I don’t wont to sound too much like 223 fan talking about his .233.……but I want to talk about my opion of the single barrel shot gun.
The first shingle shot shot-gun I got was a .410 interior hammer, cant recall company. One day I was hedding off to go hunting and a rare thing happened, a Remington 870 deserted me. ( firing pin problem) I had some cash, I was working after school so I asked a parent to stop by K-mart and I bought a marlin 12-gage single shot. I have used that gun ever since. It hold a good pattern and has taken a beating over the last two years. It has been threw snow, rain, fell a few times, a river………etc.
There was a article about single shots in back woods man, and that got me thinking…… single shots are often a kids first gun, but they seem to get lost in the jungle of pump action and Simi autos. But they are still very useful. With only one shot you learn to make that shot count, less moving parts = less parts to break.
I am going to a very swampy aria this week with a friend to hunt nutria, we both will be taking single shot 12-gage shot guns!
Single shots are unfairly ignored by most folks. I can think of no better gun for extreme rough duty provided it isn't shtf or something like that. I know of several farmers who keep them hidden in the low rafters of the barn along with a small pouch of shells. Small loss if the gun is stolen and best yet, its always handy. They can easily be used for training and for barter. Our SS is an old Savage 20 gauge. Don't hunt with it but its always there.
The only thing that I didn't like about a single shot-& my sample is limited to 12ga-is that the one I used was so light for gauge that the recoil is a might un-comfortable.Especially w/slugs.[where's the wuss smiley?]
I'm still working on an arrow(bolt?)throwing .410.But that's a diff. thread.
oh,so putting some lead birdshot into the foreend and the buttstock is BEYOND your imagination,eh? Figures. Besides, there's the 20 ga. in 3" mag, with lead shot,it OUTREACHES 3" 12 ga, using STEEL shot, for waterfowl. for smaller stuff and closer ranges, 2 3/4" 20 ga has MORE poop than Annie Oakley's black powder 12 ga had.
U don't understand basic English. "Can't" means:"physically unable". What you MEAN, stupid,is "may not",referring to 'permitted by somebody", THAT is irrelevant.
Let us not forget that a perhaps better place to add weight would be the buttstock.Weight in the forend will throw off the balance.But a heavier buttstock can absorb some recoil.
The idiot's loading the numbers again, has to compare steel shot to lead shot to make it look like the less effective weapon is the more effective. . .
Thread hijacking aside, a single shot shotgun is a very good choice for hunting and teaching to use the gun. A lot of guys I knew growing up learned on a single shot .22, then "graduated to some sort of repeating .22, then to scoped fire. . . .once they got to be 12-13, they were given a single shot shotgun, boys got 12s, girls usually got 20s. The drill was, you went hunting with dad, he gave you ONE shell, once you fired it, you had to go back and get another. So, having the one shell at a time, and having to walk back to get another, taught you discipline and to make each shot count.
As long as you keep to the same philosophy of makign each shot count, a single shot shotgun is still a good hunting weapon, and much cheaper than any other type. Heck, even if you "move up" again (maybe replace your 870), keep the single shot around. Like RIKA mentioned a stashed single-shot is good to have in the bar, garage, etc.
Then you have the opportunity later to pass it on to YOUR kids. . .
In ANY objective test, it's true. The steel shot has about 1/3rd less range than the lead shot, and there AINT 50% more effectiveness diff between 3" 12 ga and 3" 20 ga, clown. U aint GOT 50% more pellets in the 3" 12 ga.
You can get a pawnshop 12 guage H&R used for $50! If you want, cut the barrel down to 20 inches and replace the bead with one of those fire sight beads. Just add a good recoil pad as it will kick!
It becomes a very handy weapon. I just wish they would make it that way and have either a choke tube or a poly-choke on it. If it had a poly-choke that would make it a very versital shotgun. Just add .22 inserts and a butt stock shell holder.
When I started duck hunting, all I could afford at that time because of family responsibilities was a single shot, 12 gauge, 30" barrel with an automatic ejector. I used it for 3 years and never finished the season with less than 85 ducks or geese in the freezer.
Given that the majority of the people we associate aren't gun people and not willing to practice much, when asked what gun to buy for defence, one of the guns I suggest is a SS 12 gauge with a 20" barrel. KISS!
The polychoke would probably triple the cost of the gun. You can probably get a Baikal side-by-side with choke tubes to what it's cost to polychoke a single.
Come to think of it, side-bys are alsoa good idea. . .
Khan O/U 12,20,28,&.410 imported from...Turkey/Brazil/The peoples Republic of Budda Budda/whatever.Handles nice,shoulders easy.Costs on sale $200.Uses screw in choke tubes.(came w/four).Has neither a .22 unit or a can.A little bulky to ccw too.
I just sure wish a GOOD single shot shotgun was factory made with a poly-choke. I could see a stainless H&R with one. Maybe even with a companion rifle barrel (I would prefer 30/30 as it's so common, and a .22 barrel.) If it came with a pouch to keep it in, you could leave it behind the seat in a truck. Maybe even with a 4 shot 'side saddle' attached to the stock.
Again, if you don't mind Baikal side-bys, you can get .45-70 inserts for them (not sure about .22s). They're cheap shotguns, fit and finish isn't great, but like most Russian things, they're built like tanks.
shorting the the barrel, re-installing sight bead/blade isn't to hard to do ,and it makes a great little slug gun, I had a kentuckian poacher,show me a little trick with the shells when i was a kid, as he took a pocket knife and 'rimmed'
the shell by cutting 'almost half way threw it on both sides' above powder/below shot, leaving just 1/64"[a hair] holding it together, at the power piston/shot wad, when chambered and fired the entire half leaves the muzzle still encapsulated in the plastic hull , your own field expedient deer slug. [it works like a S.O.B] that could come in handy knowing, if never employed!
and then think of the handy trip guns they COULD make at your retreat ,spiking the wood stocks to trees[ your own angle of fire, please]
and my personal favorite, a pair of simular constructed singles welded together back to back/sunk in ground for mail box post[box mounted on the buttstocks] de-wats of course!
i remember as a kid on T.V. the natives in the amazon were hunting the jungles with only single barrels and blow guns.
Hmmm....maybe 12gauge is considered a "military" round there?
But then again the 16gauge is one of those performers that tends to fall between the cracks in popularity here in the USA.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Firearm Forums - Arms Locker
168.3K posts
4.9K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to all firearm owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about optics, hunting, gunsmithing, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!