Classic Pheasant Guns

A full field of timeless rooster-takers

John Browning didn’t know he was on the path to inventing the first classic pheasant gun when he designed the Model 1893 pump. Pheasants were new to the US, after all. Oregon had held the nation’s first pheasant season in 1892, so it’s unlikely Browning had pheasants on his mind as he put the finishing touches on his slide-action repeater.

And yet, once the 1893 was beefed up and redesigned for smokeless powder as the Model 1897, pheasant hunters had a gun that offered a very important quality: firepower. The Model 97 held up to six shells. That seems like a lot—unless you were posted at the end of a weedy cornfield or shelterbelt when it erupted with ringnecks. Also, the M97 was offered in 12 and 16 gauge only, which suited pheasant hunters just fine. Pheasants were big, tough birds that had to be hit hard, lest they turn into elusive, running cripples on the ground.

By the 1930s successful stockings had spread the colorful Chinese ringnecks throughout farm country in the northern half of the US. The post-war years from 1946 to the 1970s marked the golden age of pheasant hunting. The pictures from those days show hunters in plaid, canvas and denim overalls. Most of the guns they are holding are slide-actions. Although you’ll see some with semi-autos and a few with over/unders and side-by-sides, by and large we were a nation of pumpgunners in the post-war years. 

The Ruger Red Label was a low-profile-but-heavy gun that had both cult followers and detractors. (Photo by Terry Allen)

You can mark the beginning of the end of the “Good Old Days” as 1973, when ag secretary Earl Butz told farmers to get big or get out and to plant fencerow to fencerow. Farmers got big; pheasants got out. The ringneck’s long retreat in the face of modern agriculture began. Where pheasant hunting endures, though, the allure of America’s gamebird still draws hunters to the long grass. What’s different now are the guns we carry. Hunters’ tastes change. Semi-autos far outnumber pumps. Break-actions suit those of us who follow dogs alone or with a friend or two. Twenty-gauges and even 28s are a common sight in the field.

The list of classic guns that started with the Model 97 keeps growing. Here is a full field of classics, from old to new:

Browning Auto-5 (Remington Model 11, Savage Model 720)

According to the graceful cursive letters engraved on the receiver, my first gun, an Auto-5, was a “Light Twelve” Auto-5. The scale told a different story. At eight pounds plus, it was anything but light. Nevertheless, I shot pheasants with it, as did untold thousands of other hunters. John Browning himself felt the semi-automatic shotgun was his greatest invention, because of the challenge of making an action that worked with a wide variety of ammunition. His long-recoil solution was a work of genius so far ahead of its time that the gun was made for more than 90 years. Between the Auto-5 and its licensed Remington clone, the Model 11, about 3.5 million guns were produced, and Savage made about 100,000 licensed Auto-5 clones as the Model 720 between 1930 and ’49. While the Belgian Auto-5s are prized, the Japanese Auto-5s are just as good and are tough enough for steel where it’s needed. While even the 12s are heavy for field carry, the Sweet 16s and Light 20s are just right.

Fox Sterlingworth

The last of the great American doubles were dying out just as pheasant hunting entered its post-WWII golden age. The Fox Sterlingworth was the A.H. Fox Gun Company’s budget gun, a working-man’s double introduced in 1910. It was a plain gun on the outside, but inside it was the same simple, durable Fox design. It survived the company’s various transitions and was made for 29 years, with the last new Sterlingworths made by Savage. Later Sterlingworths have more modern dimensions, but even the older guns, which have far more drop than we’re used to, are surprisingly shootable. I once borrowed a friend’s 16-gauge Sterlingworth for a TV pheasant hunt. It was a 26-inch-barreled gun that couldn’t have weighed six pounds. As many American doubles do, it had a stock far more crooked than I am used to. To my great surprise, however, I couldn’t miss with it once I figured out how to shoot with my head up.

Winchester Model 12

Only 15 years separated the Model 1897 and its successor, the Model 1912, yet while the M97’s ungainly, steampunk looks place it solidly in the 19th Century, the Model 12 was modern. It was sleek, light, hammerless and smooth-shucking. More than 2 million were made from 1912 to ’63 in all gauges save .410. It held six shells, and it became the prestige gun among pump shooters. There are plenty of old Model 12s still around and ready to give good service in the field. I have to confess that I briefly owned, then sold, the ideal Model 12 ringneck gun. A 16-gauge made in 1959, it had a 28-inch, Modified-choke barrel and weighed 6½ pounds. It was the perfect pheasant gun but, like so many modern hunters, I do better with guns that cycle themselves and sold it.

Browning Superposed

My mother had expensive tastes for a former Nebraska farm girl, and it’s no surprise that she hunted pheasants with a 20-gauge Browning Superposed. In the 1950s and ’60s the Superposed became the aspirational gun John Browning had envisioned in the late ’20s. While all previous O/Us had been high-end, bespoke guns, the Superposed was made to be affordable to regular folks ready to stretch their budgets. Browning conceived of the Superposed during the affluent ’20s but died while at work on it, leaving his son, Val, to finish the job. The Superposed was introduced in the midst of the global depression, followed by a world war that saw its Belgian factory first occupied, and then struck with V-1 rockets. Finally in the prosperous ’50s and ’60s the Superposed came into its own. Its time lasted until the 1970s, when Belgian labor costs increased to the point where Browning made the Superposed into a high-end, custom offering. Twelve-gauge Superposeds are often solid, near-eight-pounders, but the round-knob Lightning models are five or six ounces less, and some of the straight-gripped Superlight 12-gauges are less than seven pounds and are all the pheasant gun anyone could ask for. The 20-gauge Lightnings like Mom’s old gun still make great rooster-takers too.

The Browning Superposed was made to be an affordable O/U for regular folks. (Photo by Terry Allen)

Winchester Model 21

Winchester’s Model 21 was a pet project of Olin Corporation President John Olin, which probably explains why it survived well into the post-war years while the rest of the American doubles faded away. Graceful and slim, the M21 was especially known for the strength of its action and its chrome-moly steel barrels joined by dove-tailed chopper lumps. That strength came at a price, however, and the gun never made much money for Winchester. Although it was made from 1931 to ’59, fewer than 30,000 production guns were sold. It survived as a custom-shop offering into the ’80s, but those guns totaled only about 1,000. As the most modern of the classic American doubles, the M21 still makes a great pheasant gun.

The most modern of the classic American doubles, the Winchester Model 21 was graceful and slim. (Photo by Terry Allen)

Remington Model 31

Remington’s Model 31 was the company’s first side-ejecting pump, made to compete with Winchester’s side-ejecting Model 12, which dominated the target pump market. The M31 did well at trap and skeet, and it excelled in the field as well. It was available in 12, 16 and 20 gauge in two frame sizes, with the 16 built on the smaller pattern. You could also buy the gun with a lightweight alloy receiver, if you wanted a gun that was easy to carry. In any version, the Model 31 was known for its short, smooth stroke, which mattered a great deal when pheasants were pouring out of the field at the end of a drive. Due to high production costs, the M31 actually sold for more than the Model 12, and in 1949 Remington admitted defeat and discontinued it to make way for the “Model 12 killer”: the 870.

The Winchester Model 12, which held six shells, was a sleek, light, hammerless and smooth-shucking favorite of pumpgunners. (Photo by Terry Allen)

Ithaca Model 37

The Model 37 is the last of the all-steel, fully machined pre-WWII pumps still being produced. Years in the making, it was intended to be a new version of the Remington Model 17. Ithaca’s design team waited until every last Model 17 patent expired before unveiling its gun in 1937. Bottom ejection made it a favorite of left-handers, and anyone could appreciate the ease of carrying a 6¾-pound 12-gauge Featherlight in the field. Some later Ultralights had alloy frames and straight stocks and weighed a pound less. More than 2 million M37s have been made, many of which are plain-barreled 12s, 16s and 20s that make perfect upland pumps. Ithaca itself died and was reborn several times over, and the latest ownership added beautiful, dainty 28-gauges to the line. 

Remington Model 870

There are few cooler-looking retro repeaters than a Remington Model 870 Wingmaster from the ’60s or ’70s with a glossy finish and machine-pressed fleur-de-lis checkering. You may disagree, but it doesn’t change the fact that those shiny Wingmasters probably shot more pheasants than any other gun. Designed to undercut the Model 12 in price, the 870 made use of stamped parts common to other Remingtons that could be made inexpensively. It was built on a 16-gauge Model 11-48 frame, and a plain-barreled 12-gauge weighed less than seven pounds. A masterpiece of mass-production excellence, the 870 was practically standard issue among Midwestern pheasant hunters. Along with the older Wingmasters, the guns from the ’90s with Rem Chokes and Light Contour barrels made great pheasant guns too. The 870 was offered in all gauges, including 16, which was unfortunately made on a 12-gauge frame.

Winchester Model 101

The Model 101, Winchester’s answer to the Browning Superposed, faced headwinds before it attained classic-pheasant-gun status. It was made in Tochigi City’s Kodensha factory at a time when “Made in Japan” meant “cheap” and quite a few members of my parents’ generation still bore ill will toward the Japanese. The 101 sold for $249 at a time when a Superposed cost well more than $300. It was modeled after the Superposed, as well, with a tall action to accommodate a full-length hinge pin. American hunters came to recognize the 101 as a good gun at a good price. In 1984 the 101 received a makeover, as Winchester rolled out some beautiful XTR models, which I, for one, yearned for at a time when my gun budget was zero. Those guns were short-lived. Not long after, the factory was torn down to become a driving range, and the remainder of the guns were imported under the Classic Doubles name.

Remington Model 1100

With its soft recoil and reliability far beyond any previous gas semi-auto, the Remington Model 1100 was an instant hit when it appeared in 1963. Designed with the aid of computers and intensely tested in cold, heat, dust and rain, the 1100 was finished in a tough Du Pont urethane developed for bowling pins. Like the 870, it had a stock with a thin comb that helped the gun fit a wide range of faces. If you kept an 1100 clean, it would shoot forever. A friend used to break his down and run the parts though the dishwasher every time he shot it, and his always worked. The Upland Special version, with a straight grip and 23-inch barrel, was made for a while in the 1980s. That one especially is an 1100 pheasant gun to look for.

Browning Citori

As rising labor costs in Belgium increased Superposed prices, Browning looked to the Miroku plant in Japan. Browning engineers came up with a simplified Superposed, the marketing team made up a Japanese-ish name, and more than a million Citoris have been made since 1973. I’ve been to Miroku to see Citoris being made and can report that a ton of skilled handwork goes into each gun. The rap on the Citori was always that it was tall and heavy. There were lighter versions built: straight-gripped Superlights and alloy-framed Feather versions. Browning found the real answer in the Citori 725. By removing steel from the bottom of the frame and the barrels, engineers shaved three-quarters of a pound off the gun and lowered its profile. It’s a much livelier, lighter gun than the original—a bit more than seven pounds in its standard configuration and about 6½ pounds in the alloy-framed 12-gauge Feather version. It’s a better gun than the old Citoris for carrying and for reacting to the chaos of an explosive flush.

The Browning Citori, made in the Miroku plant in Japan, was a simplified Superposed. (Photo by Terry Allen)

Ruger Red Label

The Ruger Red Label came out in 1977 and was made for more than 30 years. It was Bill Ruger’s goal to offer an American-made O/U that the average hunter could afford. The result was a low-profile-but-heavy—nearly 8-pound 12-gauge and seven-plus-pound 20-gauge—gun that had both its cult followers and its detractors. As a serial Red Label owner (three 12s, a 20 and a 28) who now owns no Red Labels because no matter how hard I want to love them I just can’t, I understand both sides. The gun’s “made in the US” appeal and handsome lines were outweighed by, well, its weight and the often horrible wood-to-metal fit. Ruger designed the gun to open easily, which some detractors mistook for looseness in the action. While the 12 and even the 20 were a lot to carry in the field, the 28, which came out in 1994, was scaled to perfection. Mine was a hair less than 6 pounds, swung like a heavier gun and, loaded with ¾ ounce of hard No. 7½s, was great on pheasants; but its poor wood-to-metal fit plus the need for money made me part with it. If you want a Red Label, the 28 is the one to look for on the used market.

Beretta 680 Series

Beretta began its S-series of mass-produced O/Us in 1956, building the guns around a trim, low-profile, bulletproof action. The series peaked with S680-series guns, which were introduced in 1980 and are still made. The 686 and 687 were popular models in the ’90s, when pheasant populations rebounded as the Conservation Reserve Program idled 34 million acres of farmland. Good versions to look for include the straight-gripped, leather-recoil-padded Orvis Uplander, which was a version of the matte-finish 686 Onyx, as well as the UltraLight, if you don’t mind a little recoil. I have shot a bunch of pheasants with my 687 Silver Pigeon III, and I just found a 1991-vintage S686 Special that may replace it. At 6 pounds 14 ounces in 12 gauge, the S686 Special is easy to carry and still packs a 12-gauge punch, which is the definition of a pheasant gun in a nutshell.

Benelli Super Black Eagle

Practically the state gun of South Dakota, Benelli’s Super Black Eagle is a common sight in pheasant country—sometimes with an extended magazine in places where there are still enough birds to warrant one. The first semi-auto chambered for the 3½" magnum, the SBE was, at first, a cult gun among waterfowlers when it appeared in 1991. It grew to become a household name both by word of mouth and in no small part because of the exhibitions of Benelli’s pro shooter, the late Tom Knapp. The gun’s inertia system is simple and works in all weather, and because it uses no gas to cycle the action, the gun stays cleaner longer. Inertia guns are lightweight, too, and even in 3½" 12 gauge, the original SBE is just a shade more than seven pounds and the SBE2 and SBE3 are lighter still—so all offer the combination of portability and firepower pheasant hunters want. Benelli has since expanded the SBE lineup to include 3" guns in 12, 20 and 28 gauge. 

Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen

When Benelli’s inertia patent expired, Browning wasted no time making an inertia gun of its own, and in 2012 introduced the A5. Like most inertia guns, the A5 is light. My 3½" 12-gauge weighed less than seven pounds. To put the company’s stamp on its version, Browning gave the A5 the Speed Load feature, a magazine cutoff and a square-backed receiver reminiscent of the original Auto-5’s. In a stroke of marketing genius, in 2016 Browning introduced a 16-gauge Sweet Sixteen A5. The gun is no gimmick, though. It’s a 5¾-pound 16-gauge that you can carry forever, which makes it worthy of any pheasant hunter’s attention. Also, to the Sweet Sixteen’s credit, it almost singlehandedly sparked a small 16-gauge revival.

Pheasant hunting keeps changing, and pheasant guns keep evolving. For our fathers and grandfathers, pheasant hunting was part of the harvest, sometimes literally, as some hunters rode shotgun on combines back in the day. Their guns—long-barreled, tight-choked repeaters—were practical tools for reaping a bounty of pheasants in numbers we rarely see anymore. While those old classics still have a place in the field, many of us want something different in a pheasant gun—a gun that will be carried for many steps between birds. I started last season following my dog with a 20-gauge Caesar Guerini Woodlander, then switched to a 12-gauge Benelli Montefeltro, and finally ended the season with a Ruger Gold Label. All three of those, I’d argue, have the makings of 21st Century classic pheasant guns. They are light; balanced to feel heavier as they swing; and have screw-in chokes to shoot bismuth, steel or lead as the situation dictates. The guns and the hunting tactics may change, but the thrill of a wild ringneck flushing will remain the same as it’s always been. 

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