Anyone have a min OAL single shot? Comments?

Recently I ran across a .410 H&R at a pawnshop, which had been cut down to, say, 18.25" barrel and 27" overall. Kind of handy little thing, very cute. However, the shortened stock put the hammer very uncomfortably close to my favorite eyeball.

I've been idly pondering buying a 12ga _hammerless_ single shot (such as the Russkies make) if I can find one for $50 or so. Then I could measure, measure, measure, consult ATF website, measure again, cut, frantically remeasure what I just cut, and have a handy little scattergun.

Does anyone have such a creature? Is it nowhere near as fun as it sounds, or can it be pretty cool with light loads or those Aguila mini-shells?

-MV

NEF Youth 20 ga Single shot, fixed Modified Choke with recoil pad is what I use, and others have bought because of mine.

A quick search under my username and "bratch" will show a thread with links to pictures.

I paid less than a C note for mine Seriously, patterns great! Slug groups, how about cloverleaf on a playing card ~ 25 steps. Min of VS Can At 35 steps.

Bone stock, legal, has choke, and just flat works.

12 ga I do NOT recommend due to Rule of 96 - payload to weight of gun gonna be thumpy.

20 ga and smaller gauges the way to go.

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Oh that .410 - keep it! Keep It legal, and try a slip on recoil pad to get a longer LOP.

Teaching kids with primer only hulls, light popcorn loads, these are great! Loaner for a kid out hunting, all sorts of uses.

I own a 6 pound 12 gauge, 20" barrels. It's a coach gun, not a single shot, but if you're not worried about recoil then go ahead. Light game loads are nothing in a light 12 gauge, it's the buckshot that pushes you.

Deer Hunter - good points!

I / we use slugs a LOT out of these 20 ga youth models - I should have made that more clear.

Still we let smaller folks use these to hunt with light loads too...

First : - what SM said + 1 I recommend you take his advise on this one.

Second : which had been cut down to, say, 18.25" barrel and 27" overall.

At 27" overall that leaves a pistol grip stock only - you wouldn't want to be holding that anywhere near your eyeball would you ?

I have a 12g H&R i let people shot it to laugh at there reaction cuase the gun kicks super hard

Two quick clarifications:

1) I didn't buy the .410, as it was $70, and I can buy a brand-spankin'-new single shot for just a tad more at a sporting goods store.

2) I guess it probably would have been a bit over 27", as it had about five inches of buttstock aft of the grip. Still pretty dang short though, maybe it was 30"ish?.

I know that Miles Fortis had a 16" .357 Hand-rifle with factory-issue youth stock, which was just a couple inches over legal (of course, rifles have different rules).

-MV

Single Shots I believe in, be they shotguns or .22 rilfes.

Proven, Reliable, Affordable, Versatile, Anyone can use one...

I do NOT give loads and/or guns to folks that will "thump" them. I do not do it!

I take steps to Make Sure Folks KNOW that I have THEIR Safety and best interest at priortiy level. I earn[ed] this trust.
I am a Reponsible Firearm Owner, this is what I do, and others like me do.

This is why I always always recommend the 20 ga , 28ga or .410 in single shot shotguns - Recoil.

This is why I recommend buying a Youth Model in these single shot shotguns - they have choke - which is important - most important they are LEGAL.

I do not want folks getting into trouble because the BATFE measures a 1/2" on the side of Illegal.

Not to mention folks getting hurt from getting thumped, or 'home-smithed' guns.


12 bore has a place - for some tasks and some shooters. Fun Trap leagues using light loads for instance.

Hard enough to Attract New Folks to Shooting and Preserving Freedom as is, we Do NOT need to "thump" them , laugh at them, and post about it.


What did your postings today do for Responsible Firearm Ownership ?

I have been thinking about getting one. I think I will stick to the advice of getting a 20 gauge instead of the 12 gauge.

The 12 gauge H&R I bought Son weighs a mere 5 lbs, 9 oz. Adding a good pad and keeping the loads light are great ideas.

The little 20 ga. double that used to be my mom's house gun (now replaced by a 9mm semiauto carbine, she will be 80 her next birthday and couldn't handle the recoil of the shotgun any more) has 18.5" barrels and a 12" LOP, it's about 33" overall. I don't know what it weighs, with an Uncle Mike's elastic butt cuff and 5 rounds of birdshot on the stock it balances nicely.

I have cut down a couple of inexpensive single shots to near minimum lengths in the past. They do have legitimate defensive uses IMHO. I did one of them for the man who ran the little crossroads grocery store in a community where I used to live. He kept it on a shelf just under the store's counter in case of trouble, as something with a bit more authority than the S&W Model 36 that lived in his pocket. I wouldn't worry too much about it being a hammer gun as long as there was enough stock to be useable. Just learn to keep the shooting hand thumb down on the knuckle of the trigger finger and you'll be fine. With a good recoil pad it can be managed even with pretty heavy loads, though I would consider these niche shotguns a great place to use reduced recoil loads.

It's cruel to hand inexperienced shooters lightweight shotguns loaded with heavy loads, as well as shortsighted. It is most definitely NOT funny whatever else it is.

lpl/nc

I do not find it funny when a new shooter is handed a hard kicking gun and load as a joke.

In fact, anyone doing so deserves a flogging.

We need new shooters, they're the transfusion of blood that will preserve and maintain our freedoms. Turning possible brethren into non shooters is a nasty form of self mutiliation if not suicide.

Our best interests are in helping new shooters learn to direct that shot and to do so in comfort. Let's not cut our own throats.....

my mistake [/sheepish]

MatthewVanitas-

Your Credentials are Golden with me and others here.
I mean you are one of the Good Guys . :)

I understand, as do others, your questions, your reasons for posting original topic thread.

Re: Mini shells. IME the patterns were NOT consistent. Also not "reloadable" per se' without having to make a LOT of changed to a reloader

Now regular 2 3/4" , if one reloads, one can adjust the recipes to fit a loading for tasks and reduce recoil and still have effective loading. Even if you do not reload, I am sure someone you know does.

I mean in a 12 bore, the 7/8 oz loads are great! There are even some 3/4 0z loads that are great, trick is to use hard shot.

20 ga folks can back down to 3/4 oz too, various recipes exist.

Oh, just another dumb thing I prefer. The single shots with a screw in the forearm are all Phillips. Yeah I know, how often is one actually going to take these type of guns apart?

Still...I prefer making that screw a flathead.
One can then use a coin, a flathead blade on a Swiss Army Knife, or even a knife blade if need.

One of those "Murphy will if he can" things.

I'm going to warn you, if you put a slip on recoil pad on that .410, and it fits, and you set out a coffee can and start "lobbing" slugs at it...you will grin ear to ear and start getting younger with every shot.

Hey, I admit, I have left having to hold hands with a lady friend, I was back to that stage where this "beginning to walk" stuff was still new to me. :p

She said I was a bit pouty, yeah well, we ran out of slugs and all...

Today, 01:10 AM #6
bigcim
Senior Member

Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 124

I have a 12g H&R i let people shot it to laugh at there reaction cuase the gun kicks super hard
=========================================================

Matthew,

It wasn't you. It was the post copied above that was responsible for the growls, and deservedly so.

lpl/nc

Dave,

I hate to be a literacy snob, but read your post and then read BigCim's. Do you think he has any idea what you are talking about? The sophistication necessary to comprehend your post pretty much rules out getting through to anyone who doesn't know what "punctuation" means, let alone how to spell it.

Maybe this will work:

BigCim hurt nu peeple no funny.


As for Matt, absolutely none of that was directed toward you. We all have a healthy distaste for the distasteful.

Matthew, none of my choler was caused by you nor directed hence. You've always been a decent sort and given good input.

Raggio, thanks for translating. Maybe he'll heed.

Re minimal shotguns. I see little advantage in these for general use but they can be fun for woods running and plinking. As a first line GP shotgun,no.

But not all of our tools have to be 7 lbs heavy and 44 inches long. If it tickles your fancy, got for it.

I did try out some experimental 6 pellet 00 rounds through the little H&R here. 3 rounds were fired. Kick was quite manageable and the patterning paper had all the pellets inside 12" at 25 yards. Not bad at all. My pet 7/8 loads bust clays at wobble in it nicely w/o beating me up.

SORRY FELLAS FOR THE POST. I NEVER GAVE IT TO A NEW SHOOTERS, BUT FRIENDS I THINK ONLY 3 THAT HAVE HAD LOTS OF EXPERIENCE SHOOTING, BUT HAVE NEVER USED THAT PARTICULAR SHOTGUN. AGAIN SORRY FOR THE FUSS.

P.S. FORGIVE ME

bigcim,

Thanks for clearing that up. Please excuse my testiness on the subject, but there are unfortunately a certain number of cretins out there who do in fact hand hard-kicking shotguns with heavy loads to new or inexperienced shooters just to get a belly laugh. IMO the practice should be roundly condemned at every occasion.

Again, my apologies for any misdirected ire.

lpl/nc

I have an NEF 12 ga cut back to 18 1/2 inches for a walking around gun in the woods. Through a little bit of trial and a lot of error on my part, the
load(s) of choice are now the Aquila mini-shells. 7 1/2 shot patterns nicely out to about 30 feet or so, and the buck shot even better out to 45 feet mark.

@ Striker: any pics? Did you shorten the buttstock at all? Do you feel that a shortened buttstock (within legal limits) would make it balance and swing better or worse?

-MV

Matthew,

I didn't shorten the buttstock. I have a sling on it, but don't use it often (though I did carry it slung for about two weeks in New Orleans after Katrina, where it was used for dispatching various and sundry vermin).

It has a pistol grip stock and I usually carry it one handed, muzzle down when out and about in the woods. It's light and with the abbriviated barrel, short enough that it easily clears the ground while walking.

It balances, swings, and points nice as is for me.

I'll try and get some pics up when I get back to Ohio.