Best Live Bird Gun

I have never been to a live bird shoot. If you were to advise someone interested in the game, what gun is a great choice? Can you simply show up with your 3200?

 

Yes
If it's a 28" M/F or a 30" IM/F, or even a F/F. You would probably not do as well with a Skeet gun and open chokes.

I killed lots of birds with my 3200 Trap IM/F, then a 28" Browning Sporting Clays with chokes before I found an older 30" MX8 Trap that was choked .032/.045 When you had to stop one driving for the back fence that upper barrel did the job. As long as it shoots where you look you should be fine with your 3200.
That old Indian and the bow ain't a myth.

The shells you choose are just as important. I took a few guys to shoots and they thought their AA Trap shells would do the trick. They chose poorly.
I never shot anything that wasn't 3-1/4 drm 1-1/4 oz. 7/1/2's in both barrels. Sometimes 8's in the first. On cold or windy days, or when the ring was set up to be extra tough, the second barrel was Federal's P-154's. , 3-3/4 drm. 1-1/4 oz. 7-1/2's. Caution: If you shoot the big ones in both barrels, they will knock the snot out of you, and you will have a tendency to start to flinch knowing what's coming. Trust me on this one.

The hardest part about pigeons now is where to find a place that still shoots them.

 

I am making new live bird traps and a truly random controller operated with a wireless key fob. Everything you need to have a live bird shoot.

Bruce Bowen
Sturgis South Dakota bbgunssturgis@gmail.com

 

If money is no object you could purchase a Fabbri live bird gun. They only make a few dozen a year and you could be put on the waiting list.I-had a friend that used to run live bird shoots in Illinois on the old Armour estate near Chicago and he owned a Fabbri.
The other Fabbri owner in Illinois was a person that owned a cooperage company and shot live birds all thru Europe.
I was lucky enough to shoot both of these gentlemen’s guns. Most of the pigeons were shot with Federal 1 1/4 oz nickel plated shot.Sometimes you could see the shot go right thru the pigeons. Big money changes hands at these shoots.

 

Maybe this was the same person who ran the Chesterton shoot? I recall seeing a Fabbri or two there. It's the only time I have had the opportunity to hold a gun that was worth more than 75k...and that was 20 years ago

 

Dennis DeVault happened to be looking @ Homer Clark's gun in the Hall of Fame Museum, & he was chatting with Homer about his gun. Homer said his gun was built using a 10 ga receiver & fitted with 12 ga barrels. He had the barrels cut to the length he wanted9 for balance) and then had the gun choked for his shooting style. It worked he won the World Live Bird Championship twice

 

Probably your best bet would be your doubles gun. Learning a new gun in the pigeon ring is not a good idea.

 

The Des Plaines Wildlife and Conservation Area in Illinois was the last place in that had live pigeon shoots. It was located right off of Interstate I-55 and the Kankakee River. I am not sure about this but I think the gentleman who ran the shoots went to jail for income tax evasion.Years ago I would trap some pigeons at the shopping centers and take them to the sportsman club and have the trap boy throw them out of the trap house just for my friends.

 

Any durable doubles gun that shoots where you look and has some heft to it for shooting Rhino Rollers will do.

Flyer shoots remain alive and well in the commonwealth of Pennsyltucky.

Evil Roy Slade, bird assassin.