Combination Gun - Calibers/gauges

Calibers/gauges

Few modern American makers make high quality combination guns for the retail market; most are simple, spartan models designed as survival guns or youth models. Drillings are even rarer, and are almost invariably custom made to order. If ordering a custom model, the layout and gauge/caliber choices are up to the customer, so it is difficult to make generalizations about them. The used market shows some strong preferences, however; the side-by-side shotguns with single rifle barrel is the most common type, and therefore the least expensive. The single shotgun barrel with different caliber rifle barrels is the most desirable, and will bring double the price, even more if one of the rifle barrels is .22 Long Rifle.

Since these guns tend to be break-open designs, they work best when chambered in rimmed cartridges. Rimmed case rounds like the .22 Hornet, .30-30 Winchester, 7×65mmR, 8×57mm IR(S) and 9.3×72mmR are all common choices, with 7×57mmR and 8×57mm IR(S) being the most common, as well as the heavier 9.3×74mmR, a round used commonly in Africa by European hunters. Gauges tend to be large, 16 or 12 being most common. Since drillings and vierlings are primarily European, American calibers are rarer and, at least in the American market, more desirable and expensive. Twenty-gauge drillings and vierlings also command a premium due to the relative rarity compared to the larger gauges. Many pre–World War II European guns are chambered for 65mm or 29⁄16" shotgun shells.

Combination guns show a fairly wide range of calibers and gauges; Savage Arms, for example, made models from .22 LR over .410 bore shotgun up to .30-30 Winchester over 3" 12 gauge magnum (the Savage Model 24). The Springfield Armory survival guns are typically .22 long rifle or .22 Hornet over .410 bore.

It is not uncommon to find combination guns paired with sub-caliber inserts for the shotgun barrels. These inserts, usually 9 to 11 inches long, slip inside the shotgun barrel(s) and chamber rimfire cartridges such as the .22 LR or .22 Magnum. These further increase the flexibility of the guns, and will add considerably to the value.