, guns and all - not saying those guys should take up a new pursuit either.

Yes it can happen, just never to me since I first started going out hunting solo aged 15, 45 years ago. And personally, I don't want anyone out with me that doesn't know how to consciously maintain control over their gun at all times. Slip, trip, fall, come what may.

In the context the reliability of a good double out hunting in all weathers, the odds are extremely good. In peace time. During war time is another story altogether.

 

[hq]

And personally, I don't want anyone out with me that doesn't know how to consciously maintain control over their gun at all times. Slip, trip, fall, come what may.

For what it's worth, I admit having dropped my shotguns in a variety of places. When you're hunting a terrain that requires you to wade in swamps, scale cliffs and cross endless boulder fields, for up to three weeks straight, 10-15 hours a day, stuff happens. Not that I'm proud of that nor advocate any level of carelessness with firearms but having to fish your shotgun out of the soup is almost inevitable, sooner or later, when you've hunted long enough. Nobody is perfect, regardless of how consciously one might attempt to hold on to every single piece of equipment at all times.

It isn't the end of the world. Field strip, pour the water out, let it dry a bit, assemble and continue.

 

[RPZ]

For what it's worth, I admit having dropped my shotguns in a variety of places. When you're hunting a terrain that requires you to wade in swamps, scale cliffs and cross endless boulder fields, for up to three weeks straight, 10-15 hours a day, stuff happens. Not that I'm proud of that nor advocate any level of carelessness with firearms but having to fish your shotgun out of the soup is almost inevitable, sooner or later, when you've hunted long enough. Nobody is perfect, regardless of how consciously one might attempt to hold on to every single piece of equipment at all times.

It isn't the end of the world. Field strip, pour the water out, let it dry a bit, assemble and continue.

When negotiating very difficult ground it makes sense to sling/case a gun. A lightweight slip cover can be easily made - it does not have to be immersion waterproof, just to keep off heavy soiling or mud.

I've carried a double uncased in all kinds of wet and freezing conditions. I've never had one affected by water or ice.

 

[hq]

When negotiating very difficult ground it makes sense to sling/case a gun.

If the whole, up to 10-mile daytrip didn't consist of extremely harsh terrain, that might be an option. I have a detachable sling on my shotgun and even that hasn't prevented me from dunking it every now and then. I've even accompanied it to the drink myself a couple of times. Like I already said, stuff inevitably happens when you spend enough time hunting so this shouldn't be such a big deal after all.

 

[cdb1]

I will continue to strive for perfection.