Double-barreled shotgun

Modern double-barreled shotguns, often known as doubles, are almost universally break action, with the barrels hinge down at the rear to expose the breech ends for unloading and reloading.

[3] One significant advantage that doubles have over single-barrel repeating shotguns is the ability to have more than one choke at a time.

For the side-by-side configuration, the shotstring continues on its path to the opposite side of the rib after the converging point; for example, the left barrel's discharge travels on the left of the rib till it hits dead center at 40 yards (36.58 m) out, after that, the discharge continues on to the right.

The off-center nature of the recoil in a side-by-side gun may make shooting the body-side barrel slightly more painful by comparison to an over-and-under, single-shot, or pump-action, lever-action shotgun.

[3] In double-trigger designs, it is often possible to pull both triggers at once, firing both barrels simultaneously, though this is generally not recommended as it doubles the recoil, battering both shotgun and shooter, particularly if it was unanticipated or unintended.

Discharging both barrels at the same time has long been a hunting trick employed by hunters using 8 gauge "elephant" shotguns, firing the two 875 gr (56.7 g) slugs for sheer stopping power at close range.

Conversely, on a driven hunt, where the birds are driven towards the shooter, the closed (longer effective distance) choke (and barrel) should be fired first, saving the open (closer effective distance) choke (and barrel) for the now-closer incoming bird.

Regulation is a term used for multi-barreled firearms (most commonly found in rifles and shotguns) that indicates how close to the same point of aim the barrels will shoot.