Well written Dean. You can take deer with a 22 Short or geese with a 410 or shoot live birds with any shotgun capable of 2 quick shots, but they're hardly optimal. The point here is that serious Live Bird shooters generally had dedicated guns ordered to their fit and configured for the sport. Besides Trap/clay guns, absence of a safety can be one of their criteria but there were upland hunters and waterfowlers who liked safetyless guns and those who do period readings will come across those references. There are also those who've never been invited to a live bird shoot to try it or even see how it's actually done but they can be so vocal in naming this or that SxS a "Live Bird gun".
Just for perspective here's a shot of a pigeon ring at a friend’s club, one of three, showing the handicap pads and the boundary fence if you expand the pic. Legal but "undisclosed location" and picture taken and used with permission.
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