A bolt action shotgun?

I sometimes feel really old. Bolt action shotguns were all over some 40-50 years ago. Mossberg, Marlin-Glenfield, and Savage-Stevens made them by the ton. They were inexpensive, reasonably reliable and as accurate as any other shotgun. The bolt actions were usually a bit rough, but they did the job.

I think the first bolt action shotguns were those made in Germany after WWI, by converting surplus Mauser rifles into 2-3 shot bolt-action 12 gauge shotguns. Mossberg came out with one in the 1930's, but IIRC, the other makers didn't bring them out until after WWII.

Most have probably been junked by this time, mainly because the cheap magazines broke or were lost and even 20 years ago were impossible to obtain.

Jim

I bought a Mossberg (2 3/4 & 3" mag)12 gauge bolt action with wood stock & poly choke back in the mid 70's . I forget the model number. My buddy had a 20 gauge bolt action Mossberg too.


Years later I recall that the Mossberg, while not exactly a thing of beauty compared to todays shotguns , did get the job done! It was built like a tank and if it got a scratch or two it wasn't a big deal!


Thanks for the memories!



CI

yes I seen one on youtube, It looked funny.

My local pawn shop/gun store has over a dozen of them...They seem to be slow movers even though they are pretty cheap in price.

I don't know about that Swampwolf,..I've taken more than a few birds with it too.

I have a Marlin model 55 in 20 gauge. My parents bought it for me for Christmas in about 1962. I never really liked it much, but killed a lot of ducks and grouse with it.

Savage makes bolt-action slug guns.

The Ugliest Shotgun in Howard County was a Mossberg bolt action.
I had one. A Mossberg 395KB. Worth about $50 when I traded it for a new Palm Pilot (worth about $100) .

Fun guns but unless it has a rifled barrel they're not as practical as a pump-gun. The 695 is a deer smackin' machine but the smooth bore models were lacking in follow up shot speed when upland hunting or water fowling.

The pawn shops here seem to have an unending supply of them.

I don't know about that Swampwolf,..I've taken more than a few birds with it too.

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Were they flying?

My buddy had one when we were growing up that he used to hunt pheasant. It was an old "goose gun" that was his dads first 12, and then became his first 12 (IIRC..) He got pretty good, and could work that bolt pretty fast. I've seen him double up on birds with it. That thing was about the longest shotgun I've ever seen.

It balanced pretty well, and was cool to shoot, but once you got it swinging on a bird, it didn't like to stop.

I kind of want one, even though I'll have no practical use for it. I think the older ones are pretty cool.

I saw my dad shoot doubles on grouse several times with his bolt action 20. Much more difficult than with a pump or auto, but it can be done.

He had a lifetime of practice with it since it was the only shotgun he ever owned.

I kind of want one, even though I'll have no practical use for it.

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I had one as a kid in .410. I loaned it to a cousin to use after I had moved up to a 20ga single shot, and it was stolen from his house. I ran across one a few months back in excellent shape for $80 so I bought it. It always sparks interest when I break it out, They've become something of an oddity these days. I wouldn't mind having a clean one in 16ga just for the heck of it.

Bought the 195K as soon as I was old enough. Drove down to Sears, plopped down $49 plus whatever California sales tax was back in the early '60s.

I could not afford much in the way of firearms, so after having been an avid reader of Guns and Ammo and Shooters' Bibles I decided to pick one up as the "all around" gun.

I've always been impressed that has a pretty nice stock for such an inexpensive firearm. For the most part I shot slugs with it and after sitting down with a 25 count at the bench a few times ended up reinforcing the horrendous flinch my brother's Argentine Mauser in .30-06 had started.

My first gun was a Mossberg 20 gauge bolt action. I was 12 when my uncle gave it to me. I couldn't understand why someone would give away such a "beautiful" gun. It had the chokes that screwed on the outside of the barrel. I only had the full choke. That thing, even in 20 ga kicked like a mule.

I just received my copy of SHOT Business magazine, and on page 26 is an article on Savage's new Model 220F bolt action shotgun, made only in 20 gauge, and with rifled barrel. It's being made on the standard 110 action, and they're claiming rifle like accuracy with it. It will handle both 2 3/4" and 3" slug loads, and they recommend using Remington AccuTip in both 2 3/4 and 3 inch shells, along with the 3" Federal Barnes Expander load. A hang tag on the gun recommends these loads to the consumer. It's also drilled and tapped for a receiver mounted scope, and has a two round detachable box magazine and Savage's AccuTrigger. It also has a free floating button rifled barrel.

The article says the author put 3 rounds into 8" at 200 yards with it, and his 100 yard group "hit the center of the target, and two of the holes were touching".

It lists for $500, but is expected to sell for much less.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Last year I traded my old laptop for 3 of my father-in-law's shotguns he got from his dad. One of them was a Mossberg 385KB 20 gauge, the other two were a Mossberg 500AT and a Savage-Springfield 745B.

The 385KB was in rotten condition when I got it but some steel wool and Hoppes got her looking pretty close to looking brand new, I'll probably end up refinishing the whole gun here in a little while but it's a pretty fun shotgun to shoot. I think it's one of the more interesting guns I've got in my collection.

Back when I was a kid, bolt action shotguns were very popular out in the country. Sears sold a bunch of them, and so did Western Auto, and J.C. Penny's I suppose. Most them were made by Mossberg but the ones I'm familiar with carried "house" names. Marlin did make a "goose gun" in 12 ga with a 36" full choke barrel, and IIRC, in 10 ga also.

Most were sold to people who couldn't afford a pump or a semi-auto, but wanted something a step up from a single shot. They were good for squirrel, rabbit and deer hunting with buckshot (nobody used slugs where I came from). They stayed propped up next to the back door, or rode in the gun rack in a pickup truck a lot. I'm sure a lot of groundhogs and crows were killed with them too.

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I agree with cajunbass ---- around northern IL. in the mid/late 60s , seems EVERYONE had at least one bolt action SG , most with brls. longer then 24" and most of the ones I seen were in 12ga. ---- they were only a few dollars more then a single-shot and you had 3 rds. in a "repeater" with them.

I believe that the J C Higgins and some others were thinned out by a factory recall. Seems I remember sending the bolt out of one back to them and got $120.

Don't forget that there was a Browning A-Bolt shotgun about ten years ago. Came with smoothbore or rifled barrels. Also, there were quite a few Mauser-98 shotguns imported back before WW-II.

Since there are so many replies here I decided to dig the Mossberg out for a photo.

I regret installing the 1X Weaver with tilt off mount as it required grinding the bolt handle. I don't regret the Limbsaver recoil pad.

Savage Bolt Action 20g - 220F

I was at the range today and this guy was sighting the gun in. I stopped him cause I thought he had a centerfire rifle on a shotgun only range.

I didn't shoot it, but I got to handle it. It was well made, well balanced and felt really nice. Fit and finish were good. He was still sighting it in when I left so I don't know if it was accurate, but now I want one.

20g is a good white tail round out to 100 yards.

All these positive comments surprise me although the Browning A-bolt is one I haven't heard about. I do know the few bolt action shotguns I fired in the late 60's were the only shotguns I've ever fired that didn't shoot where they were pointed. And I mean badly, not just patterning a little off.

In fact, if someone didn't have a gun along they'd get loaned the bolt action while the rest of us would give them heck when they missed. If we were rabbit hunting it wouldn't take a person long to figure it out since the "dust" would reveal the problem. But on a dove hunt they'd just be shaking their heads.

TB

A-bolt

Good luck trying to find a used Browning A-Bolt or a Tar Hunt slug gun for under $2,000 or even trying to find one. I think you can still buy a new Tar Hunt. Both are incredibly accurate slug guns and should shoot 2 inch groups out to 200 yards. Price on the Browning when new was about $500 when they were making them. The new Savage 20 gauge has gotten really good reviews and it's about $500 new I believe and would not have near the recoil.

MY first new gun ever was a 20 ga. bolt. given to me for my birthday by my non hunting nice grandfather. This was a serious piece of junk. I know he meant well but this thing would not load the second round with a full clip of 2 rounds! It would load ok if just 1 round was in the clip. So I had a glorified 2 shot shotgun that was maybe better than a single shot crack barrel but I am not so sure I could not have out loaded the crack barrel faster the the bull$#@T bolt action. I can't remember the manufactuer and that's a good thing. Bolts are great for rifles but pointless for what anyone would want a shotgun to do in my opinion.