An Afternoon with a Weatherby Orion SxS
Aldo poses with the Orion SxS and a handful of Bobwhite quail on opening day of the 2024 Kansas quail season.
The Weatherby Orion SxS is the first shotgun tested as part of my “In Pursuit of Bespoke” journey.
The new Weatherby Orion SxS achieved a great deal of notoriety when it hit the shelves. Even with an ascetic avoidance of social media and marketing campaigns, I still got word in the autumn of 2023 of a new, field-grade side-by-side shotgun on the market. As the complimentary articles from Outdoor Life and Project Upland, stacked up, along with a well-timed Meateater pheasant hunt video, my interest in handling one of these shotguns grew. This isn’t to say that other shotguns, or firearms in general, new to market don’t catch my eye, but the majority of them make it to the shelves and display cases of sporting goods retailers without the pomp and circumstance that Weatherby managed to achieve with their, then-new, offering.
I firmly believe that one of the biggest barriers to entry into shooting sports, along with developing an aptitude for handling a firearm safely and efficiently, is how few opportunities are to “try before you buy.” Do you want to buy a car? Take it for a test drive in town and on the highway! In fact, some dealers late you take the car home overnight to give the purchase more thought and the product more inspection. Now, do you want to get a feel for a particular shotgun before you spend $1,000 (or, $10,000)? Of course! But firearm laws, among other things, often prevent this so you’re only shot, pun intended, of try before you buy is if you’re lucky enough to know someone else that’s already made the purchase and is gracious enough to let you borrow aforementioned firearm for a test drive. On a rare occasion of happenstance, stars happened to align in my favor, and my friend, Austin, just so happened to buy the shotgun that I’ve been eyeing for the past year - a Weatherby Orion SxS, chambered in 20ga. Graciously, he allowed me to take it afield for an afternoon of Kansas bobwhite quail hunting.
Key differences between the Orion SxS and my control, a CZ Sharp-Tail, are as follows:
Forend - Semi-beavertail on the Sharp-Tail, splinter on the Orion
Stock - Prince of Wales on the Shapr-Tail, English on the Orion
Triggers - Single selective on the Sharp-Tail, double on the Orion
Rib - Raised on the Sharp-Tail, swamped on the Orion
Chokes - Flush Huglu on the Sharp-Tail, extended Yildiz on the Orion
* The Orion tested here was a 20ga while the Sharp-Tail is a 28ga so comparing dimensions such as Length of Pull (LOP) or overall weight have been struck from consideration given that dimensions and weight are not the focus, rather, understanding the differences of features or functionalities between these two shotguns is the focal point.
Working from the muzzle to the butt, in terms of differences between the two shotguns, the first thing to assess is the choke. For whatever reason, many of the authors of relevant gun reviews of the Orion SxS lament to Weatherby’s choice to utilize these extended chokes. After extensive choke tube and pattern testing I settled on after-market Carlson’s extended choke tubes for my Sharp-Tail so seeing extended tubes on the Weatherby brought me no heartache. Given this, chokes weren’t exactly at the forefront of my mind as I was assessing the gun as a whole. If I were to buy this shotgun, just as I would with any other, I would spend a significant amount of time patterning the factory chokes and some after-market ones as well with various loads.
“I would be a liar if I did not say I was very critical of Weatherby for adding these onto such a classic, side-by-side boxlock design.”
Moving down the barrel, away from the muzzle, the swamp rib and single brass bead present the second difference from my control shotgun. The bead looks nice, especially given how it matches the triggers and “Weatherby” engraving on the side of the receiver, but otherwise has no functional difference from the simple white-ivory bead on the Sharp Tail. As for the rib, however, I felt myself struggling to find the bead, without a raised rib to lead my eye to it; but this may just be simply because I’ve never shot a shotgun with a swamped rib and, thus, the novelty of itself was enough to create a perceived barrier. All that to say - the swamp rib is not for me. There may be some weight savings there, swamp instead of raised, and some may feel that they have a better view of the target, but that wasn’t the case for me.
Next on the list of differences is the splinter forend. From what I gather, the splinter forend is the traditional choice and it may have never been intended to be a “grip,” rather, it was a way for gunmakers to secure the barrels to the receiver and deliver a more aesthetic product. Many experienced shooters will claim that the shooter should place their hand in front of the forend, instead of gripping it. Truth is, I gripped that Orion the same way I grip my Sharp Tail - right on the forend. I didn’t think to grip the shotgun by its barrels. The lack of real estate felt odd to me. Similar to the swamp rib, there’s a method to the madness with this intentional design choice, but, if nothing else, it was different, and different simply felt, well, different! I’m sure that a few flats of target loads could help me work through those differences and better adapt to the Orion’s styling but I’m on a journey to identify what features feel the best to me and the conclusion is made: I’m a beavertail kinda guy.
The double triggers and the English stock were the two features I was most interested in when I set my sights on the Orion. I certainly see the value in being able to select, by way of which trigger is pulled, which barrel is fired but after three years of hunting with a SxS, I struggle to find a scenario in which I could realistically make both the decision and take the action reflecting that decision. In short, my brain and fingers just don’t work that fast. I tip my hat to the hunter that can make the call, on the fly, to move their finger from one trigger to the other and decisively choose which barrel to shoot, and drop the intended target. In my case, a close, pointed bird gets the more openly choked barrel, as dictated by my Sharp-Tail’s selector always being default set to whichever barrel I have the respective choke in, and the wild flushing bird that further out simply gets the second barrel - but only after squeezing the same trigger twice. Sometimes, that first barrel ends up working just fine, anyway.
The double-triggers and matching Weatherby name engraving stand out on a backdrop of prudent walnut and a reticent receiver.
I’m sure that enough time behind the gun would have me comfortable with the double triggers but it just wasn’t something that stood out to me as “gotta have it!” The argument has been made, beyond just the fact that the shooter can choose, while swinging on a bird, which barrel (trigger) to fire, that a single, barrel selector trigger is more complex to manufacture and is therefore more prone to malfunction (and probably a higher price tag, too). I think this, like many other considerations, is something to take with a grain of salt in modern firearms. Both of the guns in question were manufactured within the last five years and quality control, while not perfect, seems to be doing its job. Bottom line? I’m probably a single trigger kind of guy in a modern gun but I wouldn’t turn my nose up to double triggers, either.
As for the stock, I was pleasantly surprised of the ergonomics of an English stock but the butt pad, which was quite grippy, did get caught on my jacket a few times when I was shouldering the gun. There’s ways to resolve that problem, from simply shooting the gun more to swapping out the butt pad, but it definitely caught my attention as something I need to be on the lookout for as I test more guns like this. I suspect this large, grippy pad is to alleviate recoil concerns on heavy pheasant or duck loads, but such a robust pad is a bit excessive for my hunting preferences.
As for wrapping my hand around the stock, I really expected to have a hard time gripping the gun when raising it to my face given how many shells I’ve discharged on a Prince of Wales stock but I didn’t feel the stock’s shape hindered how I shouldered or pointed the gun. That said, the grip and thumbhole themselves felt a bit blocky to me. I suspect some of that feeling is, like with the swamp rib and splinter forend, just the fact that it’s different than what I’m accustomed to. I’m still undecided on whether or not I like an English stock. I will need to shoulder and hunt with a few more before I can determine if the discomfort I felt was in fact limited to that section of the stock on that particular gun, or if the English stock, in general, just isn’t a good fit for me.
Overall thoughts? Other than the fact I couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn…
The gun carried, and shouldered, well throughout the afternoon of hunting bobwhite quail in my home state of Kansas. If this gun was a serious contender for me to make an investment in, I would have spent some time at the patterning board and behind a clay thrower. I’m sure doing both would have helped me bag a few more birds that day… but I was on a tight timeline getting to borrow this gun and I’d rather use that time testing afield than testing at the trap park. I’ve had to train myself to a certain sight picture on my Sharp Tail, to account for differences in point of aim to point of impact, and I’m sure I would need to work through a similar exercise with this Orion if I was to hunt with one more frequently. I loved how smooth the action is - opening and closing - and there’s something to be said for the overarching simplicity of the gun. The absence of filigree and high grade wood is common in a field gun, albeit still yearned for by some, but ultimately making the gun more affordable.
For anyone looking for a modern side-by-side shotgun that is a step above entry-level, I think the Orion SxS should be taking into consideration. It’s just those specific design choices - like triggers and stock and forend and rib - that only the shooter can determine whether or not makes for a good fit.
