There’s something to be said about owning a sporting shotgun from a company that also makes the classic dangerous-game double rifle. Reliability and precision comprise the fabric of the gunmaker. The craftsmen at the bench know that if a cape buffalo charges you at 30 miles per hour, hearing click instead of bang when pulling the trigger could be the last and most unfortunate sound you never want to hear.
Of course the stakes aren’t nearly as fatal when shouldering your side by side for a flushing covey of quail, when you eyeball an individual bird, know it’s yours, pull the trigger and…click. Although it may prove to be a random mishap of the entire day, you lose faith in the shotgun, and second-guessing your shots creeps up on you for the remainder of the hunt.