most shooters will find that a double barreled rifle is more difficult for accomplishing long range shots than a bolt rifle . This is purely understandable . A bolt rifle with it’s single front sight and back sight will inherently be easier for a novice shooter to line up and accurately fire , than a double barreled rifle , especially a side by side pattern rifle . Take the average American client , for example . This gentleman will have probably spent years since boyhood shooting white tail deer and mule deer in his own homeland with a bolt rifle , like a Winchester Model 70 , a Remington Model 700 or a sporterized Springfield Model 1903 . He will be accustomed to it and treat it almost as if it is an extension of his arm . This gentleman’s shooting skills would only suffer if he suddenly decided to take along a double barreled rifle for his 1st African safari or Indian shikar. At any rate , l believe that the optimal range for using a large calibre double barreled rifle is 45 to 50 yards , but certainly not more .
Below , l have provided a basic drawing made by myself ( rather crudely , l admit ) of how l understand a double barreled rifle works . Excuse the .22 Long Rifle empty cartridge cases . I was out shooting a few wild pigeons earlier this morning for trying out a new recipe .