“Bum, Belly, Beak, Bang!” That is the best piece of game shooting advice I’ve heard. 👍🏻

Thanks, Really enjoy the British perspective on these styles of shotguns. I got my SXS because it just seemed like the type of shotgun an old European farmer would take out in the morning and shoot a few birds for dinner with. Love the romance of that. I find I shoot clays better with the SXS than I do with my Mossy Pump. Never shot and over under. That's on my wishlist.

Joke about eyes was the best argument 🤣

If I'm shooting clays I'll take an over and under but if I am shooting pheasant or upland game give me a side-by-side.

nice video. My old man went from a browning semi auto 20 to a ithaca .20 side by side, and never looked back. I started on a skb 20 gauge made by ithaca, minus the autop ejectors when I started shooting. Absolutely fantastic gun. Now that he has passed away, and I get his ithaca, I really enjoy the ithaca with the auto extractors for grouse, quail, and chucker hunting. the auto extraction can make the difference from getting that second or third bird. Either way, I love beautifully made shotguns. Never really cared for 12 gauge though, but im mostly upland game bird

Absolutely enjoy your videos. Please continue making them. I will happily promote them to others. Thank you for taking the time.

One point has been forget : you can find external-hammered SxS while all O/U are internal-hammered only (correct me if i'm wrong). With external-hammered SxS you can keep it lock n loaded with hammers uncocked, avoiding long time spring compression issue. For home defense it's a big advantage. Double trigger is generally more reliable than 2 stage trigger so again better for defense (+ if one trigger system fail you have a second one).

the side by side is a very old school but good gun. im a young fella only 15 years old and have only used under and overs but im sure a lot of you older shooters would have grown up on the side by side. i would really love to use a side by side one day.

Love your videos, especially this one as I've been through them all, semi auto, o/u and s/s. I now have two s/s. An 1886 2½" chambered Damascus barrelled hammer worth less than a k, was my father's and fits me like a glove. It takes very few prisoners. Its a beautiful gun and draws a lot of attention. I also do well on clays with it but rarely as wear can reduce its life. The other is relatively modern, and quite different to what you were talking of in s/s. 30" 3½" steel proof chambered with multichokes. Non ejector and beavertail fore end. It had a semi pistol grip which I modified to a straight stock as is fathers gun. Both same reach and overall dimensions but of course with 3½" Chambers, the Zabala weighs an extra Lb. Kicks like a mule with the full sized cartridges. I had o/u winchester at the same time as dad's s/s and found I wasn't getting fully competent with either of them. Now shooting purely s/s I feel far more competent and am relatively successful with shot placement. Long live the s/s! Oh, and please stop opening and closing your guns. This is the single highest cause of wear for a gun. Even with correct cleaning and lubrication a gun will only open and close a finite number of times before work is needed to tighten the action! Looking forward to your next videos. Chamone! D

Thanks for putting out all your shotgun videos. I'm new to shotguns and trap shooting so your vids are an easy research for info and history. So thanks alot. Please continue

Another great video guys, really appreciate the effort put in! On a side note your shop looks bloody amazing

Thanks for this video man, I've been in love with doubles for a while and the info you provided just sold me on getting one. Appreciate it!!

Very interesting video, thanks for explaining the differences.

Just bought an over and under here in Canada and it is a beauty. Bought it over a side by side because i feel its easier to control/shoot and it look superb.

But which is better for blasting demons and other hell-spawn on the surface of Mars?

I recently bought a very clean Parker hale side by side, took it to my local clay ground to try it out.It turned out to be one of my better days, it's now my go to shotgun.......luv it!

Another lover of side by sides from the States. Totally agree with your assessment of both too. I may have to pick up an over under sometime, but for now I’ll stay with my Lang hammer gun, circ 1883, and Wm Richards from the 1920’s. Thank you for the videos. Great work. I wish I had a store like yours here. English guns go for a premium here.

You make me laugh. I REALLY enjoy watching your videos. Now I know why the British enjoy their over/under and side by side shotguns so much. You TRULY LOVE the beauty and craftsmanship of the firearms. I am into Mil Surps, AR's and pump actions, And yes revolvers and semi handguns. But in the same way I get all excited about a beautiful Mil Surp., you get all worked up about your shotguns. And I Love it! I bought my first over/under a few weeks ago and had NO CLUE what I was doing with it. I bought it on a whim. I am used to pounding slugs and 00 Buck down range and blasting the Snot out of the targets. And then I got invited to go shoot clays. And Boy did I SUCK!! LOL! I had NO idea what I was doing. But I wont give up. I REALLY need to pattern the shotgun, change the Choke tubes from Full and Mod,.....to IC and Mod. First barrel being IC. And I got different hearing protection. The kind that fit IN your ears not the muffs. I knocked my $85 ones off and the inserts came flying out while I was shooting. They are great at the range, but not so good for moving around trying to sight in a moving target. Thanks so much for giving that wonderful British flavor to such a wonderful sport!

Love the humour towards the end !!!!

Great way to put out man I completely understand the differences now

The whole point of double triggers is to be able to instantly choose the barrel for a long or close shot - there is no time to flip the barrel selector over in a hunting situation. Best thing is to own both these shotguns, but the most capable is an over under with multichoke and double triggers, however they are always slower to load. You can also get a side by side with a raised tapered rib!

have to say SxS with straight grip wins my choice hands down no close second

The really great advantage of the O/U is felt on days when shooting a lot. Then the forend wood protects the hand from hot barrels. The splinter forend of the SXS is of little help and many shooters have to wear a glove. The beavertail on a 12b is too bulky and it detracts from the appearance of a 20 or 28.

Lol, great ending line. Well done video!

You know what’s fun? Firing both barrels of a sxs at the same time.

Watched your 4 episodes of steel in a side x side and decided to buy one . Only a cheap Essex with 1/4 and 1/2 fixed chokes in good condition and fit is ok . Took it to clays and they only had 28g Eley Select steel which after watching your tests would be fine I was sure and they were . What you didn’t emphasise was the kick , which was brutal and I was trying to be the quintessential English gent pretending to shoot pheasant instead of English sporting clays emulating your snap shooting style and OUCH 😣 , didn’t shoulder it correctly on a left to right high away bird . You will get away with that with a over under but not a 6lbs 10oz sidey . Only dropped 4 from my normal score but I enjoyed every minute and saved an unloved Spanish gun in the making . I am now looking for a Webley and Scott 700 to go with my Webley and Scott 951 sporter that is in my budget and will need a little work . The bruise is just going now a week later , and the lesson has been learned to shoulder the gun correctly before letting loose , also look for some 24g light loads , maybe Eley Amber 😁 . Thanks for your videos they definitely make me want to go out and buy a gun every time I watch one , I almost went out and bought a Baikal after buying into your video about how they are made from old T34 tanks which repelled the German panzers at the gates of Moscow 🤣

spot on! side by side shotguns are the best!

I like them both and got a few of each the side by side I take when I’m feeling old school but take the over and under when I’m feeling like more classy sportsman like lol

Fantastic video..... Well done..... Loved it

So if I want to learn both it seems like starting with the side by side makes the over and under easy, but going the other way is tricky?

Side by side is easy loading easy to fire.i love it thank you brother ❤️I love you ❤️🙏🙏 from India

great content guys!!!! really outstanding, big thumbs up, if i'm heading over sea from belgium , ill take a visit to the shop!!!

Hello from Australia, great video. Well done.

Just broke one of John's "rules". Didn't purchase an English S x S, instead got a Huglu from Turkey marketed by CZ USA. Model is the Sharp Tail Target and it features a single selective Mechanical Trigger system with 30 inch choked barrels with a pistol grip stock that mounts to the action in an identical fashion as an O/U. As for sighting, it has a slightly raised rib with a brass mid beat and white front bead. Two things discovered in last weekends first outing was that you have to "Shoot the Rib, NOT the Barrel". Yeah, I did try lining up the barrel in use with the target and found out quickly that is a for sure certain way to miss every time. The second thing I learned was to mount it a bit high on the shoulder just like I have to do with my Beretta 686 Sporting. Once I started do that I started to see solid hits that busted clays into bits. As for the appearance, this is a high end model in CZ's catalog, so the wood would be grade 3 for Beretta, grade 2 for Browning, and grade 1 for Caesar Guerini, an overall pretty bit of lumber that isn't so heavily figured to present issues with splitting. Action is also "color case hardened" and it's actually been done using bone and charcoal instead of some "painted" finish. As for the tell as to this being a genuine finish there is a tiny bit of freckling with red rust on a couple of spots. Means I will have to keep it well oiled to keep that in check but it is quite pretty. BTW, the engraving is rather spartan and the checkering was laser cut. Just finished hand checkering the laser cut areas and have the first application of Tung oil drying right now. Left the urethane finish in place and will probably hit that with some polishing compound to change it to a high gloss finish. End result will be what I call a CZ EELL.

With a side by side you miss with style, you just miss with an over and under.

I'm from Montréal in Québec and I love all your videos. I just recently bought my very first side-by-side, a second hand Baikal 12g but still in perfect condition. It would be nice if you would write in the video description the brand, model, caliber of the guns showed in your video. It makes it a little easier to follow up on internet after. Nonetheless, keep making great videos. Toodeloo !

I really enjoy your videos👍

Love your passion for guns, ( even if you AR a gun snob, lol) great video, (well except for the background noise and change in sound quality, and ... No it was a great video!)

Always wanted a side by side i just like the look of them an they seem rather practical.

Than you for this video, enjoy your work. The O/U is known as a FAIR SLX 600 here in the states. It's difficult to find much info on it. Can you comment on your assessment of the shotgun?

You can have both in a single shot, which has the sight plane of an O/U and the quickness of a SbS.

Brilliant vid. So true about side by side being like a Italian car. Do you know of any cheap side by side with single trigger i have only seen a few that have been 4x the price of a double trigger one cheers

INFORMATIVE AND AMUSING. EXCELLENT.

Can US buy a english gun shipped to a US FFL? If so can you recommend a sight that would do this? Most SXS in the us are more pricey then the O/U

595 for the sxs seems like a great price for such a nice looking gun.

Good video. What model O/U are you showing in the video?

Sir what is your opinion of a merkel sxs ?

What’s the brand and model of the O/U in the video? It’s beautiful!

If I wanted to use a o/u I would just use a semi or pump. Double barrelled shotguns are meant to be sxs, it is the way.

TGS Outdoors can a sxs shotgun have a bracket for a rear sight for both barrels at once and have two front sights one for each barrel and have a single trigger instead of two triggers?

Can you recxomend some good british makers of vintage side by sides?

i bought a side by side with external hammers about 2 months ago for about a thousand dollars brand new with removable chokes. best thousand dollars i ever spent

Just wondering what sxs it was

Ha ha. “You just have to love it!” This is so true. I’ve got two SxS’s! Both kick so much worse than my OU and Autos. They’ll beat your freakin brains out, especially with 3” shells! But I LOVE shooting and hunting with them!

Are there any over under handguns apart from Derringer? Like an over under Glock?

Great video! I didn't know that about the stock bolt. What models of guns were you demonstrating?

Cheers Mate!

"Bum, belly, beak, bang." That's new to me. Of course, it's better than, "Just shoot the damn thing!" which is what I learned on. But then, I was first handed a single shot 12 gauge made by Iver Johnson's Arms And Cycle Works. Seriously! They made bicycles. They also made motorcycles.

Over under all the way

It’s easier for me to lead a target with a SxS if it’s a clay or a bird.

I prefer SxS personally, i started on a farm with my family and learned to shoot by virtue of the fact that i needed to. SxS's just look better too and as you said they swing much better for rough bird shooting

my WORD! what is that SxS? and what barrel length does it look to be? looks so damn beautiful with its case-hardening 👌

... I changed over from semi's and pumps. So I got a side by side ... and I was missing ... alot ... but one 20 ga I was dead-on w/ it ... ??? ... Hhmmm ??? That one had a mid-barrel bead ... all the difference. I have a problem w/ the side by side sight-line ... I swing from side to side ... w/ the O/U I do not swing side to side ( but I still had mid-barrel beads installed ).

For "ME" personally, I cannot tell the recoil between the two. I have O/U, S/S, singles, pumps and semi autos. But then again I have a hard time telling if I am shooting a 8mm Mauser with a steel butt plate and a modern 25-06. I don't know what it is about my body, but it accepts the amount of pain it gets and is grateful for it. (That is the ONLY way I can describe it how some pain feels good to me and some does not). But I have to say, I love them all, but if I had to choose between the two there, I would choose the side by side for all things. Not that what you say isn't true, but I figure I am *not* the best shot on moving clays anyway. And if I am going to lose, I might as well do it with Old World Style. (lol) Not to mention, that with the cock of the wrist, you can attempt to be on target, with the side by side, and then open the opposite barrel with a turn of the wrist and arm. And this seems very clumsy and unnatural with an over/under. And I like a Single Shot or a Pump the Best. I can run my pump almost as fast as my semi. And I love the external hammer on the singles. But most Importantly, the single has the barrel release, where it belongs and it goes the right in the right direction (DOWN,...Lol). It beats the stupid side to side lever of both the over under and the side by side. But a Semi is hard to beat for the "Fun Factor". I just wish they would bring 10 Gauge and 8 Gauge back in favor. I REALLY would love to own a few of those.

If there is anything that i learned from playing Doom is that the super shotgun is indeed a Demon ahnailator.

Great video, thanks for the information. What model O/U is that?

Nice video. For me side by side is the best.

Absolutely love the eye analogy! Plus, patriotism is a virtue. Western Civilasation is under attack for extremely questionable reasons. S/S vs O/U is s vacuous question.

What SxS is that and what SxS shotguns would you recommend for hunting?

There is nothing “hard to shoot” about a SXS double. I have owned and shot them my entire life. I have some O/U’s too, but I’ll opt for the SxS every time. To each their own, I guess.

Side by side. Then learn how to shoot them. A good one is a joy to own. A joy to clean. A joy to handle. A joy to shoot. An over/under is a clunky tool in most cases.

You won me over. I wanted a sxs forever, but the over/under is just the better option. Still no gun looks cooler than the sxs

What over and under is that you have there looks amazing

Side by side is king 👍🏻💯🇦🇺

Talk about a lack of popularity! I picked up a beautiful AYA Yeoman for £75 (pocket money) and an AYA No4 as a gift, and they are so great to shoot. I hit and miss exactly the same with these as I do with my beginner's safe choice of the Beretta 686. I think the sight plane suits me better with SxS.

Side by side just look so much nicer

I own and shoot both quite frequently, I find SXS has the better sight plan.

There are actually no ejectors on most because they are use for cowboy action shooting and ejectors are NOT allowed

Love my sxs. I have a few.

Side by sides are better!

Make a video on currently available side by side 12 gauge shotgun in market

Ok. So I figured this would be the best video to ask this. I've been shooting sporting clays for the last 3 years at work events. I enjoy it even shooting it with a pump. I'm debating on getting either a side-by-side or over and under. I'm leaning towards a side-by-side. I like the look of the old guns but I wouldn't mind getting into competition sporting clays. So which style should I go with. Over and under like all competition shooters or a side-by-side?

You do have to remember that there are different types of side/side's and over and unders

Very informative. What's your opinion on a single shot?

I personally prefer the two trigger design to the single trigger

I wish here in the USA there was a surplus of lower cost quality older SXS.

I brought my 116 year old Greener to a friend's private skeet club. The other men were shooting very expensive O/Us. Everyone was very courteous but one fellow asked whether I knew what I was doing. I said I thought so but, nonetheless, they all stepped back when it was my turn. I missed the first target amid the huge cloud of black powder smoke, but got the second. Before I left, all of the others had shot my gun. In fact, they used up all of my hand-loaded 2.5" shells! One asked whether the gun might be for sale! Funny!!

I would love a side by side but i think a single barrel is more practical for the weight

Get a triple-barrled and you don't need to decide which is better. 300 IQ solution right there.

Maybe I'm speaking out of school... but SXS seem to encourage natural aiming and over and under seems to be more of a learned technique. My only reference is that I own one of each.

I dont see much difference between the two, I can blast everything with my 140 year old hammer gun as much as I can with my over unders.

Get one of each.

Would be cool to see a video on which side by side is best for which job - high birds, walked up etc., and also discuss calibre too. So is 12 bore the go to or are 16 and 20 worthwhile for anything etc.

The difference is side by side u can saw off really short the over and under not so much...and thats the truth.

Any thoughts on the Beretta Parallelo 486?

Both are epic, as far as I'm concerned I'd say that in the end it ain't the gun, it's the person using it. I've been using both for quite some time, however I like my o/v more perhaps maybe because of my 13yrs old son coz he always insists on taking the o/u out on the field

Side by side

Are you located in the UK? If so what are the preferred current brands of quality side by sides? The CZ Sharptail seems to be the only sub-1000 current production side by side I can find.

What load and muzzle velocity shells would you recommend for an older (mid 60s ) nitro proofed side by side?

I am looking at buying a o/u to return to clays....but back on ye ole continent seems to be impossible to get your hands on a Cogswell & Harrison....and with brexit upcoming exporting is going to be a pain the buttocks