Over~Under or Sid X Side 12 gauge?

[augustino]

I'm reading much about the reliability of the good old side by side 12 gauge shotgun. Not much to break and extremely reliable when others might breakdown.
How does the "over ~ under" compare to the side X side double barrel variety in terms of reliability and potential breaking of springs & things rendering it useless?
Thanks for the input!

 

[earlthegoat2]

I think the weak point of any double is the single trigger whether it is a SST or a NST. I am a fan of the double triggers but of course it is a personal preference thing.

Generally though it doesnt matter the type of double or the trigger configuration they are going to practically the same reliability and all the other differences are just imagined.

 

[ArmedBear]

I think that an Over/Under will be more reliable at a given price. SxS shotguns tend to be more expensive than Over/Unders at the same level of quality.

But as designs go, they're pretty close to identical.

 

[msiley]

I've been thinking about picking up either an O/U or SxS.
So I went to the local gun shop and handled a bunch of
O/U and SxS in different configurations. With the ones that
I found I really liked the Coach guns and the Win. Model 21.
The Model 21, for being much longer then a Coach gun seemed
to be very well balanced and 'felt' lighter then any other
larger double guns.

The 21 was going for ~$500, looked to be in excellent to good condition.
Not sure if that is a good deal or not.

Some of the O/Us didn't come to my shoulder naturally.
I felt like I had to make an adjustment when I brought it up.
Maybe it was just my imagination though.

 

[oneounceload]

A Winchester 21 for $500???....Something isn't right - 21's were custom-shop guns and go for way over $15,000 nowadays.....Thinking the model number is wrong on that.

 

[Cover Dog]

I'll bet it was a Model 24 and not a 21. If indeed it is a 21, race to the store as fast as you can and buy it.

 

[oneounceload]

Even 24's are starting to push the 1000 mark...nice buy

 

[msiley]

Maybe it was a 24. Ugh. Now I have to go back and look!
You know I think it was a 24 now that I think about it.
I really don't know a lot about older shotguns so the number didn't
mean anything to me, therefore my poor recollection.

I definitely know it was a Winchester 2X. Most likely a 24 given
the price.

This place I went to ran the gammut of odd pricing structures.
They had used Marlins that were the same as new Marlins.
Used Stoeger shotguns going for more then the new version's.
Then they had some other stuff that was priced right.
Then again the 'priced right' stuff might have looked good on the
outside but may have been broken on the inside.

But I will stop by and double check. I'm sure they knew what
they were pricing though. I just didn't know what I was
looking at.