Grouse Guns
 

As August ebbs into September and the temperatures begin to slowly fall there are some Red Maple that have begun to turn color, it's the cusp of Grouse season. Our season opens September 15th and it's usually warm and the cover is extremely thick but it is Grouse season so one does what they have to be afield.

While IMHO the best Grouse gun is the next one there are some favorites that have begun to see time on the sporting clays course to be ready when they are put into service. A GHE Damascus 20 will get afield this year as will the H&H 20 two guns that didn't make it last year. Gunner's gun is an opening day staple. Another Damascus gun that will get out for the first time in a while is a CHE 20 the Brad refinished the barrels on. A British light game gun (alas a 12 bore:eek:) will get out using RST two inch paper shells.

There are others that will see use during the season and especially the month of October spent in the U.P. requires a battery of at least 10 guns.

What gun/guns will you bring to the opening of the greatest time of year?

Heeeere we go again... I'll take a look at the candidates in my safe and report later.

Always a good subject.





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Until Dewey Vicknair is finished restoring my Purdey single 16 bore, I will rely on a 1903 vintage Lefever H Grade 12 and A 100 year old Iver Johnson Champion 16. The IJ is my 'potential rainy day' gun! The DNR projects high numbers this season and the weather reports indicate a mild fall/early winter.

:cheers:

Tis the season Dean:rotf:

I envy your difficult decision.. I'll be using either my Ruger red label or some RST lite spreaders in my 12 gauge GH.

:rotf::bigbye:were heading to Michigan than Vt Nh and W Virginia late oct.
I start with a vh 16 at 5 15 oz for easy luggun early. Next the ph damascus 12 with TWIST barrels original to the gun with light loads steps in. To finish the season Gramps 12 Vh Mod and Full comes out to bat cleanup... Cant wait

This year I am going to use my H. Egg, British Best, 12 gauge hammerless, 28" C/C. I have had this gun for almost 40 years and never fired it. Its time to try it out. I have never had much luck researching this gun since all the info on the Egg's pertains to flintlocks, pistols and hammer guns and could never find any reference to hammerless shotguns. I would appreciate any info or help with sources where to look.

George have you tried asking about it over on Double Gunshop.com? There are some knowledgeable people over there on English guns.

Legh where in Michigan are going to hunt?

I have a sweet little VH-16 O frame two barrel set 26" and 32" The stock is my perfect fit! and I shoot her well. 14 1/4 x 1 1/4 x 2 1/4 I use the 26" barrels that are choked .007 and .026 for grouse and doodles. Brad has rust blued and opened the chambers on both sets of barrels and I bought a Galazan two barrel leather maker case with cover, rod set with tool ends and the PB leather makers label. Its a sweet hunting set, the 32" barrels may get to Kansas this year for wild birds...(-: thanks all SXS Ohio

We need some pics of some of these guns!

I spend most of my season around the Gladwin area or around the south branch of the Au Sable.

Two different 16 ga Trojans will go up with me. One very original and in good shape, the other "old faithful" to me has been fully modified with straight stock beavertail lengthened forcing cones and skeet 1&2 chokes. A VHE 16 ga skeet gun will also be used heavily this year along with a PH 1 frame 12 ga with factory 26" twist barrels, and just for kicks a H&R 28 ga hammer gun will get a chance at some point. The repro 28 ga will not go this year (sold it) and also off this years list is a GH Damascus 12 with cut 26" barrels, although now that I think about it.....

Here in NY the season opens Sept 20 in the northern part of the state.I plan on being there on opening day, as to guns I really like my DH 12 with 26" Damascus barrels but I will most likely try my new to me English 2 inch Midland , at 5lbs 8oz it will carry real nice.

As most who hang out on this forum know I am a big gun guy and serious duck hunter but I have been searching for a 20ga Fox CE for many years that I could use for grouse and quail. It has been a decades long search since small bore graded Foxes in original condition are very rarely found. Well this year I found my ideal Fox a CE 26" .013/.017, 5lbs 14 oz. It will be in service this fall for doves and grouse followed by western quail. I have had so many gun guys ask me to help them find a 20ga graded Fox, I would be rich if I had a nickle for each request. Here are a few pictures of my little Fox.

From opening day through the the last day of the season I'll be carrying my 28-ga. Parker Reproduction DHE, 26" bbls., choked .006/.014 . . . 5 1/2 lbs. of pure joy! IMO, the absolute pinnacle of grouse guns. If there's ever been a better grouse gun more suited to the purpose, I've yet to see it.

It is a no brainer for me. It will be my 20 ga repro with 26" barrels choked .004 & .008, pistol grip, double triggers. It has been my go-to grouse gun as long as I've owned it. I feel naked without it. However, I will sneak in my 12 ga P with 26"twist barrels. At 6-10 it is a delight to carry but choked a bit tight at .012 & .024 but I only shoot 7/8 oz loads. I've been shooting it at clays for the last few weeks and it is going after doves on Friday.

Michigan-?... NH-?... WV-?.... Shucks! Me and Grace will likely be stuck at home with her saggin' belly or her squealin' puppies this fall.

Legh, I know that PH and it has Laminated barrel tubes even though the rib legend says otherwise. It is a sweetheart of a gun! Handles beautifully too.


Just checked the safe and I have several to shoot the cobwebs out of.

There's Rr. Admiral Thos. Perry's 20 ga. DH with 28" Damascus tubes.

There's the "Shot to Destruction" 16 ga. 26" Grade 1 T/A hammer gun Laminated Steel barrels.

There's the 16 ga. Grade 0 Lifter with 24" Twist barrels.

There's the sweet 16 ga. DHE with 26" Titanic barrels I bought from a friend here in the PGCA.

Of course, I can't forget my little 28 ga. VHE with 26" barrels.

And I might have a .410 by then too...

I expect that's enough for me, but my grandson Cam, will certainly be using his 20 ga. VH "Heirloom Parker" with 26" barrels.

Wow guys.. I'm jealous, some beautiful guns.

"If" I were still inclined to climb the Virginia mountains after these guys I have two I'd carry . The first is a rather well used Westley Richards 12 gauge boxlock 27" and the second is a GH #1 frame 16 gauge with Damascus barrels that have been cut to 27" before I got it .

Very nice guns and well suited for the grouse woods. While I wont make it out for the NY opener on 9/20 (working stiff!), I will be out the following weekend in the Adirondacks. For Parkers, I will use a 20ga GH w/ 26" barrels, IC and M chokes, and straight grip as the primary option. Then there is a GH 12ga, same barrel length and chokes, pistol grip, for backup.

I also like to get out my old Browning Lightning 20ga and Ithaca Mod. 37 pump 20ga just because I would not want them to feel left out. They have served well for a long time and deserve some of the action.

I can miss a grouse equally well with all of these guns.

Here's a new 20-bore I'll be trying out this year. A 2nd year (1913) Sterlingworth that's been restocked to straight grip/long tang. She has 28" tubes and does 46 and 57% patterns with Remington Gun Clubs, 7/8 ounce of 7-1/2's. Nice choking combo IME for walk-up birds here in PA.

The top three pictures in my previous post are of Legh Higgins' PH. The rib inscription says Damascus Steel, the barrel flat is stamped T for Twist Steel but the tubes are actually Laminated Steel. Brad Bachelder's excellent process brought out the composite pattern beautifully! It is the perfect gun for grouse, woodcock, and Mister Bob.





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Dean, what can you tell us about your ".410 to come"?

Not much Bill, it's not here yet.

I'll say this much - it's not a Parker.





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Here are some pics from my files of some that will see the color tour this season. It's raining and I'm fighting a cold so until I can get some pics of the new additions these will have to suffice. They are VHE 28ga 28 inch barrels skt/skt, CHE 20 28 inch IC/M, GHE 20 Damascus 26 inch IC/M, H&H 26 inch IC/M and Gunners Gun 28 inches SKT1 and LM.

The opening of grouse season here in Utah is just a few days away. Even in the high up on the mountain the temperatures will be bumping up into the upper 70s low 80s; so, I may pass grouse up and go shoot doves this weekend.

It seem more and more the shotgun I take out of the safe and carry on the mountain is this 12 gauge Belgian guild gun sold by William Read & Sons of Boston.

http://m7.i.pbase.com/o9/10/209910/1....beligain1.jpg

http://m0.i.pbase.com/o9/10/209910/1...nsharptail.jpg

Here are a few more. They are an AAHE (upgrade) 28ga. This is a two barrel set 26 IC/M and 28M/F, Charles Boswell Damascus 20ga 28 inch Damascus IC/M. A joy to carry at under 6lbs, CHE Damascus 20 before the barrels were redone, DH 16 on an O frame Damascus 26 inches IC/F. I was hesitant about this choke combination but have come to appreciate it especially in the heavy foliage of early season and the longer opportunities presented in the later season after the leaves have fallen.

You guys just don't get it. This is a Grouse gun --

Attachment 56471

Partridge sights and all!!

Lets try the pics again....cold medicine I guess:rotf: I don't know how the pictures got messed up but the side lock is a LeFever 16ga 28 inch IC/F. The small picture is the DH 16. I fight with technology:)

[QUOTE=Rich Anderson;223899]As August ebbs into September and the temperatures begin to slowly fall there are some Red Maple that have begun to turn color, it's the cusp of Grouse season. Our season opens September 15th and it's usually warm and the cover is extremely thick but it is Grouse season so one does what they have to be afield.

Hey Rich, stick the grouse guns up your caboose!! Early September in my neck of the woods = hungry stripers, alligator blues and drag-melting albies!

Grouse hunting in September?? Really? Really? It's a colonoscopy without the Propofol!! The Password is: Prickly Heat!! Please don't talk to me about bird hunting until late October. I'm not letting go of Summer '17 just yet. :bigbye:

Sincerely,

Ansley H.

Quit being such a woos. It's bird season so stop flogging the water and dragging poor defenseless fish around by the lips (how barbaric is that to put a hook in their lips then drag them through the water:shock:) Summer is after all a prelude to the greatest season of them all FALL. :rotf:

Charles Parker

In the third season after buying it I will surely take up-country the 0-framed 16 gauge VH, built in 1907, with its 26 inch barrels, factory choked, as per letter, cylinder and modified. It was sold to the original retail customer at the Boston, Massachusetts sporting goods store, of Iver Johnson. Thus, the fellow who sold it to me as a "typical New England bird gun" represented it accurately.

I have been a slow-learner in hitting targets (clay or otherwise) with such a light gun -- "whippy" being the preferred term for those of us who have blame the gun and not the gunner. I can thank Dean R. for raising my consciousness about adapting one's shooting technique to the properties of the light gun.

I had been in possession of my father's 16 gauge, 1-framed VH, with 28 inch barrels for several years. It was completed in Meriden in 1925, and has inherent chokes that are full and full; thus, it is more suited for open-country. My father may have used it in the water-fowling and Pheasant hunting, which he did in Eastern Massachusetts. But, since I have been hunting in the North Woods, I looked for and located the open-choked 16 gauge to add to my modest collection.

My schedule only allows for a later-season hunt, so a few rifles will probably be keeping the guns company -- probably the "pre-War", commercial Mauser, in 9.3 x 62; the octagonal barreled .30-30 Winchester and my Jim Corbett- evoking Rigby Mauser in 7 x 57 mm.

I will be going up, provided I still have my health and a job, that is. I say this in keeping with Hemmingway's observation that, with age, one develops -- not necessarily wisdom -- but caution.

Well, as you know, we ain't got no grouse out this-away unless you count prairie chickens, which are another story. But we do find the occasional quail, and this year I hope to have a chance at a few with this Fox A-grade 20, 26" barrels, which recently came back from Mark Larson after some stock repairs...

http://i.imgur.com/hXk6vXDh.jpg

Well there will be a couple of guns going out this year. My favorite, Holland&Holland 28 ga and then a DH 16 ga Damascus and maybe the A grade 20/28 ga.

Summer has been quite complicated for me--so, I am going to simplify my 2 week grouse hunting marathon by bringing only 1 gauge , and 3 guns.
The first, the venereble old VHE 20 with barrels cut to 26 1/2" and cyl/cyl--it aint much to look at, but sweet to carry on my all day death marches.
A grade 2 Ugartechea 20 w/ 27" IC/M and straight grip is another gun great for long days in the woods.
And finally, when hunting by myself, I will use the little Jos. Manton 20 ga 30" barreled hammer gun with open chokes.
All the 16's(9), will come out to play after I get home and start chasing pheasants.
Will post photos later, they are on laptop, which I left at home

[QUOTE=Steve Cambria;223957]Down here in the bay those that are in the know tell me December and January are the months to troll for big stripers .

I'd be up for that but December I'm still gonna be killing poor defensless deer . And January on the Chesapeake Bay doesn't sound like fun .

The stripers and blues are about gone by early October in my area, headed South on their fall migration. A big storm or a hurricane will push them out even quicker.
I never enjoyed trolling very much. I've always fished flies for them both spring and late summer.





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Grouse gun...
 

Here is a couple pictures of my 26" VH-16 that I spoke of early in this thread. The other is a Fox Sterlingworth that I just acquired. Sweet little 16 with 30" x-full both barrels at .034 6lbs-3oz and this will be a rooster gun. SXS Ohio

SXS Ohio

Looks to me like Ruby is wondering when the Fox guns are coming out.

I'll be toting a 16 gauge Damascus GH choked C/IC at 6 pds. 3 oz., or my 20 gauge Grade 4 Ithaca Flues choked IC/IC and weighing in at 5 pds. 10 oz. Although I am a Parker guy at heart, the opening day nod goes to the Ithaca with original 24" barrels. Since I spend so much time on my hands and knees looking for where they SHOULD have fallen, the short barrels come in handy.

Brett....Ruby is the energy bunny! she is weighting for me to throw her toy. Ruby will be 7 this Feb-5th We could not tell by her puppy attitude all day long...! Yes the Foxes will be in Kansas...(-: But my Parker VH-16 will be in the grouse woods....(-: SXS Ohio