Double Barrel Shotgun Good For Deer Hunting?

Morning /k/, I'm not sure whether this belongs on here or on PrepHole but might as well give it a go here. But is a break action shotgun, like a double or single barrel 12ga, good for hunting deer?

I live in a blue state so no rifles are allowed for hunting. I’ve shot some semi automatic and pump action shotguns before but never bagged anything with it and I figured buying a break action would be the most reliable choice for my money's worth but when it comes to deer would a pump or semi be better?

To provide some background the area I’d be hunting in is thick swampland

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Not at all buckshot is actually used for duck.

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Pump action and slugs?

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Sure, they've been good hunting guns for well over a hundred years. Having an immediate followup shot is great in case you miss. You could also load one barrel with buckshot and one with a slug to compensate for different ranges, an old subsistence hunting trick for people in the collapse of the USSR (other people have almost certainly done this too but I first heard about it there) was to have a slug or buckshot in one barrel and birdshot in the other, so you could shoot at whatever you came across.
    Pumps or semis are going to be easier to mount optics to and a semi would give you more capacity, but chances are that you won't get a third shot at a deer anyway, so the advantage there is debatable. A pump gun is going to be by far the cheapest, a quality double can be pretty expensive.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      is a double barrel as easy to aim with as a pump? I haven't figured out weather I'd load it with buckshot or slugs; That's a post for another day

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Just point the bead at the target and squeeze.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        with slugs you have to account for which barrel youre firing, but with birdshot it almost doesn't matter until your pattern is too thin anyway

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          you will generally hunt deer with slugs. a break action is fine but you generally want your barrel(s) in line with your sights since you're shooting a solid projectile. most hunters will just buy a cheap pump like a mossberg maverick or benelli nova. whatever you get, just make sure it's choked or can accept chokes that are fine for slugs. if you don't know what that means, you should do some reading. if you're dead set on a break action, a single barrel with appropriate choke will work, an O/U will be doable but you should study where each barrel impacts, leave the side by side for waterfowl and turkey.

          Is buckshot preferable when there's thick forest given all the trees or would slug be the best option

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            If you have a single barrel gun use slugs.
            If you are using a double-barrel which didn't cost as much as a car, use buckshot to account for the fact that the two barrels won't be perfectly aligned.

            If there's forest between you and the deer you shouldn't be shooting at it.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Don't shoot through thick brush.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Go buckshot if you’re in thick forests. Every deer I’ve killed has been with Winchester 2.75in military grade 00 buck. I even had an 18 inch barrel. The farthest shot I’ve taken is 29 yards. All of them drop like dominoes

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >is a double barrel as easy to aim with as a pump?
        Easier. They have better ergonomics period. There's no wasted space in the gun for a bolt either, so the whole gun can be shorter for the same barrel length, or you can have a longer barrel in the same size gun.

        If you have a double-barrel you will almost certainly want buckshot, unless you were rich enough to buy one which puts both barrels in the same hole (or close to it) at your shooting distance.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >Easier.
          Actually, let me correct that. It's easier if you're point shooting with the bead or using express sights. One advantage of a pump or semi is that it's easy to mount an optic, which is an advantage for shooting deer (or turkeys).

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Honestly i like it more than other guns, same with my Mauser when compared to something like an AR. They are balanced really well, even with a long barrel they point nicely and you dont really "aim" with a shotgun anyway, its more like point and shoot

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          beautiful gun anon, also nice toes

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Most side by sides will have the barrels regulated to hit in the same spot at a certain distance, not absolutely parallel to each other, and that distance is usually around the maximum effective distance of a 12 gauge slug. Theoretically if you are lobbing them in farther than that it could be off, but closer and the most it could be off is the distance from the bead to the center of the bore. An over-under won't have this 'problem'.
        They tend to be pretty light so they're (marginally) easier to carry and (marginally) easier to pull off target when you are shooting.
        Overall they are harder to shoot, but its really not enough of a difference to make a difference.

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    you will generally hunt deer with slugs. a break action is fine but you generally want your barrel(s) in line with your sights since you're shooting a solid projectile. most hunters will just buy a cheap pump like a mossberg maverick or benelli nova. whatever you get, just make sure it's choked or can accept chokes that are fine for slugs. if you don't know what that means, you should do some reading. if you're dead set on a break action, a single barrel with appropriate choke will work, an O/U will be doable but you should study where each barrel impacts, leave the side by side for waterfowl and turkey.

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    No SXS & O/U are for birds.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    They're absolutely effective for deer so long as you understand the effective range is about 100 yards tops. In "swampland" you won't have long shots anyway so that works fine. Use buckshot or slugs.
    And while I fricking love double-barrels, honestly a pump or a semi is preferable for this task. Most double barrels aren't very well regulated--the two barrels shoot to slightly different points of impact. For shooting big patterns of shot at birds or clays most people don't notice. But it is a problem when you're trying to hit a deer in in the vitals with a slug. A gun with one barrel doesn't have this problem. The double-barrel does offer a faster follow-up shot but that's not very important for durr hunting. And nice double-barrels which will make a good tight group with slugs are going to be very, very, expensive.

    As for budget, personally I would not buy a double-barrel for under $2k for an over/under or about $4-5 for a SxS unless you got lucky and found a deal. Below those prices a semi or a pump is going to be better value for money. A $500 Mossberg or Remington pump is a much more reliable gun than a $500 double-barrel.

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It'd work, buckshot/slugs work well on deer at close ranges and it sounds like you'd be swamperating so that's heavily implied. I'd be a bit concerned about there being a notable POI difference between barrels at distance using slugs with a cheaper double barrel design, but that's just a guess and might not be a real thing. Not much of a double barrel guy. Personally I'd go with a decent pump gun(can usually get a lot for your money) or quality semi auto if budget allowed, but that's just me. Such a gun would also probably have more utility if you don't have all your other bases covered gun wise, making a good defensive long gun choice for you or a loved one if necessary

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Due to the loudness of the shot and recoil you will probaby get just 1 shot to get a good hit on the animal so single is lighter and cheaper

    but 2 barrels allows you to have different ammo loaded (example slug in one and no 4 birdshot) ,

    >doubles look nice in my pinion, and is the main raisn I want one

    a double has more firepower should you have some dangerous animal attack you (it might be a factor if there are dangerous critters around , 1/2 barrels can always have the slug loaded

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Yes, but O/U instead of SxS. Better field of view, usually easier to mount optics, more comfortable forends, more robust lockup mechanisms, more models and configurations available for less money in comparable grades. Most popular type of shotgun among European hunters since IIWW.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      not to mention better recoil control. The lower barrel basically doesnt kick at all, allowing you to stay on target and quickly fire a follow up shot. Also spread pattern is in the middle unlike side by side where the spread pattern is left/right

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    You shouldn't actually shoot deer with buckshot anon, it's needlessly cruel.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      moron take

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    An inline single barrel (pump, semi) will be better for this task. You can get pretty cheap pumps with rifled barrels that will shoot sabot slugs - high cost per round but you're getting performance and accuracy in the realm of a straight-wall big bore rifle.

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