Quail-Gun Choices
Submitted by Bruce Buck on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 4:05pm.
You can miss a quail with any shotgun made. Don’t ask me how I know. I’m an expert. My knowledge is based on years of personal humiliation. Of course, the same applies to just about any gamebird that I’ve hunted, but quail are fresh on my mind after the recent Readers & Writers Adventure at Quail Country Plantation.
There may be an ultimate quail gun somewhere, but I’ve not seen it. There are, however, some good choices when pursuing Mr. Bob. I’ll talk about bobwhites here, not blues and Gambel’s, with which I have had little contact. I once hunted blues in Colorado but, as I said, I had little contact with them. I shot. They flew. Far, far away. For all the inconvenience I caused them, I would have been just as well off donning my PETA beanie and using binoculars.
So what to look for in a bobwhite gun? As always, work back from the bird. Quail shots are generally fairly short range. Chokes and loads that work at 20 and 30 yards would be about right. Skeet for the first barrel and Improved Cylinder or perhaps a small-gauge Light Modified for the second might be good choices.
Pellet size is a personal decision, but I’ve always had good luck with readily available, good-quality No. 8 target loads in all gauges. Bobwhite quail are not that hard to kill, or at least knock down for a certain retrieve. But they sure are hard to hit.
So with the distances, chokes and cartridges out of the way, which gun? Custom at many of the quail plantations indicates a break-open 20- or 28-gauge. These guns are pleasant to carry, have ample patterns to properly take the birds and, no less important, have a little bit of cachet. Plantations sometimes look in askance on pumps and autoloaders because it is difficult for guides to monitor that the guns have been made safe when carried.
Over/under or side-by-side? That’s personal. For fast, close work, I sort of like a side-by-side because I find it easier to pick up the bird with the broader barrels. The barrels on a 28-gauge O/U can be pretty skinny, and for me that leads a little more to aiming. Of course the longer the shot, the more I appreciate the precision of the O/U. Double or single triggers are again personal preference, but on a quail flush, you will most often shoot the open barrel first, so there isn’t a constant need for the rear-trigger option.
Whichever configuration you pick, try to get a gun that moves quickly but isn’t so light that it’s whippy. Guns in the 6-1/4- to 6-3/4-pound area work the best for me. The lighter the gun, the more you want it to balance weight forward. Heavier guns can be more neutral.
So what do I shoot plantation quail with? Glad you asked. Since I don’t pay the slightest attention to my own advice, I enjoy using an ancient Winchester Model 42 .410 pumpgun. It certainly is not the most efficient gun, but if I concentrate on one quail at a time, I usually can take the bird cleanly. The .410’s half-ounce of No. 8s is certainly effective out to 30 yards. No, it’s not in the same league as a 28 or a 20, but it is fine within its limits. I shoot it because it’s fun. And that’s the biggest compliment I can pay to Gentleman Bob.
Bottom line: Don’t quail at the thought of getting pumped up for Bobs. Boots off. Beer open.
Quail gun
Bruce, thanks for another of your missives full of sage advice that you promptly ignore. That you share your good and bad experiences with your readers makes your writing that much more fun.
For a long time I was a student of the "more is better" school of bird shooting and used a 12 ga. O/U and pump. Let me tell you, hitting a double on quail with a pump will definitely swell one's ego. But physics and the huge Kansas fields finally convinced me that there's no need to carry such a heavy gun. My current favorite for the long walks is a very inexpensive Yildiz (Academy sporting goods) 20 ga. with alloy receiver. #8 shot fired out of cylinder and IC chokes works very well. Haven't tried a .410 yet, but it sounds like a challenge. David
Quail & .410 guns
Many years ago I read in Brister's book, "Shotguning..." about the use of #4 shot in 1/2 oz., .410 loads for quail. It worked for me back then but I have not used small guages in many years. The theory is that one #4 will kill a quail cleanly and that irregular patterns of #8 cripple "innocent bystander" birds. A pattern of 1/2 oz., #4 shot from a .410 always looks terrible on pattern paper but the birds just do not seem to be able to get through alive. -- JB
Quail Gun Choices
For me here in Alabama, I love my Browning Citori Superlight Feather in 28 gauge with English stock, 26 inch barrels, and Briley skeet and light mod chokes. The B&P Star Rossa 3/4oz loads of #7.5(European size = #8 American) at 1330fps work great. I hit way more than I miss with this set-up.
Charles Gaston
Birmingham AL
Quail gun
The perfect quail gun is a 12 ga., 1967 Superposed Browning Diana grade (Marechal) with exhibition grade wood by Dockwiller, 28" barrels w/Briley thin wall screw-ins set up CYL-IC and using 7/8 0z. B&P "Sub Sound" (1100 fps), #7.5 shot. 24 gm international trap loads are an option on plantations where a mixed bag including pheasant is in the offing.
Quail Gun
Moving from Maine to NC, quail hunting was a new experience for me.
We hunt on preserves in and around Raleigh NC.
I ended up having Rich Cole mate a 30" 28 ga. barrel to a Beretta 686 receiver (12 ga.). Trying to get a dual purpose gun for both quail and sub-gauge sporting clays.
I shoot it with skeet and IC chokes.
Some consider it a bit long and heavy for quail, but I've found it comfortable. For the most part you have it open on your shoulder waiting for the dogs to point a bird. The longer barrels avoid the whippy feel I've experienced with scaled 28 guns and the sight plane comes in handy when I dutch the first shot.
My standard load is the Winchester AA HS hull with 8 1/2 shot loaded to shoot a bit faster than 1200 fps. Works when I do.
The best tip I've received about quail shooting came from Joe Eaves who runs a 200 or so acre preserve on his farm in Henderson NC.
After watching me miss some birds with my first shot he told me "slow down". the dogs will not mind having to retrieve the bird at 25 yards rather than 15 yards.
The extra fraction of a second really helped me. I think it was just getting a harder focus on the bird.
Jerry
Quail gun
Most of my quail are Valley rather than Bobwhite, but I'll intrude on the discussion anyway ... For the past couple of years I've shot a 1927 Fox 16, 28" barrels, 6lbs 4 oz. I recently enjoyed my best-ever-day-of-shooting with it so we seem to get along well. Right barrel is .003 for very close birds, left barrel is .020 for the occasional long shot. I almost never attempt a double because the birds are so hard to locate (with or without a dog) in the chaparral.
Anyway, both for performance and for heritage, this seems to be a good match for topknot birds.
Bruce, For me, quail gun
Bruce,
For me, quail gun spells 20 gauge. I use both 7/8 and 3/4 ounce loads, depending on what's going on and where I am.
I came about what I consider MY OWN perfect quail gun after using -- all in 20 gauge -- a 27" Pigeon Grade Winchester 101, a 30" Winchester 101, a 28" Belgian Browning, and a Piotti SxS 29" Puma Grade over a good number of years.
It's a Custom 20 gauge Perazzi MX8 on a 20 gauge frame. Barrels are 29 1/2 inches, forend is long and thin, game rib, and the stock is much like a Belgian Browning LTRK, but the tang is really extra long. A little on the heavy side for some at 6 pounds 14 1/2 ounces, yet it feels just perfect for me.
Chokes are fixed and on the tight side at .014 and .021, but again, works well for me. I never can get myself to like 20 gauge skeet and IC patterns much.
I doubt I'll ever find a better quail gun for myself than this one.
Gary Cappelletti