Luigi Franchi side-by-side shotgun

Legendary US author Bob Ruark always maintained that the shotgun is the more noble among firearms. If this be true, then surely the side-by side-must be royalty.

There is something about owning a good side-by-side shotgun that conjures up all sorts of feelings when you take one into the field. Over the years, my shotgun hunting has been mainly foxes and rabbits, although there was a bit of duck hunting here and there, and an early excursion with a Winchester Model 12 pump chasing pigs in thick lignum.

But there is something about the way a good side-by-side swings up to the shoulder that adds just that little bit extra to walking around the paddock.

It had been a good many years since a side-by-side had graced my safe. But then a casual enquiry to my local gun store changed things a bit. They had a nice Luigi Franchi 12-guage sitting in its original box. The original paperwork was still there as well, proclaiming the gun to have been built back in 1955.

The chequering on the pistol grip and splinter fore-end is of the flat top style, popular with many old English firearms, and said to be easier to keep clear of field dirt. And the pistol grip itself features a Prince of Wales rounded grip. The engraving on the boxlock looked to have been done by hand too. Laser engraving hadn’t started in 1955.

Lifting it out of the box, I first noticed the bluing on the barrels was pristine, likewise the bore. Fitting the barrels to the boxlock I noticed that everything was as tight as the day it had been made. Brad Baker, of Pro Hunt in Lismore, assured me that the gun had been hardly fired. Indeed, the only thing that looked its age was the recoil pad, that had perished.

I bought the gun there and then, adding it to the two under and overs already in the safe. A lot of shotgun clubs have a comp for side-by-sides, and while nostalgia obviously plays a part, there are plenty of shotgun owners who have a great interest in the older design.

Unfortunately, in Australia there is not a huge amount of wing shooting. Mainly ducks and some quail. I was reminded of this when a small covey of stubble quail emerged around the side of my house.

Wing shooting has traditionally been the province of the side-by-side, and as we have very limited access to it, unlike Europe, the US and South Africa, we just get on with what we do have. Although, up in the Top End, magpie geese can be shot in season.

But rabbit shooting by just walking them up is great fun, and shooting a pest species is a bonus. Fox shooting is also great for the same reasons, apart from the fact that you can eat the rabbit, and have a competition around the table as to who can find the most pellets.

Using a side-by-side shotgun is not the same as using an under over. The aiming is different for a start, and as the side-by-side is usually a lot lighter than the UO gun, it’s not ideal for long sessions at something like down the line clay shooting.

However, one of the shotgun events that keeps getting bigger is Sporting Clays. In this you are shooting a simulated field shoot and the clays can come from any direction. So you need a lighter gun you can easily carry from station to station and that swings and points well.

The Franchi is light and has what is known as a splinter fore-end, which means there isn’t much of it. So, if you intend shooting a lot with it the hand under that fore-end may need a glove, because contact with the hot barrel is almost inevitable.

The other thing is that the Franchi is a double-trigger design, which is ideal in a hunting shotgun. Most clay target guns use the inertia from recoil to activate the second barrel. Likewise, the safety is automatic on opening, so you have to remember to manually select fire.

While I can’t claim to be a total expert on the side-by-side, I still believe the design has a future. Perhaps that could be due to nostalgia, who knows. But it’s an undeniable fact that as you bring one up to your shoulder, you get to experience the real basics of shotgun shooting. For better or worse.