Double Barreled Fighting Shotguns

In veins similar to recent posts... I am on love with double guns right now, particularly short-barreled variants...


let's see or hear your take on double barrel fighting guns...

 

I haven't seen a coach gun on the shelves in almost two years

 

Love the thought of them. There's a reason they are so popular. They serve their purpose effectively.

 

Aside from being heavy, limited to two shots and hard to reload rapidly (yeah, I've seen the cowboy shooters) they have an intimidating look to them.

 

Enjoy entertainment scenes where the good guys are taking care of business… with a short double barrel. In real life, I’d much rather have an 870 when it’s all on the line at close quarters…

 

I have a short double barrel shotgun that's been a lot of fun over the last couple of years. It is a blackpowder so anything more than two shots isn't happening very fast. It's been a lot of fun working up different loads of shot, buck-n-ball, & .715 punkin balls that pack a hell of a wallop.

 

When someone say fighting double this is always the first image that comes to mind. Street Howitzer...

 

I out one of those ammo cards on mine... Now when I grab it, I have 8 rounds ready to go... counting the 2 already in it.

 

Because you need a pair of them, right? Actually the front 1 is a Long Hunter custom Stoeger SxS setup for cowboy action. The other is a basic Stoeger that I'm holding onto until my friend's son turns 18.

 

I have a 16ga lefever nitro special that the barrels have already been cut down so no choke, thought about cutting them down to 18.5 inches for a true double scatter gun

 

I had a Fox 16 ga. as a kid. Fabulous shooter, but I better make those two rounds count in self defense. A reckless decision when so many pumps and semi-autos are available at affordable prices.

 

I had a Savage 311 16 ga. my dad had cut down to 20". Great grouse gun, I'm sure it would have served well. My 29.5" (or so) Sauer 16 ga. , not so much.

 

My thoughts on a double barrel fighting gun would be a hammerless side by side of quality construction (to include well regulated barrels), with c. 20" barrels, finished with a matte finish of some type, perhaps cerakote; with a tritium front bead and double triggers. Walnut stock with a Mercuric recoil reducer and good recoil pad. Need the extra heft to buttstroke somebody when you run out of ammunition. Heh

 

The double barrel shotgun gives you the ability to fire both rounds back to back with nothing between them but recoil management, or even both barrels at once.

A pump must be racked/rechambered and a gas gun has to cycle..both of these are slower than just touching off the second barrel, it's slower than a slamfire Ithaca or 1897 as well.

The reload is where the SxS losses it's edge. The first two shots are/can be the fastest out of a shotgun.
Always admired the SxS for it's rugged simplicity and versatility.

 

You best make that count.

 

I'll be your Huckleberry

 

Considering how tight the spread is on a shotgun at close range I wouldn't want to handicap myself on purpose with only two shots. I don't want to fight today's fight with yesteryear's technology.

 

I have a Rossi Coach Gun,bought in 1973 (!). I like its traditional appearance. Old soldier that I am, in armed encounter I will use Fire and Maneuver. Yesterday's technology beats NO technology.

 

I have an 18" 870 with extended mag. It is loaded with 8 rounds and within easy reach.
Right beside it is a 20" coach gun and 1911, M28 and AR.

The coach gun is shorter and the 2nd shot is faster. And QUIETER. Loaded with 1 5/8 oz HV #5s and skeet choked, the door will be full of angry pellets.
The 870 can be put into action faster than a reload. 4 rounds #4 buck, alternating with slugs.

Maneuverability? Secure IN PLACE. Cover one door, 911, wait for back up.
How many invaders? Location?
Not walking around, giving them the advantage. After first encounter with armed resistance, hopefully they leave, but ......

 

How about the Stoeger over/under Defender?
My favorite shotgun type is a O/U.

https://stoegerindustries.com/shotguns/double-defense-over-under-shotguns

 

This one is mine:



It's a Taylor's "Wyatt Earp" made by Pedersoli. It is a true hammer gun - the hammers are for real and not just decorative like so many others. I wanted that specifically, so that I could leave the gun loaded without having to worry about cocked strikers. Of course, cocking the hammers takes a moment - and more effort than I had anticipated - but with practice it got reasonably quick. Likewise, reloading is not as quick or easy as shucking a pump, but practicing the "cowboy action" technique of jerking the gun over my right shoulder to empty it, then picking a new pair of shells out of the cuff and stuffing them into the gun isn't terribly slow - though I haven't tried it at 3 A.M. in my underwear during a gunfight.

So no, it isn't an ideal fighting gun. It isn't completely useless either. Will it work? I hope not to find out. It really is* a supplement to other guns in the house, leaning in a corner and looking pretty, ready to go if I can't get to the 590 as quickly as I'd like.

*Since the boys turned into teenagers - and started inviting other teenagers to visit - the long guns have gone into the safe. Until they start college, all gunfights in the .38 household will be conducted with whatever is on my hip at the time.

 

I think everybody should have at least one break action shotgun, whether it's a single barrel or a double. The nice thing about single barrels is they are durable and inexpensive and even at a low price shoot very well. Double barrels are often difficult to get cheap, but if one can get a deal on a good one you can't beat that.

I would suggest going single barrel before taking the $500+ plunge on a double barrel and like post #2 said, shotguns flew off the shelves in 2020 and the double barrels, given the increased difficulty and expense of making them, haven't come back.

It's difficult today to recommend to someone that they pay more for a questionable quality double barrel shotgun over a proven design like a Mossberg 590 or even a lesser, but still very good Maverick 88. That said, I do not like the thought of an inexperienced person in a high stress situation relying on a pump action. I'd much rather they use a double or even a semi auto. Frankly, they'd be better off with a pistol or a semi auto rifle or even a Circuit Judge revolver carbine with .410 shells in it.

 

spot-on comment, in all regards.

i’m guessing that double-barrel shotguns require manual extraction of spent rounds, whereas many singles are handier auto-ejectors. the latter can be run very fast, probably quicker and more reliably than a pump-action in the hands of most civilians who don’t hunt or don’t shoot clays.

 

I have a Rossi double barrel coach gun with external hammers. It sits next to my Uberti 1873 Winchester in my gun room and is used quite often for cowboy action shooting. It’s a fun gun. Next to my bed is a Benelli M2 with 00 buck that is ready for when things go bump in the night. It’s a serious use gun. Do not confuse the two uses. Doubles may be fun guns to shoot and fills that “Tombstone fantasy” itch but as a serious fighting gun, double barrels have been obsolete since the 1897 Winchester came on the scene.

 

Same here, probably not a good guy by most people's standards but Richard Harrow, yhe character in Boardwalk Empire is the disabled World War 1 sharpshooter, half his face is blown off, wears a mask. Love the scene where he cleans up with a double barrel at one of their enemies hideouts. Opens the door and starts blasting away. I bet alot of you guys would enjoy that series if only for the period correct firearms. Circa 1920's........ Richard was my favorite character

Also, didn't some units in the NYPD use double guns for certain things, might have been stakeout squad, idk, but they were used in some capacity by tactical units as late as the 80's iirc