O/U Which barrel to fire first ?

[peakoftherut]

I am new to using an O/U shotgun and have not seen any information regarding this topic. I am guessing that for the grouse hunting I normally do the bottom barrel should be fired first. Or is this just a what ever works for you kind of thing.

[Ramrod]

Back in the old days before choke tubes, the bottom barrel was always the more open choke, and was fired first. The theory was that the lower barrel, being in a straighter line with the shoulder, caused the gun to kick back, rather than upward, so a second shot was faster to get off. That second one would then be comming from a tighter choke in the upper barrel, usually at a going away bird. For most hunting, this is just fine. With modern choke tubes, you can vary the routine with all kinds of possibilities if you have some special circumstances, but I have never had a reason to.
For grouse, I like skeet 1 in the lower barrel, and improved cylinder or skeet 2 in the upper.

[mountainview]

Peak, the answer also depends on the gun. If it has a selector or double triggers, you can fire either barrel depending on the selector position or trogger being pulled. Some of the lower end O/Us don't have the selective fire feature and normally the bottom barrel fires first for pretty much the reaons Ramrod gives. I usually load the open choke in the bottom and the tighter choke in the top tube since I see know reason to change but if the opposite works for ya, go fer it.

[peakoftherut]

Interesting. I didn't think about how the recoil might affect the second shot. I was thinking about how to deal with the parallex that you would have if both barrels were regulated to hit the same spot at a certain distance.