O/U shotguns; I don't get it?

[Rogue909]

Pardon my ignorance (and let me assure you, I'm sure it's ignorance on my behalf...)

Why are over under shotguns so desired?

In the age of reliable semi-auto shotguns; the only reason I can think of to use a pump is for the classic feel, odd shells (pump to feed anything), or extra reliability.

But I can't think of any reason to go for an over under unless it's just something you really want.

I kind of think of it similar to semi-auto vs bolt vs trap door. There is really very little reason to go trap door (from a performance standpoint.)

Yet over unders are incredibly desired. I'm assuming it's something I'm missing. So; educate me!

 

[z7]

Different chokes could be a reason, one for farther targets and one for closer, quail hunting or sporting clays comes to mind

 

[greyling22]

I think it's mostly style and tradition, but for clay games, which is where most of them are found, you get 2 different chokes you can tailor to your game, you can change gauges easily, the design gives you a lot of out front weight to help your swing, and it is easy to show your gun is safe.

 

[SharpDog]

I started with pumps (Ithaca Deerslayer) and have since moved on to semi's (Benelli and Mossberg). I've never shot an O/U.

From what I can tell, chokes, as stated in post #2 ^^^, is one reason but I think the main reason is weight and balance. Also, much like revolvers, their owners often tout reliability.

That said, I mainly shoot my Benelli Super 90's hunting and at the range and I cannot remember having a misfire.

 

[ATLDave]

Different chokes, better swing, more reliability (especially irrespective of load power), better durability over LOTS of rounds, ability to easily catch your own hulls for reloading....

ETA: Also, being able to hold the gun "broken" is very much appreciated on crowded clay-games ranges.

 

[Mizar]

Do shoot a good over and under shotgun and you will be immediately spoiled. In my humble opinion they just handle way better that pump/semi and almost as good as a side-by-side...

 

[huntsman]

Well if you’re hunting for sport and not sustenance the gun becomes more than just a tool. But if you can’t afford the quality O/U(or SXS) then a pump or semi-auto is what one should own.

Think of it as a return to where we came from, not by need but by choice.

 

[ATLDave]

Competition is very efficient at identifying the best-performing equipment. Competitors will change in a heartbeat to something that gives them the best chance to win. Almost all serious trap and skeet shooters use O/U shotguns. One can logically infer that, when it comes to shooting rapidly-flying things under circumstances where a maximum of 2 shots is permitted, the O/U performs best.

Conversely, in 3Gun, where rapidly shooting at large numbers of targets - most of which are stationary - is required, semi-autos dominate, and O/Us are nowhere to be found.

 

[jaguarxk120]

O/U's are built today from the inexpensive models to the most expensive models ever made.
Repeater's today are assembled on a line that transfers the gun from station to station. With
Just a few hours of instruction anyone can "build" a repeater today. All the parts in pump and autoloaders
are made so they are truly interchangeable.
Not so with O/U's, parts maybe machine made, but have to be hand fitted to work properly.

Many in the world today are willing to pay for that craftmanship.
Just like watch's, something mass produced or hand made.

 

[Chuck R.]

For me it's two chokes and very easy to break & unload when crossing fences and getting back into the truck to move to a different field. Also the ares we upland hunt vary, so I often swap out 7 1/2s to 6s or 5s when an area feels like a "rooster" or vice versa.

Normally when chasing roosters I'm using SK2 in my lower and IMP MOD or full in my upper barrel.

 

[hq]

Heavier barrels and their rotational inertia is an advantage when you can prepare yourself for the shot. They help quite a bit stabilizing the swing and reducing a chance of shooter error.

Whenever rapid transitions in unexpected situations are called for, it's quite the opposite. I've shot a lot of birds with all kinds of shotguns, O/U:s, SxS:s, pumps and semiautos. Even single barrels. Whenever sudden flushes are expected, the less weight and inertia the barrel has the better. On the other hand I seem to shoot better at passing birds with a gun that has two barrels.

For skeet, trap and sporting O/U seems to offer the best combination. Less obstruction in field of view than SxS yet all the stability of two barrels.

 

[cfullgraf]

Not sure what are the guns of choice the top shooters are using at skeet these days, but in the 1990s, many of the top shooters would use a semi-auto in the 12 gauge event and a tubed over/under in the sub-gauge events.

Others would use an over/under for all events.

When I was shooting competitive skeet in the 1990s and made the transition to an over/under, my averages went up greatly. I'm sold on them.

 

[FL-NC]

A nice 20 O/U with choke tubes is ideal for things like quail, pheasants, rabbits, and the like. For waterfowl, turkey, and dove, a 12 gauge auto like my Mossberg 930 is the way to go.

 

[eastbank]

cleaning is also easier and quicker, after shooting 200 rounds in a day of clay games it takes about 10 minutes or less for a good cleaning on my browning xs skeet o/u while I and others shoot the bull as we do it. and as I reload I hardly every lose a case(if it hits the ground you lose it). I do have and use pumps-auto,s and a double barrel some times on the clay games, but my scores suffer.

 

[Caldart]

I started duck hunting with a Remington 1100. When that rusted out from the salt marshes I bought an 870. I got out of hunting while traveling in the military and when I picked up shot gunning again started with an 870 then I tried an O/U. All I can say is I love the way an O/U handles. I think when I move back east it will likely be my choice for upland and waterfowl.

 

[RPZ]

I don't like over and unders... I like side by sides.

I also like double triggers. I like the way doubles feel and handle, can select between two chokes for close or longer shots. And an almost instantaneous second shot if needed.

 

[bannockburn]

Started with pump shotguns for hunting because at that time that was all I could afford. Still have them too along with a semi-auto but if you want to experience the balance and handling qualities of a well made shotgun for hunting, sporting clays, skeet, and trap, you owe it to yourself to try an over/under shotgun.

 

[entropy]

I actually like SxS's better, but O/U's are popular for (mainly) two reasons; clay games, and upland game hunting. An O/U makes recoil more manageable than a SxS or pump, rarely malfunction, so at least 2 reliable shots, which is about all you'll get for grouse or pheasant. (Or skeet, Sporting Clays, and doubles Trap. Add in interchangable chokes, and you have a shotgun that can do any field event well.

 

[PapaG]

Choice of two chokes, single sighting plane ( a single rib on a double isn't the same), balance, can easily save the hulls if you are a reloading target shooter, great for doubles, can have tubes put in for sub gauge shooting. I could go on.
Disclaimer; I shoot a 46 year old 870TB for 90% of my trap shooting but have, use, and really like my old school Browning Superposed lightning o/u. I just don't have enough years left to learn a new gun (or grow my body around it like it did the 870) 96+ % average year to year at trap with the TB.

 

[LoonWulf]

Personally my love for o/u's is a combination of all of the statements already listed in this thread. plus a couple more specific to my situation.

I shoot my shotgun maybe 200 shots a year, mostly in one or two trap outings, and during bird season.
Ive never had a magazine gun point as well as either of the o/u ive owned
Ive never forgoten to pump an o/u
Saftey is right under my thumb, which is where they are on most of my hunting rifles
Even after breaking an ejector on my 101, I still finished the season using both barrels (finding a replacement was horrible tho).
If barrel one dosent fire, pull trigger again (or second trigger if youve got doubles). Ive had two shells not fire, both old turkey loads from the same box, still got the turkeys i was trying to shoot.
They LOOK classy, even the cheap ones.
Couple things that really make them nice for the style of hunting my buddies and I usually do most. They are shorter than the same barrel length magazine guns by at least 4". I can have two shells in my hand, shells in my pocket, and the action open while driving around. If we see a bird while driving, i can hop out drop the shells in the barrels snap them shut and go looking for the bird much faster than the guys using longer magazine guns. Loading the chamber on a magazine gun is quick but unless you take the time to shove rounds into the mag youve only got that one shot.
If were walking i usually keep 2 shells in my fingers, which gives me 4 relatively quick shots.

Did i mention they are classy?
If there were o/u rifles in similar price ranges as decent o/u shotguns, id probably hunt with those more than I do with my semis.

 

[Telekinesis]

From a competitive shooting standpoint (trap) O/Us offer a lot of advantages. As mentioned earlier, the extra weight helps smooth your swing and having different choke tubes for shot 1 and 2 helps tremendously when you're doing doubles or bunker trap.

Additionally, O/Us are significantly more reliable than autoloders at extremely high round counts. You'll never see those round counts as a hunter or casual shooter, but when you shoot 15,000-20,000 rounds a year between practice and competition, things eventually go bad. I've seen a number of issues from minor things like Rem 1100s loosing the o ring to major problems like Beretta 391s breaking op rods. And apart from a few select Perazzi trigger issues (in older guns) O/Us don't have those problems.

When you're competing, a few missed targets can mean the difference between a win and a loss, or not even placing. At a large competition you could have the top 25 shooters all shooting perfect 100s. Miss one target and you're out. Miss half a round because your gun broke and you might as well go home.

Good O/Us also tend to be more accepting of stock modifications (no recoil spring to work around like on a lot of semi-autos) and in my experience they end up having nicer triggers. Though I'm not sure if thats just a selection bias issue - most people shooting semi-autos in trap are relatively new (or lower budget) competitors and aren't dropping money on trigger jobs while the guy buying a Perazzi dedicated for competition will sometimes send the gun to a smith for a bunch of work before he even shoots it.

 

[entropy]

Ive never forgoten to pump an o/u

I've shot 870's so much, I try to pump 1100's when I shoot them!

....while the guy buying a Perazzi dedicated for competition will sometimes send the gun to a smith for a bunch of work before he even shoots it.

I had a chance to by an MX-8 for a song because it needed work; Still kicking myself for that one.......

I did buy a 101 that needed new firing pins for $400; shot Trap with it for a year, and doubled my money. (This was back in 1990.)

 

[LoonWulf]

I've shot 870's so much, I try to pump 1100's when I shoot them!

Ive done that too, I just dont shoot any shotguns enough to be consistent in operation lol.

 

[darkcloud]

Probably owned a dz shot guns in my 60 years. All pumps or autos except 2. One was a Savage 311 in 20 ga and the other is a Remington Baikal in 20 ga. Only malfunctions I have ever had were with the pumps and that was a Mossberg 500 in 20ga. Chambered for 2 3/4 and 3 inch shells if you stroked it too fast it would not clear the spent shell. Stroke it medium speed and it barely made it. With that mouthful I prefer my Russian Remington. I don't get to hunt much anymore but it is perfect fit, balance and light weight to carry in the field. I don't use the ejectors so I can keep from littering with spent cases. Maybe if they were turned on I would have had trouble. Who knows. Just like the feel of an O/U that fits, better than most any other shotgun.

 

[eastbank]

my singles trap shotgun is a browning BT-100 12 ga and I have fired over 40,000 rounds thru it with out a FTF-FTE or replaceing any parts. my doubles clay games is a sporting clays edition browning o/u 12 ga and a browning xs skeet o/u 20ga, not as many rounds thru them, but no problems at all yet.