The idea of a side-by-side shotgun as the pedestrian tool for procuring food and dispatching varmints is certainly grounded in fact, but there are two sides to that coin.

During the heyday of American gun making, companies like A.H. Fox, Parker, L.C. Smith and Lefevre made some of the finest firearms ever produced, rivaling their European counterparts.

The American guns are now collectibles, the European makers are still producing their works, and all were celebrated -- and fired -- at Deep River Sporting Clays near Sanford last week at The Southern Side-by-Side Championship and Exhibition. Inside the pro shop, owner Bill Kempffer and staff were busy greeting shooters and directing traffic.

Double-barrel lovers from all over the world converged to peruse vendor offerings, shoot clays and talk about guns in reverent tones usually reserved for grandchildren and vintage cars. And some of the guns on the course cost about what vintage cars go for.

Under a tent near one event, Jon Swindle was dripping sweat after shooting a round of 25 clay targets.

The Parker collector group was competing against the L.C. Smith collector group. Swindle, 65, had just finished and held an OE grade L.C. Smith double in his gloved hands. The gun was made in 1899 but looked more 1999 and was a "low end" Smith, worth perhaps $2,000, one of the more affordable guns at the event.

"Let's say there are 5,000 shotguns out here," Swindle said. "You'll see maybe 200 under $1,000."

"People usually start with pumps and autoloaders because they're forgiving and easy. Then they discover these," he said, explaining the lure of the side-by-side. "It's a brotherhood of like-minded people; mostly old geezers. These guys have big boats, nice cars and good guns."

Swindle said it was the fourth time he has attended the event, where wheeling and dealing is as much a part of the atmosphere as shooting.

"I have five or six for sale, and I've bought two," he said.

Swindle said a gun's value doesn't deter a shooter from using a piece. His most expensive shotgun is a Winchester Model 21 20 gauge in Grade 5, worth about $17,000.

"I would have zero problems shooting it out here," he said. "I've shot it in the rain."

Swindle said many factors make up a gun's value, including who made it, condition and rarity.

"Parker and Smith made a bunch of guns, but very few were upper grade," he said. "The upper, upper grades are six-figure guns."

In one vendor tent a pair of old doubles sat in a case in a long line of similar pieces. The price tag was $140,000.

Nearby, Terry Reckart, 55, of Geneva, Ohio, cradled a 1906 L.C. Smith while talking to Craig Bennett of Lewisburg, Pa. Reckart's gun was handed down from his wife's grandfather. They talked about guns and the event.

"It's part of owning history," Reckart said.

Bennett nodded. "Where was it in its past; what corn field has it been in? This is a very sentimental group," he said, nodding toward the shooting line.

"I go to a lot of shoots, and I've never met a bad person," Reckart said. "It's about the guns and camaraderie."

Out on the sporting clays course, John Bleimaier, 57, of Hopewell, N.J., had just finished his first station. He removed his pith helmet and wiped his brow. A white handlebar moustache framed flushed cheeks.

He held a modern Italian double, an Antonio Zoli. He bought the gun on a trip to the Zoli factory in Italy, where it was hanging on the wall in the board of directors room and not for sale. He declined to say what he paid for it in 1989 but said it was worth about $18,000 now.

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