Over, Under and Out

As far as gun actions go, we’ve seen that the pump is the best seller in America, the autoloader is the softest shooting and the side-by-side is the sexiest. What’s left for the over/under?

Plenty. Our British cousins get credit for inventing the first truly viable O/U break-open gun. We can thank John Robertson, owner of Boss, for that in 1909. About 20 years later American John Browning designed the first successful mass-produced O/U in the form of the sainted Browning Superposed, aka “Belgium Browning.” I’ve always maintained that people who insist on calling them “Belgium” Brownings instead of the correct “Belgian” Brownings shouldn’t be permitted to own one. It’s not an England Purdey or an America Parker. But I digress . . . .

Since that time, the Italians have pretty much made the O/U design their own. Utilizing the locks from the Boss and the stub-hinge design from the Woodward, the Italian O/U is arguably predominant in the world today. A quick glance at dominance in Olympic medal count won by Perazzi and Beretta will bring the point home. The tubed O/U is the gun of choice in American-style Skeet. In the US more than two-thirds of the better sporting clays shooters pick O/Us, while just about all of them do across the sea. 

While the majority of American hunters prefer the more modestly priced pumps and autoloaders, in Europe the O/U rules in the field and is rapidly replacing the side-by-side for driven shooting. Sir Joseph Nickerson, who broke Ripon’s records, used a three-gun set of Purdey O/Us for his fabulous game shooting. Interestingly, he started with 12-gauges, then went to 20s and ended his career shooting huge bags in Spain with 28s. 

So what’s so neat about the O/U? Well, first of all it avoids the manual labor inherent in the pump. It is generally more reliable than the auto and doesn’t require the constant cleaning and parts replacement. Of course, when something does break, it’s not a do-it-yourself project with the O/U as it is with the auto.

Clearly the O/U dominates clay target shooting—certainly sporting clays, skeet, 5 Stand, FITASC, Olympic bunker and ATA doubles. The break-open single-barrel is most popular for ATA singles and handicap. Then again, ATA trap shooting doesn’t have much to do with the other shooting sports. I can’t think of any clays game in which the auto or pump predominate. Compared to the side-by-side, the O/U has a narrower sighting plane that many shooters find more “precise” for long clay shots.

In the field, the preference for the O/U is less clear. The O/U isn’t all that popular for American waterfowling, where autos and pumps dominate because of their three-shot capacities and generally lower costs. Low cost is directly tied to the heartbreak of awful things that happen to shotguns pitched into the bottoms of duck boats. 

In the uplands you see pretty much everything. There are a lot of autos and pumps in Midwestern pheasant territory, but I see a ton of O/Us east of the Mississippi when it comes to grouse, woodcock, quail and farmed pheasants.

The O/U gives you the choice of a “near” and “far” choke, which the auto/pump doesn’t. The O/U is also more conveniently made safe by simply opening it when crossing streams or handing it over fences, as opposed to constantly loading and unloading the auto. The O/U’s single trigger will actually probably work, unlike a few of the side-by-side single triggers (M21s, SKBs and RBLs excepted). The O/U’s top tang safety is arguably more ergonomic than the trigger guard safeties of autoloaders and pumps (other than Mossbergs).

As to cost, O/Us of good working quality certainly aren’t as cheap as pumps or autoloaders, but they don’t cost the world either. You can get a good-quality O/U for less than $2,000. I can’t think of much upland hunting I wouldn’t be happy doing with a Beretta 20-gauge 686 White Onyx for $2K. A Beretta 391 or Benelli Montefeltro is well over half that. And, believe it or not, there are some shooting grounds where pumps and autos are banned as being “unsafe” or “unsporting.” Of course, that’s total twaddle, but attempting to shoot driven birds at Lord Whozit’s estate with a pair of autos would certainly merit a sneer from the peer.

And then there is the beauty-contest aspect. Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but some are more beholden than others. That little FAMARS Dove Gun you have been seeing ads for is very attractive by any standards and certainly shouldn’t feel second best next to a classic like the McKay Brown side-by-side round-action. In fact, the O/U can compete at any level on the beauty circuit. I really don’t know which I’d pick if asked to choose between the indescribable gorgeousness of the Remington 887 pump, Benelli Vinci auto or Browning Cynergy O/U. 

That’s it for now. Boots off. Beer open.
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