Over and under or side by side, double-barreled guns are simply just fun.

One of my first experiences, mentioned here in an older column, involved a Stevens side-by-side 20 gauge and two grouse, taken each with a single round. On my first outing of shooting clay pigeons, the shotguns we had were a single-shot .410, which was missing the bead, and a well-used side-by-side 16 gauge. I shot well for a young first-timer and have enjoyed double guns ever since.

One of the most enjoyable shooting events you could ever engage in is cowboy action shooting. The necessary hardware typically consists of two sixguns, a lever-action repeater and a period-correct shotgun. Of course, you can use an 1897 Winchester pump-action but you’re limited to two shells to keep the playing field level, so you’d just as well go with a double-barreled shotgun!

Ringing steel is music to the ears no matter what you’re shooting, but doing so with a side-by-side double-barreled shotgun is especially ticklish. Don’t get so into it that you give the target both barrels simultaneously, however — that experience is not a tickle. Don’t ask me how I know.

In the gentlemanly sport of wingshooting, especially so among upland game bird hunters, the double-barreled shotgun is more and more frequently seen. Thanks to improvements in ammunition with bismuth and tungsten core shot, traditionally small-bore shotguns like the 20 and 28 gauge are more useful than ever. Even larger birds like turkeys are increasingly brought down with these impressive loads.

Who, when conjuring images of Hemingway, Roosevelt or any of another score of celebrated African hunters, could overlook the fine craftsmanship of the double rifles they carried? Especially in the application of hunting dangerous game, a fast-handling double rifle chambered in some ponderous Nitro Express round offers two shots as quickly as one can pull the triggers.

I have even felt that such a gun chambered in something a bit less earth-shaking — like a .45-70, for example — could be just as useful in thick brush such as one might encounter in Western Oregon.

Even today, double rifles and combination guns are still very common in Europe. Many countries do not allow the luxury of owning multiple firearms we are afforded here in the land of the free, home of the brave. A combination gun could have two, three or even four barrels of various calibers and gauges to provide such a necessarily utilitarian firearm for our European brethren thusly restricted.

If your current collection remains bereft of some sort of double gun, I, as your friendly gun mentor, suggest you remedy that forthwith. While you could probably get by in life just fine without one, why rob yourself of the fun and enjoyment of carrying and, of course, shooting a double gun? They simply are that much fun!

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