There are two challenges to finding a great shotgun — fit and suitability.
The shotguns section of Shotgun Life is dedicated to helping you recognize the perfect shotgun (that you’ll want to keep for the rest of your life, and then hand down to your family for generations to come.)
For some people, finding a great shotgun is simply love at first sight. For others, a great shotgun grows on them — and they find themselves down in the basement cleaning it for absolutely no other reason than just to be in its company.
But for every shotgun owner who falls in love with their pride-and-joy, there are teams of engineers and craftsmen toiling away behind the scenes to bring your gun to fruition.
As you’ll see, shotguns are generally designed for a particular sport. Some shotguns have composite stocks and fore-ends to withstand the travails of duck hunting. Then there are single-shot trap guns with high ribs that help you intercept rising targets. And skeet shooters find that their beavertail fore-end is particularly adept at bringing about a smooth, quick swing.
So let the search begin. Here is what you’ll find in our shotgun section…
Many of you have watched exhibition shooters entertaining crowds with their amazing skills. You know, throw five targets in the air by hand and smashing them all in a matter of seconds. Then try the same stunt bending over backwards. The Gould Brothers have taken an age-old tradition of exhibition shooting and put their own unique twist on entertaining folks with firearms.
Innovation is a word not typically associated with today’s break-open sporting shotguns. In fact, for a sizeable community devoted to vintage upland shotguns, the concept of innovation might just as well have stopped in the 19thcentury with the creation of rose-and-scroll engraving.
Is there such a thing as the perfect upland gun? Is it even possible to answer that question without first defining the quarry, location, and method of hunting?
Hunters, in general, and shotgunners, in particular, are a peculiar lot. The variances in likes and dislikes are legion. The pheasant hunter ambling through corn stubble will often choose a 12-gauge over/under for his hunt. While the chucker hunter in Oregon will often go for a 20 gauge due to the lighter weight and commensurate improvement in performance.
In the world of double shotguns, there are two main types: Extractor and Ejector. There are pros and cons to each, but both have their place and can provide their own advantages in the field. So which one is best for you?
At 80 years old, it was no secret that David McKay Brown was ready to retire from his eponymous gunmaking company famous for its gorgeous round-action triggerplate shotguns and rifles. Certainly, there were tremors through the UK and Scotland that this Scottish treasure would end up in foreign hands.
In January 2021, Mossberg International decided to add affordable break-open shotguns to their portfolio of black and camo pump and semi-autos by announcing a decidedly attractive line of shotguns in distinctive Silver Reserve and Gold Reserve Sporting models.
Maybe you’ve noticed that shotguns made by the Yildiz Shotgun Company of Turkey have been showing up in greater numbers at American shooting clubs and hunting fields for over the past decade. Yildiz’s growing popularity should come as no surprise. The shotguns generally retail for $400 to $700, bolstered by a reputation for reliability.
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Shotgun Life is the first online magazine devoted to the great people who participate in the shotgun sports.
Our goal is to provide you with the best coverage in wing and clays shooting. That includes places to shoot, ways to improve your shooting and the latest new products. Everything you need to know about the shotgun sports is a mouse-click away.
Irwin Greenstein
Publisher
Shotgun Life
PO Box 6423
Thomasville, GA 31758
Phone: 229-236-1632
