The Cabelas by me does not want anything to do with buying them. The manager there has no experience with them and you can tell that he knows more about military surplus weapons because that what he collects and purchases for the store. I tried to sell them a Winchester model 21 16 gauge in WS1 and WS2 and they offered me $3,000.00 for it, the manager said they really don't sell well. Sold that weekend at OGCA for $6,500.00.

I suspect it's a combination of factors but my guess is this particular Cabelas and probably many of them in the country have a hard time finding staff who can properly identify, evaluate and fairly appraise antique side by sides and they are not taking them in like they once did. This would lead to missed opportunities, overpaying then overpricing a gun, taking in guns with defects but not pricing them accordingly leading to a smaller stagnant inventory.

Mind justifies the heart and I love my sxs's as much as next guy that also enjoy's theirs. But for sake of discussion and if someone is neutral and faced with the knowledge of pros and cons for of choosing between an O/U, SXS, or Semi Automatic then its a knock. Might not matter to the weekend warrior busting brush but if the game is at the highest level of competitive shooting then it might be a factor. Hence someone suggessted or asked why don't you see the pros using SXS in competition well...this might be one of the reasons. It might not be "the" reason but I am also not a competitive shooter.

Heck for some reason I have a Ruger O/U in arsenal that was designed for sporting clays. It definitely works in that environment pretty well and I shoot in the 80's with it pretty consistently but I don't shoot that much. Take my sxs's to same course and I lose 8 to 10 breaks. Is it me or the gun, it could be mostly me and some gun, (more likely), or it could be mostly gun and a little bit of me. My vote is against me but results are the same. BTW I did take that Ruger on a quail hunt once and crushed it, but at the end of the day I was fatigued some. That gun also weighs about 2.5 pounds more than my sxs's so lugging it around in the brush was not as fun.

Could it be that some gun flexing is putting target in edge of pattern more than with other, maybe. But if difference in winning or loosing comes down to one clay in a competition which gun do you choose. Hence, there are many lighter O/U's I can lean to and have a lighter O/U that I can carry into the woods and I shoot it very well for me. But I like the look, feel and the way a sxs carries in the field. I have the luxury of choice. But there are many young shooters that don't have that choice and if they can pick a more utilitarian gun that is a double gun, then they lean to the O/U and don't look back.

I have even seen hostility toward sxs shooters. At a springtime sxs shoot in PA a few years ago, a group of course 'regulars' were following our sxs group. They of course we're riding a very expensive 4 person buggy with metal flake paint and chrome wheels. We were walking. Their guns were painted wild colors and I think one of them had a chrome plated o/u. After a few stations one of them approached our group and asked if we used kerosene lamps and candles in our homes. Did we drive a horse and buggy to the course? If no to these questions then why were we shooting old fashioned guns? And he was actually angry. We simply told him we shoot the guns that we like. He also said we must not care about our score. We told him we cared about our shooting but our score on clays was not that big a deal. I will say that after following us around the course, they realized that we were shooting about as well as their group and they got a bit friendlier. The anger about our gun choice surprised me.

I don't know about hostility but I have observed people not taking shooters of classic doubles seriously. Five years ago eight of us went on a spring snow goose hunt in upstate NY. Five of us were shooting doubles including Frank Cronin with his 5 frame hammer ten. Our guide was not too impressed with our choice of guns as people are usually shooting semi autos with extended magazines. He was overheard talking to his boss on the phone after the first group of snows came in and we dropped a bunch of them that we knew what we were doing lol!

While I know not what logic Cabela's may have, I do know what I was told at Jaqua's in Findlay OH.

About a year ago I dropped off about six very nice SxS guns, thinking they just might buy them outright, which has happened in the past. No. They reluctantly took them on consignment, saying "these were really popular a while back, but not so much anymore..."

They still took the guns, but only three out of the six have sold in almost 18 months. And Jaqua's sells a LOT of upscale guns. No shock to find Purdeys or an H&H on the rack.

I have my own opinions of Cabela's/Bass Pro Shops.

Bottom line: Love 'em and shoot 'em if you got 'em. Just like that '63 Stingray in your garage... it's a personal thing.

My local Cabela's has about 4-5 sxs guns in the racks, and those same 4-5 have been there for a long time. I have seen 2 or 3 come and go over the past few years, but that's about it.

I lovingly refer to the guys I hunt with as the "12-gauge-autoloader-with-the-plug-out-crowd" and they think nothing of shooting 'em dry at whatever flies. They don't understand - and never will - why someone would go to the trouble if they're gonna pack a gun with only two shots in it.

If owning and shooting a SXS puts me in the minority then sign me up! I have a Rem 1100 20ga that belonged to my little brother, he has been gone for 35 years and i have never shot the gun. There are two Win M42's in my possession but for the life of me I can't remember using one in the last 10-15 years. I have no O/U's. Everything I shoot shotgun wise be it for game or clays is a SXS.

I am not big in the shooting circles but this guy shoots Perazzi's O/U and he could even shoot one of their sxs, so why doesn't he. I'd bet he would if they wanted him to move a few guns for them. I think they make a SXS but its only a 12 gauge.

Anyway its a cool video and that is amazing to break targets at over a hundred yards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Teixm6JMw_k

I guess it's all what you believe in for a gun. If you believe a Perazzi will break clays better and more consistently than an old SXS then for heaven's sake, shoot your Perazzi...

At my skeet club our champion registered skeet shooter Zeno Marcos and I were shooting a round of informal skeet, he with his custom Perazzi with 20 ga. tubes in it and I was shooting a 16 ga. Grade 1 hammer gun and he was teasing me about me not being able to afford a Perazzi. I let it roll off... I had only dropped two birds and he was upset at himself for dropping one. I was shooting low gun - he of course, wasn't. We got to station 8 and he asked if I wanted to try his gun. I had never shot a Perazzi before and I said "Sure." He said in his thick Greek accent "But you can no shoot a Perazzi from down there you gotta mount da gun first."
He passed me the gun and a shell and I smashed the high house bird starting from low gun position. He was surprised. I turned around and faced the low house. Zeno said "You GOTTA mount da gun first! You will never hit this one from down low!" I asked him for two shells and told the trapper to give me two from the low house. Again I swung the gun up from a very low position - at about my waist - and diesel-smoked both of them. Zeno took his gun and just walked away shaking his head.

Trust me, it wasn't the gun....





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I have tried to get some of our top shooters at our gun club to give side by sides a try and they just don't want to do it. I haven't given up though.

I never personally knew anyone who shot one, but so much of upland hunting for me has to do with the history of it.. I never saw any beautiful old painting with setters and autoloaders.

IMHO there are no experts left in places like the Gun Library. The "collector guns" are a finite resource just as the people who are knowledgeable in these guns are. The employees look at a computer screen and see what was paid for a similar Parker, Fox, Winchester etc and base there values on that. I'm currently trying to deal with the Reno store on a rifle but they won't answer my questions. Remember this as well Cabellas has a minimum mark up of 30% on the rifle I'm considering there trying to make 50%+.

Perhaps we as SXS aficionados are a dying breed and maybe we won't recover the value we put into a gun at least monetarily speaking. The enjoyment I get from carrying a light well balance small bore following a pointing dog in the grouse coverts or pheasant fields transcends any amount of money.

I've been to the Cabelas in Richmond, VA and am just amazed at the prices. The other night there were two 12 gauge Trojans that looked as if they had been run over by a truck. One was missing a floor plate screw that had been drilled out. Stocks could not be saved with a refinish. The prices were $1695. I asked where did these prices come from and I was told it was based upon what they paid. Poor suckers. I looked at an A5 Light 12 in similar condition. $999. The Parkers were $300 guns at most and the A5 was the same value and that is stretching it. They never check chokes to know if the barrels are cut or not, just set a price. They had a 20 Trojan one time and told me it was Mod. and Full. It was cyl/cyl with two inches whacked off. You don't want to ask the price. With prices like this, you can see why none of the new generation will ever buy a vintage double.

Dean like your story with the Perazzi guy. Too funny. I learned a long, long, long time ago to never underestimate or overestimate someones shooting prowess based on what kind of gun they were toting. I know too many country boys that would show up to a dove shoot in blue jeans and a white T-shirt shooting a beat up pump shotgun and walk out with bag of mixed shells and not miss a dang bird. They just know how to shoot. Also got the misfortune of quail hunting the same area as this guy using that same old gun. He had a decent dog, but that guy was a covey killer. He was hunting for the pot so there is no convincing him about fine qualities of a double barrel.

The French say hunger makes the best sauce. I say hunger makes the best shots.

I’ve never bought into the single sighting plane thing. When I shoot i don’t see the sighting plane, whether it’s an O/U or SxS. I think that originated as a marketing catch phrase. JMO. And Mills is right about furniture: young folks want painted, utilitarian, cheap stuff from IKEA. Try and sell a piece of walnut furniture. It will be interesting to see all the deals at the Southern this Spring. If dealers/sellers want to move guns they will put realistic prices on their stuff. And bring cash.

The Richmond Cabelas is staffed with people who know little or nothing about much of anything. Remington had a special on Gun Club shotshells. Staff there had no idea what Gun Club ammo was. Sad. Most of the stuff in their gun library is a POS. The demise of the SxS is understandable.

The Cabelas in Grandville Michigan really changed recently after they were bought out and the competing Gander Mountain firearms Supercenter closed about a year ago. Many of the guns in their Library have been reduced by 10%, without any pattern that I can see. Doubles , Autos, does not seem to matter and many are still way overpriced. They have two Parkers currently, a V grade for three grand plus and a D grade for about six grand now. At the two recent local gun shows I attended in Grand Rapids area I saw a reduction in prices overall for everything from $100 .22 rifles to old Savage 99's etc. Never seem to see higher quality doubles at these shows. Two major changes in the Gun Library are when they first opened they would buy for about 70% of a guns value, now more like 50% and they are under direction to never buy anything that has a crack in the wood, or even a slight possibility of a crack. None of the original Gun Library personnel are still there and the age of the group appears to have dropped from 65 to 35. Guess that tells us a little.

Don’t get me started on Gander Mountain.. They priced themselves out of existence.

Gander Mountain was a joke. Some of the online retailers are as well. Some guns have been on Gunbroker and Gunsinternational since I began going on there.

I finally heard back from the Gun Library people in Nev. I had to tell them how to figure out the twist rate in a rifle. I have never been in the Grandville MI Cabelas but they have a Ruger M77 in 6.5X55 that's way overpriced and it's been there for at least 6 mos. They paid more than the retail value of this one.

If you want a used Porsche you go to an individual or a Porsche dealer not the local Ford,Chevy dealership that might have one on the lot. If you want a collectible firearm go to a dealer that specializes in them or an individual not a big box retail store.

True words, Rich.

The Gander Mountain by me recently closed down. Now I know why.

I was there once and never returned. The fishing department had more saltwater fishing gear than walleye gear or steelhead gear. It’s hundreds of miles to saltwater, but only a few to some of the best walleye and steelhead fishing in the country. Never made sense to me.

-Victor

Gander Mountain filed for bankruptcy last year and was purchased by Camping World, an RV retailer. They plan to rebrand as Gander Outdoor and reopen some stores. The stores will be smaller and more focused on hunting & fishing gear.

Rich, absolutely right. But sometimes we find stuff at those places in spite of ourselves :)!

Remember when someone would come on this site saying he was worried he paid too much for a Parker and he would be told " you didn't pay too much for the Parker, you just bought it too soon"? Seems like it was just last year. Wait a minute, it was last year!
I'm not going to worry too much about it. In today's society we're a movie like "A River Runs Through It" away from a boom like there was for fly fishing. Might not happen until after I'm gone, but someday. Until then I'll enjoy what I have and treat it as a buying opportunity if the right one comes along.

My memorable experience on a third shot:
A number of years ago I was hunting with my Nickel steel Mod. 12. I was stepping over a big rotten log and was a bit off balance when I jumped a rabbit, shot and missed. No big deal as he just went a little ways and I'm already thinking rabbit Étouffée. Then for gosh sakes I made a very poor shot and missed the second time. Embarrassed and a bit ticked off I shucked the third shell a little too hard, still off balance, and the gun slam fired. The next thing I know I'm knocked off balance and sitting on my butt in the mud.
I think of this whenever contemplating that third shot. The SxS now protects me from myself.