Double-barreled shotgun
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 2021-12-11

Double-barreled shotgun, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=7975 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Break-action_shotguns
#Double-barreled_shotguns
#Multiple-barrel_firearms
A view of the break-action of a typical side-by-side double-barreled shotgun, with the Anson & Deeley boxlock action open and the extractor visible.
The lever and the safety catch can also be clearly seen.
A view of the break-action of a typical over/under （"over and under", O/U） double-barreled shotgun, with action open and the ejectors visible.
A double-barreled shotgun is a break-action shotgun with two parallel barrels, allowing two single shots to be fired in quick succession.
Modern double-barreled shotguns, often known as doubles, are almost universally break action, with the barrels hinge down at the rear to expose the breech ends for unloading and reloading.
Since there is no reciprocating action needed to eject and reload the shells, doubles are more compact than repeating designs such as pump action, lever-action or self-loading shotguns.
Double-barreled shotguns come in two basic configurations: The original double-barreled guns were nearly all S×S designs, which was a more practical design for muzzleloaders.
Early cartridge-firing shotguns also used the S×S action, because they kept the exposed hammers of the earlier muzzleloading shotguns from which they evolved.
When hammerless designs started to become common, the O/U design was introduced, and most modern sporting doubles are O/U designs.
One significant advantage that doubles have over single-barrel repeating shotguns is the ability to have more than one choke at a time.
Some shotgun shooting sports, such as skeet shooting, use crossing targets presented in a narrow range of distance, and only require one level of choke.
Other sports, like sporting clays, give the shooter targets at differing ranges, and targets that might approach or recede from the shooter, and so must be engaged at differing ranges.
Having two barrels lets the s...