This forum been a wee bit slow lately so I thought I might start a discussion on drillings.

I've thought about getting a drilling for several years now. I love to both big game and bird hunt and often I've found myself in areas that had both. Of course Murphy's Law being what it is I always find birds when I am big game hunting, and big game when bird hunting... To remedy this situation one season I carried both my SxS 12 and my 30-06 but this was a bit too much... Though I did get to shot a nice Canada goose that I otherwise would not have been able to. So this leads me to a drilling. But the question is what configuration?

At first glance I thought of the common configuration these days: 2 12s and a 9.3x74r. I reload all of these calibres so its easy. Also for bear hunting in Alaska having a 9.3 with two 12 "just in case" is tempting. However, these guns are a bit too "hefty" for me and usually lack the feeling you'd like in a shotgun.

Then we have other issues such as saving money on buying a gun with older and less desirable calibres like 9.3x-72r, or perhaps short 65mm chambers in the shotgun barrels, and then spending more money on ammunition and reloading. This way you get a potentially interesting piece of history and a unique gun. Or spending more on the rifle and getting a more "modern" one with more standard calibres: 8mm, 7x65r, 30-06, etc.

Scoped or not? If so what kind of mounts and type of scope? If no scope would you install mounts?

Type of safety? As much as I love German and Austrian guns, I've never understood their love of the Greener safety. Many drillings I seen have them...

I've more thoughts on the subject but I'll take a step back and see what you guys think.

(Note: edited for spelling)