Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Grims
I have always considered the label, "live bird gun" to mean a shotgun without a safety. Is this correct? I have a 1916 4E single barrel Ithaca Flues with no safety and understood this may be referred to as a live bird gun. Is that true?
Thanks
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The short answer for your gun is: no. Vintage single barrel trap (SBT) guns were generally made without a safety so there's no chance of calling for the target with the safety ON. No "do-overs" in serious Trap shooting. A shotgun capable of two shots is essential for high stakes live bird shooting. Also, live bird (pigeon) shooting rules require that two shots
must be fired at/for each bird. If the bird is killed with the first shot the shooter fires a second one at the bird or into the ground. Thus a single-barrel break open shotgun won't do at the rings.
Now, what makes a vintage/safetyless side-by-side shotgun a live bird gun is another question that would take many paragraphs to detail. Personally I'm not up to it.
