I fell in love with side by sides about 20 years ago. Maybe it was all those extra miles I frequently had to cover, racing to the top of one ridge, then another, searching for a white speck in a vast and undulating Montana landscape. Such was my lot having an exceedingly wide-ranging pointer named Jimmy, who was spectacular at finding Huns and sharptails, but would often and for no apparent reason decide they might be at least a half mile away. On those occasions I was enormously grateful for my side by side’s lightness in hand versus lugging around a seven-plus-pound over/under.
In truth, buying one had everything to do with wanting another special-purpose gun. Just as a semi-auto excels for waterfowling and a modestly heavy, smooth-swinging over/under is ideally suited for target shooting, if there’s a shotgun perfect for upland birds, it’s the side by side. Slender and elegant, a well-made, straight-stocked (no pistol grip) side by side is beautifully balanced, lightweight and lively handling without being whippy—perfect for acquiring targets following explosive flushes and for easy carrying during the miles in between. Just as important, after shooting over/unders and single-barreled shotguns my whole life, I wanted to experience the traditional feel and aesthetics of a side by side.
My Spanish 16 gauge fit the bill perfectly, which is not to say it didn’t take some serious getting used to. Not only did sighting over two barrels versus a single one present a real psychological hurdle, gripping the straight stock and narrow forend felt completely unnatural. Combined with the gun’s greater responsiveness, my gun mounting and swing were disturbingly erratic until I figured it out.
My biggest problem with my side by, though, continues to be remembering to use the second trigger for follow-up shots. While dual triggers are considered an advantage for being able to select one barrel over another depending on how far a target is—for example, selecting the barrel with a modified choke versus the one with improved cylinder—it becomes more problematic when you cycle between a semi-auto for waterfowl and then back to the double trigger. If there’s one thing I wish I could change about my upland shotgun, that would be it.
Recently I got my hands on an Iside Prestige Deluxe side by side, produced by Italian gun manufacturer Fabbrica Armi Isidoro Rizzini (F.A.I.R.). This sleek, beautifully made 28 gauge has a single mechanical trigger that avoids the whole double-trigger confusion, and sad to say, is lighter (5 pounds, 3 ounces weighed) and more responsive than mine, proving once again that even among quality makers, not all shotguns are equal. I’ll be using the Iside to illustrate how to master shooting a side by side.
Establishing a Consistent and Comfortable Grip
With a straight stock, the wrist of your trigger hand will necessarily cock forward to grip the stock firmly. You might find that raising your elbow higher during gun mounting, so your arm is more perpendicular to your body, will feel more natural and hence comfortable. A single trigger makes establishing where you grip the stock easier than navigating a double-trigger setup, but without a pistol grip to anchor your hand, you’ll find that where your finger naturally contacts the trigger will establish where to grip the stock’s wrist.
The bigger challenge is where to place your lead hand, since compared to an over/under or semi-auto, a side by side’s forend is too small to grip. Cradling the barrels between your fingers and thumb, with the forward portion of the forend contacting the rear of your palm is a good place to start. You don’t want your thumb and fingers to extend too far up the side of the barrels, as they’ll encroach on your sight picture and become a huge distraction. Moving your hand farther forward will tilt your thumb in line with the top of your wrist, giving you a more positive grip and making it easier to align your fingers lower along the side of the barrels.
Placing your lead hand farther forward also gives you more muzzle control. With most side by sides being lighter and more dynamic handling than your typical over/under, straightening your lead arm will smooth out your swing and steady your mount for more accurate target acquisition. I find extending my forefinger and placing it in between the underneath side of the barrels improves my gun’s pointability and helps keep the rest of my fingers tucked away from the sight plane.
Stock Fit for Consistent Gun Mounting
Having a properly fitting stock is important for any shotgun, but in particular side by sides. A stock that’s too short, like what most Americans over 5’10” are used to, will make consistent gun mounting almost impossible. One of the pleasing features of the Iside Prestige is its generous 14.5-inch length of pull (compared to 13.5 inches on most American-made shotguns). Having the proper cast is also more critical, because if your dominant eye isn’t directly over the rib in between the two horizontal barrels, you’ll never hit where you think you’re pointing.
Develop A Deliberate Mount
It’s somewhat of a contradiction, but even on fast-flushing birds going away from you, a slower and more deliberate gun mount will help you acquire targets faster and more accurately than rushing the shot. That holds true for any shotgun, but with a lightweight side by side’s more dynamic handling, it’s essential. Two steps will help you master your mount.
First, you’ll want to economize your movements; the more efficiently you mount the shotgun, the more consistent and accurate you’ll be. Start by tucking the butt end of the stock snugly under your armpit, with the muzzle level with the anticipated flight path of the target. Holding your stock any lower or away from your body will lead to a jerky mount and a corresponding bouncing muzzle.
Gun mounting is as simple as sliding the gun forward and up, keeping the butt in constant contact with your body. If your gun has a slick butt plate like the attractive wooden butt plate on Iside Prestige, sliding it to your shoulder is a breeze. If it came with a non-slip rubber butt pad, consider replacing it with something slicker or covering the upper inch plus with electrician’s tape.
Second, with your gun unloaded, practice mounting your shotgun using where the wall and ceiling of a room meet as your imaginary target’s flight path. Experiment with where and how you grip the forend and barrels, and you’ll soon discover what works best for you. Repeating this exercise will reinforce muscle memory and make consistent mounting and proper sighting automatic.
Also learn how to mount your gun without boxing your swing. (Boxing describes bringing the muzzle straight up, and then swinging it 90 degrees to the target, like you’re tracing the outline of a box.) Moving the muzzle laterally, while bringing the gun up to your face so that the muzzle moves in a straight line, will ensure a smooth swing.
That Double-Barrel Sighting Plane Issue
If there’s one tricky issue to learning to shoot a side by side, it’s the broad sighting plane caused by two horizontally attached barrels. There’s a reason target shooters use over/unders and semi-autos: the narrow sight plane directs the eyes more easily to the target, with less distraction, and allows a better view of the area around it for establishing lead. With crossing shots and the more distant the target, side by sides tend to blot out that view, although the smaller the gauge, the less the impact.
Obviously, practice is the only way to overcome this obstacle, and focusing more intently on the target will negate some of the distraction of the broader sighting plane. So will perfecting the mechanics of moving your gun’s muzzle up to a bird’s flight path and ahead of it as you bring the stock to your face. By the time your gun is mounted you should be pulling the trigger. If there’s one thing you don’t want to do with a side by side, it’s riding a target.
My experience on explosive flushing birds like Hungarian partridge and ruffed grouse is that for closer shots where blotting out the bird establishes the correct lead, there’s nothing like a side by side for fast target acquisition. Farther out, although I usually hit more than I miss, the sight picture still leaves me a bit uneasy. Guess I should go to the shooting range more often myself.
Recoil Management
One final suggestion to make your transition to side by sides easier: use lighter loads, even for hunting. Lighter guns produce more felt recoil, so don’t punish yourself. Fact is, you don’t need stout loads to kill upland birds, as European driven-pheasant shooters have proven for decades. Shot size is far more of a factor for tougher gamebirds. Whereas 16-gauge shotshell loads are a bit more limited, there are lots of low-recoil options available in 20 and 12 gauges. And if you go with a 28 gauge, as with this Iside Prestige Deluxe, the recoil of most game loads is so light that you’ll find yourself naturally connecting with more birds.