I Love Single Shot Shotguns

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JCooperfan1911

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I really enjoy the single shot shotguns.

94-B43-E04-4-BAC-40-CD-8-D79-67968-A5462-D9.jpg

They are lightweight and so simple and handy. Great as a beat around woods gun or truck weapon. Versatile, tough as nails, dead simple, and a lot of fun. I own two from New England Firearms in their Pardner model, including a 12 gauge I had cut back to just over the legal limit of 18”. Loaded with managed recoil Law Enforcement buckshot and with a stock mounted shell pouch it makes a surprisingly formidable piece of defensive gear when utilizing proper reloading technique.

Single shot shotguns aren’t just for kids anymore. Plenty of survivalists, preppers, bushcrafters, and outdoorsman have really taken to them in recent years. They’re inexpensive to acquire and carry wonderfully on the trail, and will take a licking.

I plan on doing a more detailed writeup on single shot shotguns soon.

Anyone else enjoy them?
 
Nice case color NEF receiver! The colors have held up well. I have one as well, with a 28" 20ga barrel that I have frequently used for ruffies. Mine has faded and gone quite straw colored. They are so abrupt to flush that one shot is frequently all you get anyway!
 
@JCooperfan1911 You take good photos! :thumbup:

Lot's of utility in a single shot, add some longer rifled cartridge adapters (22lr, 9mm, and 45Colt), and they make the perfect true survival, live off the land firearm.
 
Recently purchased a Stevens 301 20ga. I love shooting that gun. By no means as nice looking as the NEF or H&R guns but the build quality is right up there. Breaks open smoothly and the action is tight. Every time I open it and the empty hull goes shooting over my shoulder it makes me smile. As of this time I'd say that purchasing one of these is money well spent.
P.S.
It's easy to stop an un-shot shell from being ejected. I don't think about using the safety so that's not an issue either.
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I recently sold my H&R Topper I bought new over 40 years ago. Dont miss it. I wouldn't mind a nice older BT99, though.
 
Only single shot shotgun i own now is a winchester 140. Lol.

First gun was a 99 topper in 410. Still the only gun I regret selling.
 
Somebody needs to mention Winchester 37’s. Not the 37A’s. Not the 370’s. Use an inflation calculator. They cost in their day what a Henry single sells for. Red Letter 12’s are only about $225. I’ve held pigtail 37’s $200 for a 12 gauge up to $350 for a 410.
 
Shattuck 10 ga from 1880? Or so. Still fire a few BP loads. H&R 410, 20. Savage 24, 24V. BT99 (1500 or so a year). Single shots are cool.
 
Speaking of singles I have a Greener Martini 12 gauge. 28" full with that famous "anti zulu" action. Been identified as a original deck gun for trap or skeet off the cruise ships fantail. I use it with my stash of Baikal "MADE IN USSR" 7 1/2 shotshells (for that international flavor). Other shooters and bystanders at range still scramble for my empties.
 
When I was growing up we had a single shot 12 gauge of indeterminate make and age, a single shot Beretta 20 gauge and an ancient Monkey Wards 16 gauge SxS. That’s what I used until I purchased and Auto-5 with calf money when I was 14. They were all stolen when I was in college. I really missed the SxS and Browning, never missed the single shots.
 
I love them too.
Any old break actions really, single or double barrels.


Scribner said:
Somebody needs to mention Winchester 37’s. Not the 37A’s. Not the 370’s. Use an inflation calculator. They cost in their day what a Henry single sells for. Red Letter 12’s are only about $225. I’ve held pigtail 37’s $200 for a 12 gauge up to $350 for a 410.
Click to expand...

I have an old 37 but don't remember if it's one of the A series or not. It's at my parents' house, and I need to get it.
It's an old 16 gauge and was a family hand me down.
I'm the 3rd Paul to own it, and hopefully not the last.
It has a lot of stories. It accounted for a lot of small game in the 40s and 50s when my father's family wouldn't have eaten any meat without it. It put a load of birdshot into a peeping tom who was caught peeping into my aunt's window by my uncle, who stepped out onto the porch and let him get down the driveway before letting him have it.
It's worn out now, and wouldn't bring much if it were sold, but I wouldn't take any amount of money for it.
 
HAve a old Stevens .410. Built like a tank and meant to last, Its only a 2.5 chamber but might run a 3" reamer in it as have a load of 3" for my other 410.
 
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I really like my NEF 20ga. One of my better pawn shop finds $110 out the door. Id like to get screw in chokes installed and then it would get much more use.
 
Scribner said:
Somebody needs to mention Winchester 37’s. Not the 37A’s. Not the 370’s. Use an inflation calculator. They cost in their day what a Henry single sells for. Red Letter 12’s are only about $225. I’ve held pigtail 37’s $200 for a 12 gauge up to $350 for a 410.
Click to expand...

Those look nice. I'd like to try one in 16 gauge, just to be different.
 
I have a new 20ga and a 100yr old Riverside Arms 12ga. I'm always on the lookout to buy more and just figured out why I can't find them. J-Michaels in Panama City has them all hanging in their ceiling!
 
There was a Gun Digest article; the author determined to use a single for all purposes for a year. He accumulated several but had one tuned up a bit with a recoil pad and the choke reduced to IC. He said he didn't usually get enough doubles on flushing birds to feel the loss.
He even shot Skeet with it; the second bird of doubles delayed long enough for a speed reload.

He asked a gunmaker about the prospects for a Nice Single, well fitted and finished with good walnut and maybe a little engraving. The maker said, "Yeah, that sounds good. I might be able to sell 50 of them, eventually."
 
We have several: A NEF in 16 gauge, another NEF in 410, and an old Savage in 20 gauge. The 2 NEF guns were Mrs. Fl-NC's late father's, found after her mother passed several years ago. The 16 really doesn't get any use- in fact, I think it may have been unfired when it was found. The 20 gauge is in my shed, standing by for rattlesnakes. The 410 rides on my 4 wheeler for poisonous reptiles.
 
Scribner said:
Somebody needs to mention Winchester 37’s
Click to expand...

I have 3 of them, a 410, 20, and a 16. The 16 was my grandads and gets used the most. The others don't come out much, but I picked them up cheap and have hopes of building up a set. Been looking for a 12 gauge, but they're outrageous right now, and a 28 is out of my reach. I do have an old Stevens 1913 12 gauge, that's long as a piece of rope. Shoots good, though, even if the stock has been repaired with leather and the finish has turned brown. I keep it behind the kitchen door for a "varmint" gun, and it does a darn good job of it I might add. Single shots have been a big part of my life; I started out carrying them, and still do sometimes. Especially if I just want to wander around the woods and carry a gun. They just seem "right" for that job.

Mac
 
I’d love to find NEF or H&R in 16 or 12ga to go with my 20. I will find them, one must be patient......
 
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