Are side by side shotguns woth it?

In a practical sense, I can't see any way they're superior to a pump gun. Besides the critical roles, though, they work just fine. I have a SxS hammer fired one for literally no other reason than it's cool.

>>34202956
Practically, no. Aestheticlly hell yeah!

if you like them, i don't see why it wouldn't be worth it. i hunt pheasant with a sxs .20 and wouldn't use another gun because it's very light and custom made for me, i am crazy accurate with it. no practical advantages, but if you like it, go for it.

>>34202956
If you need to get two shots off as fast as possible with a short OAL for the barrel length they are nice

>>34202956
The main advantage they have is in shooting clays, shooters sometimes choke one barrel for shorter range shots and the other for a longer range shot, something a single barrel can't do. You could also in theory have a slug in one barrel and birdshot in the second, thereby having a more versatile game gun.

>>34202956
If you want something purely practical- you aren't looking for a side by side. If you want something purely sporting- you are looking for an over and under, not a side by side. If you want something that is a reminder of firearm history, or has exposed hammers (but still two barrels), or traditional feel (2 triggers all the way), you want a side by side.
To answer;
>are they worth it?
some really fucking aesthetic and beautiful side by sides are very expensive, yet you can get cheap yet functional ones for $200-400. Soooo...yes? if they are what you want.
>Still waiting for a BM16 shotgun to pop up for sale, file the sbs paperwork, and finally have the STALKER rookie gun of my dreams.

If only they made double barrel shotguns specifically designed for firing both barrels at once.

I'm going to dissent from the /k/ consensus and say that a double has some real advantages that should not be dismissed. It can be stored in a state of immediate readiness (shells in the chamber, action open) more safely than a pump, which has the potential to go off when stored with a round in the chamber if it gets dropped or falls on its side. The fact that you don't need to rack it is also an advantage--have you all ever seen what happens when one of these kinds of people who think that pump shotguns are "easy to use" despite never having tried one before actually picks one up? They will invariably end up short-stroking the slide, which is a deadly mistake to make in a home defense scenario. Even reasonably experienced shotgunners might make the same error under stress, which is a non-issue with a double.

The downsides of a double, however, are also worth mentioning. They have a much lower capacity (duh), and they inherently cost more than an equivalent quality pump due to how they are made. It is a lot harder to find budget options of acceptable quality compared to a pump, where you can just buy a Mossberg 500 and call it day.