How do over under shotguns work

Break actions can also be difficult to handle when it comes to loading new shells. It takes a certain degree of practice before the motion becomes smooth.

The shotgun could potentially be dangerous, so always make sure that it is cleaned according to the manual. Over-under shotguns are limited in the number of shells that can be fired at one time. While two shells may be sufficient for skeet shooting, there will be instances where not having the third shot will be irritating. Double-barreled shotguns can be very expensive.

One of the primary costs of any firearm is the barrel, so having two of them doubles the cost. However, there are some incredibly high-quality models on the market such as the Browning Citori with beautiful walnut stocks or the Silver Reserve II.

Mar 24 Advantages and Disadvantages of an Over Under Shotgun. What Is an Over-Under Shotgun? The front one forms the hook which hinges on the cross-pin and both this and the rear lump have cut-outs named bites, into which the locking bolt engages to hold the gun shut.

The shape of the lumps is important in holding the barrels firmly against the standing breech and action bar flats. Some over-and-unders have bifurcated lumps, meaning one each side, and hinge on trunions or hinge discs. A trigger-plate is the less common type of side-by-side, but many over-and-unders are a variation on this design. The true trigger-plate type has the lockwork assembled on a detachable trigger-plate and a modern example of this is the Beretta. Many other over-and-unders are of modified trigger-plate design: the lock mechanism is split between the triggerplate and top-strap and therefore qualify as a type of boxlock, especially where the action body, or frame in modern speak, is machined in one piece.

The boxlock incorporates the basic features of any break-open shotgun. The lockwork is built into the action body, which is why, initially, it was sometimes called a body lock. The major parts of the lockwork consist of the cocking dogs or cocking arms, mainsprings, hammers, or dog-tooth strikers if the firing pin is a fixed part of the hammer, and the sears.

The action body sports a bar, standing breech, fences, top-strap and the cross-pin on which the barrels pivot. Skip to content ». Home Shooting Start Shooting. Lewis Potter explains. Shotgun jargon buster It then occurred to me that some of the shooting terminology to describe the various working parts meant nothing to him.

It is quicker if not more elegant to continuously feed shells into the bottom of a pump or semi-auto when doves are flying fast and thick than to stop shooting to break a gun in half. Part of the ponderousness of many modern stackbarrels is a function of no-tox loads and screw-chokes. Steel shot produces far more stress on the muzzles of guns than lead. This has resulted in thicker and heavier barrels than ever before.

Naturally, the extra barrel mass rears its head not once, but twice in double guns. The touted liveliness of the older, short range game guns is largely gone in steel proof, screw-choked barrels.

To get the weight down again, one way is to remove a barrel. Though dedicated single shot trap guns have their following, the single shot field skeet, sporting clays and field guns have either no or low appeal. Some may balk at the notion of reliability problems in a double gun, but it is nothing new. All firearms wear and require maintenance. Krieghoff makes some beautiful shotguns, as most are aware. If you own a Krieghoff or any gun , regular service may be one of the best investments you can make to protect your investment and insure reliability.

Equally few users are capable of performing the same or equivalent repairs to a repeating shotgun. It takes far more than casual use to wear one significantly, of course, but even the annual maintenance fees are more than many shooters feel their shotguns are worth.

Often, double barrels get scant little maintenance at all. Neither do most repeaters. Most pump-actions and gas autos are easy to maintain. I've never had to replace ANY of the parts in my doubles, the eldest of which is well over years old.