I have a thing for SKB shotguns and this is a model 685 in 20 ga. It has 26 inch barrels and comes with the standard selection of choke tubes. I run it with a skeet tube on the bottom barrel and improved cylinder on top. I love the barrel selector position. It is located near the trigger and fires the bottom barrel when pushed to the right and the top barrel when pushed to the left. It is totally separate from the tang safety. I have owned several o/u guns with the selector incorporated in the safety and occasionally pushed the safety forward while the selector was in the middle. OOPS! No shot.
This gun weighs in a 6lbs. 10 oz. and is nicely balanced. The off the shelf stock dimensions fit me well and I've run a few clean rounds of skeet with it. No excuses for missing a grouse now.
There is one feature I do not care for. I carry my S x S and O/U in the open position most of the time. Either in my hand or resting on my left forearm. When this gun is open, the locking lug protrudes out the left side of the gun. {see pic above}. The lug pokes into my palm when carried in my left hand and rubs against my leg when carried in my right hand. When I carry the gun cradled in the bend of my left arm, the lug hits me in the ribs. If I carried the gun closed, it would be no problem.
I have the 20 in the rig all season long, but it mostly serves as a loan out gun for folks that show up with guns more suited to a duck blind than the grouse woods. My favorite Grouse buster is an SKB SxS and that's another blog.....
DWT
Nice gun but that lug would bother me too.
ReplyDeleteI've got two, in both twelve and twenty..
ReplyDeleteThe locking bolt does protrude, but I put up with it because of the strong lockup it provides..
I think my Filson vest is a bit worn through where it rides, but that adds character.. Right?
Great little shotgun!
I like the O/U too and shoot it well. I know what you mean about the vest and character. Karen washed my old coat several years ago and I had to throw some mud on it and put some feathers and pine needles in the pockets to make it feel right again. DWT
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