Crap, I’m tempted. I always wanted a side by side🤷

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gerhard1

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An unknown Spanish make 12-bore SXS found its way to me via a pawnshop about 20 years back The first thing I did was to take the 28" barrels to a gunsmith and have them cut down to 20"

Now I have a lupara just like the old Sicilian Mafia used. I think it's cool.
 

CutBaitNBlowSh*tUp4ALivin

I like rimfire and rimfire accessories. Yup. Mmhmm
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I've held several CZ side by sides at Cabela's.
The wood just feels weird to me.
My mom has a farmhouse kitchen table that she put six coats of clear on (OCD).
The stock reminds me of that. Way too slick, almost to the point of being slimy, if that makes any sense at all
 

Ahall

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sxs are fun.
Classic lines, simple, reliable, easy to tell if its unloaded, no need for plugs, no jambs, no misfeeds, easy to change choke ( just use the back trigger, that barrel is tighter on most of them).

Shorter than an autoloader or pump with the same barrel length, and not that much different in weight because you don't have a magazine and all that stuff stuffed in a big receiver. Same holds for an O/U.

Not many of the new ones turn me on. The forearms are too big and the rest feels stiff or clunky.
If you pick up a box lock Stevens/ Springfield and an LC Smith in the same gage and barrel length the weight difference is striking.
The LC is a lot easier to swing and carry, but my grandfathers Springfield is still a lot of fun.

Where old sxs are concerned, there is a lot of junk on the market and some real gems. So learn the differences before entering into it.

Before shooting an old one, especially and imported one, have a gun smith with proper gages check the chambers.
Some of the early guns have chambers that wont handle the length a crimped shell when it opens, but will accept it crimped.
The early paper shells just were not as long when they opened up, and a few slightly shorter lengths were popular oversees.

Either way, if the cone at the end of the chamber is too close, the shell wont open fully, and that restricts the passage of the shot and wad, driving pressures higher than intended.
 

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