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View Full Version : Hmm, my VH doubled!?


William Machauer
03-14-2026, 11:14 AM
My 1911 VH 20 just doubled on me while bird hunting.
My club puts out pheasants, chukar & Huns from November until March.
Sage and I found a rooster and the VH spoke once and I cartwheeled it with a good head shot. The next bird, a hen flushed by Sage flew going away and when I shot I knew instantly it had doubled! The distinct sound and added recoil being the dead giveaway.
This gun has a Miller single trigger. At first I thought maybe the selector was 'in-between ' . I moved the selector in both directions and went about my hunt. Oh and I did kill the hen!
Then Sage found a chukar, one shot one for the bag.
Back to the truck and I was messing with the selector, doesn't appear to have the ability to get 'in-between ' .


So, any insights to why it doubled? What to look for? I'll take it apart this afternoon.

Daryl Corona
03-14-2026, 11:27 AM
If this was a one time thing it probably was operator error. You finger "double tapping" the trigger especially if you are wearing gloves. Were the loads you were shooting a heavy field load?

Dean Romig
03-14-2026, 11:27 AM
May just need a cleaning?





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William Machauer
03-14-2026, 01:05 PM
My first thought was the Bob Allen goat skin gloves. However I have shot this Parker many times with these gloves.
The loads I'm shooting are low pressure Greendot and /or 20/28.
Cleaning was my second thought, I'm about to start that now.

William Machauer
03-14-2026, 02:04 PM
Well, the trigger plate screws, tang screws, trigger guard screw all moved easily. And after dropping the trigger plate out there was some dirt/gunk fell out so hopefully this was a one time thing. Upon inspection I did not see anything to make me suspicious of wear or broken parts!
Light lubrication and reassembled it to function test, all good. Tomorrow I'll put it through the paces, 18 pheasants and 10 chukars to hunt!

Dean Romig
03-14-2026, 02:23 PM
Did you use a pressurized spray solvent to get in deep?





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William Machauer
03-14-2026, 02:29 PM
No I dont like to use pressurized solvents, just pushes stuff deeper into the action.
I will probably do a complete tear down, scrub each part then do a light dry lube upon reassembly after our season ends .

Pete Lester
03-15-2026, 05:55 AM
I had a 12ga Trojan double once, with two 1 1/4 ounce of bismuth loads which was a real attention getter. It flattened the greenhead I was shooting at. The giant kaboom echoed across the bay like a howitzer went off. In my case it was a worn sear. I was able to determine which barrel by shooting a 1 1/4 oz lead load with a primed empty hull in the other chamber. That way I could tell when and how it doubled without the punishing recoil.

William Machauer
03-15-2026, 07:25 AM
A few years ago I was shooting bunker, normally I shoot Perazzi MX8s but a guy showed up with a Beretta SO5 that fit me perfectly, he said it's for sale and I could shoot it. So I grabbed 2 boxes of shells and proceeded to shooting a round. About halfway through the round that SO5 doubled. I shot a couple more targets and it doubled again. I put it on the rack and went for my Perazzi to finish the round.
I'll delve deeper into my Parker but I'm reasonably certain it was a fluke thing.

Gerald McPherson
03-15-2026, 09:50 AM
I learned many years ago when a Parker doubles stop shooting it and find out what the problem is. Cracked stock about the third or fourth time. It was the doves fault. They just kept coming.

William Machauer
03-15-2026, 12:25 PM
The VH behaved perfectly today!
3 pheasants and 3 chukar this morning.
The stock is not cracked but thanks for that tip!