Hi,
How much money do you want to spend and what kind and volume of shooting do you want to do with it?
SxS's fall into two types with no in-between. Really expensive and really cheap. And this is because there tends to be a lot of hand work and fitting that goes into making them. You can't simply bash out parts with a punch press like you can for an 870 or 500. The more you spend, the more handwork is done by better trained and experienced workers using better materials to make sure it's done right. Cheaper guns use cheaper materials and cheaper, less trained workers for a crap-shoot quality.
On the stupid expensive side we have Be-Spoke guns made to order which can run from x0,000's to x000,000's. They are usable pieces of art.
Then we have the used market of collectible SxS's. That L.C. Smith that H2OCutter mentions is very much a collectible and will cost at least several thousand for a shooter. The last Elsie I considered buying was a basket case repairable. The price was still $500. I was admiring some Browning BSS just yesterday. The cheapest was over $4000. NID's are perhaps the cheapest of the collectibles, running right around $1000 to $2500 for good shooters. It would be neglectful not to mention Stevens here too. The 311 was the "workingman's" SxS for over 50 years. They are cheap and common to find even yet today. Though there is some interest in collecting developing. Good used ones can be still found for under $500. But many have been used hard and put up wet. And they seldom exhibit the nicest fit and finish or handling characteristics. My very first new shotgun was a Steven's 311 in 16ga. Bought new from Montgomery-Wards for $120. It's long since gone and I frankly don't miss it.
On the cheap side, we have the already mentioned Stoegers, (now owned by Benelli). I have own and used several of them, (12ga. 28" tubes and 3" chambers). Mostly as beaters and loaners. They were reasonable guns for the just under $300 I paid for them. One developed a problem with the safety coming on under recoil, (this is a known common problem with these guns, it is repairable though). I traded it off for a Stoeger Condor 1 O/U. The remaining SxS is still being used without trouble by the guy I sold it to. The Stoeger line is made in Brazil by E.R Amantino. My biggest dislike of the Steogers is weight. An 8lbs. gun is not fun to carry all day in the field hunting. And a gun that heavy is not quick enough handling for shooting over flushing dogs in heavy cover.
Remington markets the Baikal under the Sportsman name. The Baikals were marketed for a time under their own name until Remington licensed them to sell. As with most anything Russian, they have a reputation for combining reasonable ruggedness with ugly. I have not owned one but have handled many and have shot a few. Like the Stoegers, they are definitely over weight and have all the handling characteristics of a cedar fence post. And as a deal killer for me as a left-handed shooter, the stocks are factory bent with about a 1/4" of cast-off for right handed shooters, (lefty's need cast-on). This is a common thing on guns made primarily for the European markets.
The last cheapie I'll mention is the CZ line. They are made in Turkey by Huglu. Which is actually a kind of consortium of factories. Of the cheapies they are perhaps the nicest made. Sporting svelte lines and lighter weight like a proper game-gun should. They are also stocked in some of the nicest Turkish Walnut you might happen to see. Mechanically, they can have problems with broken firing pins. This is due to some inconsistency in the heat treating. With some being too hard and others too soft. There are also reports of doubling problems. But CZ so far has been good about replacing or repairing them. I think Briley's does the repair work on them in the US. I would love to own a Bobwhite model in 20ga. They are dual triggered with the straight English grip. But they are made with a varying amount of cast-off for right handed shooters.:grumpy:
This is getting to be waaay to long. So I'll end it here. But these are a short list of some common SxS's and my observations of them.
dalee
