Shotguns

At one time, the shotgun that was the must-have tool for many a bird hunter was a finely crafted side-by-side. Fixed chokes, lots of drop in the stock with the resulting hefty recoil from all but the lightest loads, and a wide view down the barrels were what serious wingshooters had to accept.Times have changed, and the "double barrel" has fallen out of favor in most shooting circles. Semiautomatics and over and unders dominate most scattergun venues, with their owners citing less recoil, smoother handling and more availability among the reasons for their selection of more modern shooting tools.However, like the little engine that could, the side-by-sides still chug along in a limited market and are sought out by shooters with a little sense of history in their souls.Two new entries into this select category of shooters are the Smith & Wesson Elite Gold Grade I 20 gauge side-by-side and the L.C. Smith 20 gauge side-by-side now distributed by Marlin. While the S&W version is designed with the more traditional English double styling and the L.C. Smith is a reproduction of the working tool models of American doubles, both offer a taste of the old days.Each shotgun has its pluses and minuses, and the S&W version carries a price tag that is a little more than $400 over the L.C. Smith. Finer wood, better case hardening and a slimmer, trimmer balance add to the price of the S&W.

The legislation requires federal agencies to provide relevant data for use in the NICS system, a database that stores the names of individuals prohibited by federal law from purchasing or possessing firearms.

A new agreement between NSSF's ranges division, the National Association of Shooting Ranges (NASR), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows shooting ranges to submit Environmental Stewardship Plans anonymously.

Forty million Americans today are active in shooting sports and hunting. During their lifetimes, the total retail value of their recreational activities will top $4 trillion, projects the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a nonprofit trade association for the firearm industry.

The 'Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform and Firearms Modernization Act of 2007' (HR 4900) legislation represents a major advance in protecting the rights of firearms dealers.

Ron Sieg, Flagstaff Regional Supervisor, will present issues associated with lead from spent ammunition.

The Weatherby swings in a lovely, controllable manner and is responsive enough to address a wide range of targets. We did find the balance forward a bit on this gun, a factor that was different from the Beretta, rather than a positive or negative. Would like a better selection of chokes, but $700 between the Athena and the Beretta prices buys a lot of tubes.

This is such a pretty gun, and we think that backed by the amount of hand-finishing both inside and out, as well as the company's invaluable pit-stop program, that it's worth the higher price tag. Its unique pitch configuration will have most shooters firing above their targets. Needs porting.

This gun has it all—porting, extended choke tubes, fiber-optic sights, the proper balance for sporting clays, and a main-event 12-gauge feel in a 20-gauge package. This fell short of an A rank because it came with three choke tubes and no hard case.

While many scattergun enthusiasts may prefer the classic appearance of fine-grained wood and gun-metal blue steel in many shooting situations, the fall season seems to bring out the desire for a little camouflage in their shotgun collection. These firearms are designed for rugged, dependable functioning in what can be miserable weather conditions. Like the runt of a litter of puppies, these shotguns are often so ugly that they are considered attractive.With the stress on getting the job done, the two shotguns we selected for our testing are promoted as solid shooting tools, capable of handling field conditions without punishing hunters with excessive recoil or clunky handling performance.Billed as the fastest-functioning semiautomatic on the market, the Winchester Super X3 Waterfowl model is a recent addition to the Winchester line, and the Benelli M2 Field is also a fast-functioning and popular shooting tool in fields and wetlands across the country. Only one dollar separates the two shotguns manufacturers suggested retail prices, which is a rare match in a head-to-head competition between semiautomatics. Both feature slim designs and synthetic camouflage stocks and forearms, plus camouflage-coated barrels. These features are nearly a necessity for anyone venturing into the wet weather, mud and gunk typical of waterfowl hunting conditions and the unpredictable fall season for dove hunters.

Serious sub-gauge clay-bird shooters have two choices available to them when it comes to guns. They can either use tube inserts in their main 12-gauge gun, or they can pick a separate firearm. Tubes certainly have distinct advantages-cost and familiar handling characteristics to name two. But many of us want a separate gun, so we wanted to see if any of todays sub-gauge sporting clays firearms were up to the task.We pitted three 20-gauge over/unders that were similar in many ways, but particularly in weight-all of them coming in at exactly 6.5 pounds. In the lineup were a $2950 Beretta 687 Silver Pigeon II Sporting No. J687435 with 30-inch barrels; a $3850 Caesar Guerini Magnus Sporting with 30-inch barrels, and a Browning Cynergy Classic Sporting No. 013245726, $3235, with 32-inch barrels.We patterned the guns at 40 yards on the National Target Companys shotgun patterning target (all proved accurately regulated). Also, we used a Shooters Ridge Steady Rest on Midway USAs MTM portable shooting bench for point-of-impact tests. Our team employed an RCBS trigger-pull gauge provided by Midway USA to measure trigger pulls.Heres how the three guns stacked up in these static tests and on the sporting clays and skeet fields:

In the sporting clays world, shooters are always looking for an edge to give them an advantage over other competitors. Naturally, firearm manufacturers are more than willing to make new and improved models of shotguns available to this anxious audience. At times, the new and improved versions feature radical changes in typical shotgun dynamics, while there are some cases when just a minor tweaking is unveiled to the shooting crowd.One of the latest models to be introduced into the sporting clay market of moderately priced over-and-under shotguns is the Remington Premier Competition STS. This shotgun is a dramatic change from the companys over-and-under that once dominated the skeet and trap fields - the Remington Model 3200.Lighter, trimmer, and quicker handling, the Competition STS was developed after consultation with top sporting clay competitors who drew upon experience and personal desires to offer suggestions about features in the new model.We were able to get our hands on one of the new models and selected the well-established Browning Citori XS Sporting as a good head-to-head match up.The Browning model has been a popular shotgun in the sporting clay circuit for several years and features the same solid, dependable design of several over-and-under shotguns made in Japan for the company.With its trademark deep receiver - a full quarter-inch deeper than the Remington - that features locking lugs in the bottom of the receiver, the Browning is one of the big boys on the range and has a well-established reputation.Our ammunition selection for this test included the Winchester AA Xtra-Lite Target 2.75-inch loads that were 2.75 dram equivalent shells with 1 ounce of No. 7.5 shot traveling at 1180 fps; Remington STS Low Recoil 2.75-inch loads with a 2.5 dram equivalent, 1 1/8 ounce of No. 8 shot and a muzzle velocity of 1100 fps; and Estate Super Sport Competition Target 2.75-inch loads with 2.75 dram equivalent, 1 ounce of No. 8 shot and a muzzle velocity of 1180 fps. There were no malfunctions of any kind, and all the ammunition was very effective on the variety of clay targets attempted during our tests. Heres our test report: