John Dickson 16 Bore SXSXS

[winnie_the_pooh]

I guess I have been using my index finger without realizing I had other options . Using your middle finger sounds a bit rude

[Grumpy]

The use of two fingers on a double trigger gun is not just poor practice according to me but poor practice according to every authority on the subject and every coach - and the reasons are obvious : Using two fingers runs the risk of firing the second barrel during recoil. A further point is that fine control is lost using two fingers as the middle finger is not correctly located to pull the rear trigger with the result that fine control of the index finger is reduced and the gun is pulled down.
Whether you shoot or not is irrelevant to me but you are welcome to shoot as badly as your advocated technique will undoubtedly allow but my concern is that you are promoting the use of an incorrect and extremely poor practice that others might follow with the result that their shooting will also suffer.
I`m glad that you welcome my decision not to promote a medical debate .... especially after you spent several paragraphs in presenting an incomplete and therefore pseudo-science BS lecture on the function and control of the fingers/finger joints.

[mundaire]

Anyone who uses more than one finger on a double (or triple) trigger set up, may get away with it on occasion - BUT - put the same fellow in the field and I can assure you that you would not want to be the chap standing next to him when he lets off... try it!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Grumpy]

Yup .... it`s right up there alongside the old bloke climbing over a fence with a loaded, unbroken shotgun ......

[Vikram]

Ramandeep,

One cannot stop you from doing what you would like to do. But, that can be cured pretty fast if you were to try a 12 bore 3" goose loads or a 10 bore or a bigger double rifle calibre in a double trigger set-up.

Best-
Vikram

[Grumpy]

It`s OK ..... let the guy rip his finger off or shoot someone else.

[Sakobav]

Yup .... it`s right up there alongside the old bloke climbing over a fence with a loaded, unbroken shotgun ......

Or traveling in a car with loaded gun a common practice back home

Cheers

[TwoRivers]

Or pulling a loaded Winchester M97 from the back seat by the barrel. Have an acquaintance who hates Winchester M97s because his (late) best hunting buddy did just that. Some folks just can't be helped. Makes you wonder how many people there are who think that two triggers calls for two fingers in the trigger guard ?

[timmy]

Ramandeep, I am sorry, but I must strongly side with Grumpy, Abhijeet, et al on this point. You clearly have a strong understanding of the human anatomy as it relates to the hand, but the issue here is how the hand relates to the gun.

First of all, the cardinal rule of all shooting is to never put your finger on the trigger of any gun, unless you intend to shoot it. In keeping with this first of all gun safety commandments, the only time one would use two fingers on a double with two triggers would be if one intends to shoot both barrels simultaneously. On this point, I find your position to be a serious gun safety error.

Second of all, as Vikram quite correctly points out, when the forward barrel is touched off using your method of two fingers, it is all too easy for the events surrounding recoil to touch off the second barrel, as well. The danger factor of this, no matter how skilled or practiced a person might be, is too great for usch a technique as you propose to be tolerated on any range. Were I sharing a firing line with a person using this method, I would report that person to the range officer immediately and, if that person was not commanded to desist, I would pack my bag and leave. I would not share a range with a person doing this, in other words.

The science of shooting is related to the science of what the human body is able to do, but for safety reasons, it is even more related to what the human body could possibly do. Gun safety is structured with both of these things in mind.

[Ramandeep]

I got the point fellas. I think I have to quote myself again the exact same lines which I have quoted earlier in this discussion forum, "I would like to mention that I totally agree that index finger gives more control definitely neither I use my middle finger for the job". This discussion forum has made me feel that the only way I do shooting is with two fingers.

What I intended to say is I think largely missed by everyone and the main pivotal point of analysis of the whole topic is concentrated only with two fingers. What i intended by the extensive write up(which according to Grumpy is BS[none taken]) on the the use of two fingers over one on double triggers was the physical natural edge of the movements but did i say to apply theory in shooting especially at range. That has been the common consensus of everyone in this discussion forum that I am advocating this type of shooting style for the range. Now this whole discussion started in this topic which featured a tripple barreled SXSXS shotgun now one thing I feel that a psyche of a person 122 years before from now would be different regarding guns and shooting to understand more one must try to understand why would someone want a gun like this largely i can see two aspects of it firstly and far more obvious is to stand out and secondly what i believe is the edge of one extra ammo over any other shotgun and why that edge I think probably the more suitable answer would be for hunting instead of firing two rounds and reloading may be just for one round would save the trouble. Since already mentioned earlier this was made for a wealthy man and like most wealthy men of that era the more prevalent shooting sport would be hunting only. I had once visited Jivaji Rao Scindia Museum at Gwalior(M.P.) over there i saw an interesting gun with barrel i guess around 12-15 ft in length which mounted on top of a boat and was specially designed for The Maharaja for duck shooting the guide at the museum told an interesting fact about the hunting style of The Maharaja that when he use to hunt with his shotgun he fired two rounds and throw the gun towards his orderly for reloading and the another orderly behind him hands over another shotgun loaded to him for fire and within few mins he use to fire more than dozens of shotguns, if he is shooting so fast I really don't think he doing with one finger. We have to understand the time these guns came out i guess sports was the last thing that must have been intended. As around 30 years and prior hunting was prevalent in most part of the world and when you are using a shotgun for hunting how long would you expect to hold the second round once you've fired the first on your prey I guess sometimes the required second shot must be in milliseconds. The shooting style in hunting is definitely different than shooting at the range this largely explains that why do modern O/U have single trigger because the shooting style is different at the range you know what to shoot and can even judge when to shoot whereas in hunting unpredictability is a dominant factor and one really doesn't have beforehand knowledge of the right time to shoot.

I would further add that I myself would always advocate safe shooting practice as I know the dangers that come along with the guns. This was a theory which I understood looking at a gun of the era a probable shooting style definitely not to be adopted for the range.

And lastly unless I belong to the Yakuza clan won't rip my fingers.


Raman

[Grumpy]

Navi, your comment re travelling in car with a loaded gun reminds me of how an Italian guy that I used to shoot with had his brother come over from Italy to do some shooting. They were moving from one location to another on a local farm so the brother decided to sit in the open back of the 4x4 ( with the tailgate up obviously.) Unfortunately he decided to travel with his loaded gun in his hand with the safety off and his finger on the trigger........ One bump and he shot himself in the leg at point-blank range which resulted in his leg being amputated below the knee.

[Safarigent]

The danger of a simultaneous discharge is as serious in the field as on the range. Double discharges can happen in a single trigger gun too, iirc.
Even when a follow up second shot is required, one would use one finger. I would imagine guns are not proofed to handle double discharges...

[Grumpy]

Absolute rubbish Ramandeep. Double trigger guns have been shot using the index finger only since they were first created. We know this because shooting has been written about throughout it`s history - and the amount of sporting prose written around the time this three barrel gun was built is phenomenal.
When the technique has been acquired it is just about as fast to shoot a double trigger gun as it is to shoot a single trigger gun - with the use of the index finger only..... and depending on the single trigger mechanism, a double trigger can actually be faster.
The sporting guns of the later Victorian an Edwardian eras were phenomenal shots and the amount of game they shot - and the frequency with which they shot - was astonishing. Single triggers on double guns were available from around the time that this Dickson three-barrel gun was built but their take-up was minimal. To this day, The vast majority of British SxS guns are built with double triggers. The reasons for this are reliability, safety and because there is little or no speed advantage with a single trigger.
The reason for the commissioning of this gun was odds-on that the owner wanted to see if there was a advantage with a three barrel gun compared to a two-barrel gun in the number of birds he could take from a single drive. The fact that only one was built rather suggests there was not. The really interesting thing about this gun is how an inelegant a design this gun is .... even more extraordinary because it was built by John Dickson whose round action trigger plate guns are amongst the best handling - and most elegant - guns ever created. This is not the only three-barrel gun ever built but it is the only one I know of that had the three barrels side by side. Bonhams recently auctioned a three barrel hammer gun with the barrels in two SxS , one below form, Edwinson Green built a hammerless three barrel gun with the barrels in the same `triangular` format which was adopted and exhibited by Purdey and various continental makers ( principally German ) built three barrel shotguns as a variation on the drilling form. There is at least one three barrel gun in current production and Abbiatico & Salvinelli make their four barrel `Rombo` gun which has the barrels in `diamond` format - one, two, one.

[Vikram]

This is not the only three-barrel gun ever built but it is the only one I know of that had the three barrels side by side. Bonhams recently auctioned a three barrel hammer gun with the barrels in two SxS , one below form, Edwinson Green built a hammerless three barrel gun with the barrels in the same `triangular` format which was adopted and exhibited by Purdey and various continental makers ( principally German ) built three barrel shotguns as a variation on the drilling form. There is at least one three barrel gun in current production and Abbiatico & Salvinelli make their four barrel `Rombo` gun which has the barrels in `diamond` format - one, two, one.

http://www.chiappafirearms.com/products/135

TRIPLE CROWN, Triple barrel shotgun

12 gauge shotgun, with "Rem-choke" an all three 28" barrels. Capacity: 3x3" Magnum

Best-
Vikram

[timmy]

What? No selective ejectors?