Real use of combo double guns?

[adamsredlines]

So I have this old .22/.410 over under similar to one my dad has, which I remember shooting his as a kid and always thought it was cool. From a practical matter, it seems like that would be a sweet squirrel rig or rodent killer.

But then you see stuff like 30.06/12ga O/U combo, or .223/20ga OU...what is the practical use for those? Are they more novelty or is there a real world use I'm not seeing?

 

[dlbleak]

I’ve had a couple and they are cool. The really hard to find ones are getting expensive. 30-30/12 and the 357/12. My brother has a 223/20 which is a neat gun.

 

[undeg01]

I used to have a 223/20ga back in college that I used for coyotes. 20ga up close and 223 for those farther out, or the ones on the run following the 20ga.

 

[HFS]

I have heard of people hunting in Europe with them. Went after birds one day and hogs the next.
I've never had one though.

ETA remember reading in a hunting magazine one time of a guy that took a drilling (side/side shotgun with rifle barrel underneath) to some country where the subjects/peasants were only allowed to have shotguns.
The guy wrote that he busted some kind of varmint with the rifle barrel and said the locals couldn't get the critter because it was smart enough to stay out of shotgun range.

 

[rickm]

I have never owned one of these so someone explain to me how the firing pin works, is there a selector switch to carry both barrels loaded and you select which you want to fire or do you load it just to the barrel your wanting to use when your ready.

 

[adamsredlines]

On mine you can see the selector on the side...up for top barrel, down for bottom. You load both and select which barrel to shoot.
Some have double triggers.

 

[rickm]

Thanks like i said never owned one of these, have some double barrels but both in the same calibers so wasnt sure how these worked was just curious and never to old to learn something new.

 

[mr ed]

If you lived in a country where you could only own one gun what would it be?
Deer/Boar in the morning, Grouse in the afternoon. Hmmm!
Long Range rabbit/ close range Quail Hmmm!
O/u 458 win mag or 500 nitro for fast second shot on elephant/cape Buffalo.

 

[Snattlerake]

They were advertised to hunters and campers as the ultimate gun to have when weight was a factor. Savage was a major manufacturer in the 60's and 70's

 

[adamsredlines]

Seems to me like laws would kinda prevent alot of their use nowadays. Granted, I wasnt around in the 70s so idk what it was like but I know in most states for say deer hunting, its either shotgun OR rifle. So if you are in a rifle state have a rifle that also has a shotgun barrel on it, can you deer hunt with it? Then come bird season...can you pheasant hunt with a gun that also has a 30.06 barrel on it?

I can see it more from a survivalist woods gun where laws and regulations are kinda out the window....you're walking for food and shoot what you can....but aside from that it seems their use has been widely regulated out.