[sera russell]

I've been to South America for high volume doves 3 times and once for ducks/perdiz.I just ordered and rec'd a Perazzi MX 8/20 w/ a spare set of 28g barrels for my next trips down there.You don't need more than a 28g though on occasion you may need to use a 20g b/c of problems in getting shells for the 28g.Most outfitters have them, so it should never be too much of a problem.

In the past I shot a 12g SxS and a 20g O/U.The new gun has 31 1/2" barrels and weighs 7 lbs.I have yet to shoot it at birds but it has been a dream at sporting clays.

The birds are so numerous that it is unlike anything I have ever seen.It is not unusual to shoot 400 birds in 2 hrs.If you had a loader, and an extra gun you could shoot more.They are a devastating crop predator to the farmers.PLUS like doves in the USA, they never fly in a straight line and are hard to hit.

 

[Ulysses]

DesertRat, I agree with you. Shooting 4 shells per minute for 10 solid hours doesn't sound like any fun to me. It sounds more like a human torture test. I probably wouldn't be able to hold my arms up, much less swing a shotgun after the first couple of hours. I would probably just shoot a couple hundred rounds in the morning and another couple hundred in the afternoon and call it a day.

This reminds me of when I used to hunt groundhogs. A typical day for me would be to kill 3 to 5 groundhogs. One time, I killed 10 groundhogs and still had a couple of hours of daylight left. I just put my rifle back in the case, got a cold brew out of the cooler, and called it quits for the day. That was all the enjoyment I needed for one day. Perhaps I'm just too easily satisfied.

 

[BuckshotBob]

I've read about those S. American Dove hunts, and A5s are reported to do a good job and are one a the prefered guns for the trip. If ya didn't have a Auto it'd be hard to burn up 2000 rounds in a day. I think i'd like the trip. It might just be the passing shot practice i need...

 

[javven]

I couldn't really care less for the south america thing. I mean, all I see is birds left afield. Some winged, some crippled. What a friggin waste.

If you want practice go shoot sporting clays. Support your local range, not thrid-world nations that don't care what happens to their game populations.

Sure, Argentina probably never will run out of doves. Too much good environment for them... for now.

 

[john wall]

duh, how about an old country boy's idea. ask the outfitter what guns they recommend? a friend of mine asked his outfitter for advice and the argentine oufitter suggested 20 ga. beretta 391's. i would probably take my k-32 'cause i only shoot krieghoffs. i have shot many trap marathons and all i can say is to start going to the gym and get your behind in shape!

 

[A5Mag12]

As many have said, the A-5. If it's kicking too hard, you don't have the rings set right or you have over lubed it.

 

[john wall]

i used to perform warranty service on brownings. the auto-5 will, indeed operate when the average gaspipe won't. it will digest crappy ammo, usually without fail. when they are set up right, recoil is not excessive. they may be the MOST reliable auto ever made. the first world sporting clays championship was won with the auto-5. unfortunately, since browning discontinued the gun, prices have skyrocketed. even an average jap auto-5 costs close to a grand where i live. a pristine belgian gun is Very rare and expensive. i, for one would take my 1958 light 20 in the field before any other auto.(bought new in 1958, first year production, pristine, less than 2 flats shot through it, two barrel set).

 

[Jim H]

hey sorry i don't have a answer for ya but i do have a question for you if you got the time. 1,500 - 2,500 shells a day? is that per person? how many doves do you end up with after that many shots(i hope more than just a few)? i ask this because i've heard others talk about dove hunting in south america but i had no idea you would see that kind of action. i am a novice to dove hunting so forgive my ignorance.

 

[pigeonhunter]

Either a Beretta or a Benelli.

 

[mapanggulo]

1500-2500 Rds...lets see thats roughly between $175-250 dollars if you buy in bulk (maybe less), damn. Would be fun though...but I'd have get in better shape before attempting that. Thats alot of bird to eat too.

 

[Dr Strangelove]

The two guns I'd take down their are my Benelli M1 Field 20ga and Browning A-5 Belgian 20ga. If you have a loader at your disposal, it's his fingers, not yours. If you don't, then yes, a double gun makes alot of sense. It's just that, minus the plug, each gun will hold around five rounds each which is very nice, even more if I got a magazine extension. I'd need two barrel snakes, 4 cans of Gunscrub and 2 cans of RemOil.

 

[tkharris]

I started this thread a while ago and forgot about it but I am planning on returning to Argentina and was searching for info on it here when I re-discovered it.

For those who are interested I shot 198 boxes of shells over 4 days and my percentage was around 65%. High afternoon was somewhere north of 600 birds (low was 150 - a bad spot), average was 400 or so a shoot with 2 shoots a day. I took a Beretta 391 20 Gauge and an old Model 50 20 Gauge I had sitting in the safe. The Beretta was great. I cleaned it at lunch and in the evenings and it kept chugging along. I probably could have cleaned it once a day and it would have been fine but I am anal retentive about firearms. The Winchester worked well but the action slowed noticeably after a few hundred rounds each shoot and I decided to put it away after the 5th shoot.

The wear and tear from loading the automatics was ameliorated by wearing golf gloves with surgical tape placed strategically on my thumb and in other high wear areas. I also wore a past pad, although that was probably not necessary with the 20's.

As for those who commented that it sounds like torture I can only say it was, simply put, the most fun I have ever had in my life. Those who comment that birds are wasted are partially correct. Some birds do go to waste but many others were collected by packs of 5-10 year olds busy stuffing empty feed bags full. The Eared Dove is viewed by Argentines as a devestating pest on par with the locust. They swarm in great clouds and cost the farmers huge sums of money and they breed 4 times a year. So, I am not overly concerned with the tiny dent I made in their population.

If any of you ever get the chance to go, don't pass it up. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Oldgunner]

Last year, out of 12 guns on the hunt, only two Benellis survived the shooting each day unscathed. BOTH were Beniellis -- my Beretta didn't make it either, though the volume of shooting we did there would be many years worth of hunting herein Texas (including occasional trips to Mexico).

Next time, I'll take my Benelli 20 Ga. You really don't need a 12 and my entire torso was bruised and the skin peeling off. It was unbelievable how hard that is on gun and shooter. That said, it was the greatest shooting of my life.

An O/U or SxS would be great as well.

 

[JoeCool]

Phil Harris would have used a Model 12 28 gauge pump. He would
also have hit over 90% of his targets. I would use a Remington
wingmaster 20 ga. I would hit one occasionally.

 

[Rem1148]

A-5s have a near 100 year track record of performing well with hunters. This weekend im cleaning up a sweet 16 for my grandpa, im sure someday, in the distant future, ill probably have that gun as im the only serious shooter in the family. but ill wait...in fact id rather have the winchester 62 pump .22 he has...its rusty and not in great shape but its a hell of a gun!

 

[A5guy]

I usually shoot 3 to 5 thousand shells on a trip down south. my guns are both 20ga. One Browning Superposed and a Perazzi MX8. Never failed me.

The Super has probably made 20 trips and has never been to a gunsmith.

 

[ShootingStar]

id rather have the winchester 62 pump .22 he has...

They are cool, aren't they? I was about 10 years old and went to a gun show with my dad/gunsmith. I saw a 62 there and told dad that I'd REALLY like one of those. I figgered he just ignored me and wrote it off. Almost a year later he presented me with a 62 that he'd picked up and restored, even rebarreled and restocked it, and fitted a beautiful blued, curved butt plate. (I still get misty eyed 42 years later.) :mrgreen:

"Best high volume shotgun"? Krieghoff/K-80 (IMHO), but it's certainly not the only one.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

IMHO, the softest shooting shotguns are the Browning Golds and the Beretta 391s. I'd give the 391 the advantage for reliability but I put 13,000 rounds through a Browning Gold 1 season and it ran fine for me. A few friends who shot about double what I do had some issues with broken firing pins and other small issues.

I've put about the same number of shells through a 391 in a shorter period of time and it never had an issue.

I clean these guns with a scotchbrite pad to remove the carbon on the magazine tube then lightly oil it. Then wipe off all excess oil and just leave the slightest coating.

I know if I was headed off to Argentina that's what I'd be taking.

Now, if you want a 1,000,000 round shotgun I'd say Krieghoff or Perazzi.

 

[joelm]

Too many rounds per day for most gas pipes. I would use a Cordoba. If you don't need an auto then a Beretta O/U would be the weapon of choice.

 

[Clayslayer]

For an auto I'd go with the Benelli, either the M2, super black hawk, or super sport. I really like the recoil operated semis. The Browning A5 would work very well too.

For a two holer, any of them will work good. Beretta, Browning, K guns, P guns, B guns... you name it. They'll all work good.