Argentina Doves W/ a Repro. ??

[GH-16]

Here's a some food for thought.

Last June I went on my first Argentina dove shoot. The gun I took with me was a Rizzinni B. O/U 20ga. The gun performed flawlessly and digested 5000 rounds and asked for more. I had a great time with it, but in the back of my mind I was wishing I was shooting a SxS instead.

Well now I've signed up to go and do it again this June & I've decided that I will have the SXS with me this time.

I've thought about what gun would be best for this trip. I know I don't want to take an original Parker because of the punishment it would take. I've thought about possibly a Merkel because they are hell for stout. But I'm a Parker guy, so I've kind of settled into the thought of a reproduction twenty gauge for this trip.

Here's what I have in mind for a gun. 20ga DT, 28" with a slip over recoil pad to protect the skeleton butt and give some recoil relief.

What's your thoughts.

Do you think a repro could stand-up to shooting five to seven hundred rounds in three hours and maybe do that eight times in four days? I think it would be a great test of the durability of the Parker design!

Because of this crazy thinking I'm looking for some repro parts. Please look at my request in the WTB section.

Thanks,
Paul

[Dean Romig]

Paul, I think the worst that could happen under those circumstances might be an ejector failure but it will still work as an extractor gun. Nothing else should be affected by such shooting.

[Opening Day]

Maybe take a pistol grip stocked Repo, a little more beefy in the wrist, just a thought. Eric

[Bill Murphy]

I would choose a double trigger 20 gauge 28" Repro over almost any other gun. The weight and bulk is almost ideal for that kind of shooting. I have no idea whether people normally take a second gun down there, but I would take your over under as a backup if you wish to take a second gun. My backup gun would be a 20 gauge Belgian Browning Superposed with 28" tight bored barrels.

[Big D]

When I went down with two buddies, we all shot 20 Gauges - a M21, a 680 series Beretta, and a Belgian A5. All performed flawlessly

[AmarilloMike]

I took a Parker DHE 16 gauge with 32" barrels on my last trip. It weighs 7lbs 4oz with double triggers. Shot about 3000 rounds through it and it performed flawlessly. Would have shot it more but the outfitter ran out of 16 gauge shells twice. The rest of the time I shot an SKB 485 28 gauge with 28" barrels. It weighed 7 lbs.

I would take the heaviest 20 gauge Parker Repro I could find. My friends that shot the light o/u 20 gauges that the outfitter had were pretty beat up. The outfitter's O/U 28 gauges seemed to work out very well for them.


Best,

Mike

[Richard Flanders]

I sure would have that slip on recoil pad were I using a 20ga Repro. For whatever reason, mine seems to be the hardest recoiling S/S I have, even using handloaded target loads. I've seen a few impressive pics of purple shoulders from the shooting down there. I figure my 28" vh20 would be what I'd take, or maybe a 28" 28ga Repro. And I'd sure take along the Brownell screw drivers I need to dismantle whatever Parker I took. A good friend went down some years back and, after 4 days of shooting and 5500 birds bagged, the only gun still 100% functional was his 97yr old LC Smith 20 ga that he had restored and restocked. All the Winchesters, Benellis, etc were malfunctioning somehow. I've been told that some of the outfitters down there stock Citoris as backup/loaner guns and that they hold up well.

[Dean Romig]

The hardest recoiling 20 ga. gun I own is a 1927 VH with 26" barrels... beats me up mercilessly. My 20 ga. straight grip Repro is quite soft by comparison.

[charlie cleveland]

it does seem like some guns do kick harder than other guns... i too would get me a brownells slip on pad....wonder how many shell it took too get that 5500 birds...i was on a dove shoot once bought me a new revalation side by side after a case of shells the trigger guard fell off and one barrel quit firing....it was a 12 ga and i was shooting low brass shells...had one of the worst head aches i ever had plus a sore shoulder...traded that gun off...so shoot something that want beat you up....but use a side by side no bird hunter uses anything else....ha good hunting charlie

[GH-16]

This is all good stuff guy's, keep it coming!

Your all on the right track about recoil and getting the tar thumped out of you shooting this many rounds in a short time.

Here's what I found out through experience last year. "It's all about gun fit when it comes to recoil". The Rizzini I shot last year is a straight stocked double trigger that tops the scales @ 6lb 1oz. When I first got it and started shooting it getting ready for the trip it did have some kick, but more than anything it slapped my cheek hard to the point of only after a hundred rounds I would have a rosy, sore cheek. I experimented with two different types of recoil pads and changed the LOP with different pad thicknesses, but I still had the cheek slap. Then I decided to alter the pitch. I cut some thin wedge slices of walnut & placed them under the pad. What I found was by lengthening the heel a 1/4" the cheek slap went away and I really liked shooting the gun from then on.

When in Argentina I wore a Past strap-on pad & with the gun wearing a decelerator 1" pad. I was able to shoot 5000 rounds in four days without a mark to my cheek or shoulder. The only thing that got sore was my right index and middle finger from opening the gun and pulling the triggers, even this went away after the first day.

So now I'm wanting to do the same experimenting with the repro. to get it ready to go this June. The only difference will be the skeleton butt which I refuse to cut off for a pad, but I have some ideas to work around that problem as well.

I learned some other things as well and will share them in a follow-up post later.