most dependable 12 gauge shotgun(s)?

[darkwing]

Oh and one mo thing

Stevens 311 Dbl the sears came apart, Remington 1900 would fire both barrels at the same time, Ithaca Lefever didn't cock one barrel. Of course these guns were built 50 to a 100 years ago. As far as trapguns go my buddies that shoot trap just borrow my guns and leave pretty at the house.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, I have a single shot Iver Johnson hammer gun that's still shooting. I have no idea how old it is, but know that it was discontinued in 1947. It was a "hardware store" gun, stamped "Hercules" on the receiver. It's taken a LOT of game in its day, but I haven't fired it now in at LEAST 20 years, maybe more, and haven't hunted with it in 35 years, so you could say it's retired.

 

[enfield]

Git rid of them Remmies and git yerself an Ithaca!

(I have 2 Ithacas, 2 870's and a Browning BPS, and they're all marvelous).

 

[Cams29er]

I have a benelli Nova that works great, but I had to pick up an 870 in 20ga

 

[SwampWolf]

Darkwing: Do you know when Ithaca began making 37s with "twin slides"? All the ones I remember seeing had a single action slide.

 

[bowfin]

I have seen, and once had it happen to me, a shell from an 870 that seems to get caught behind the bolt. Memory fails me to how it precisely looked, but I remember having to drive the pins out of the receiver to retrieve the wayward shell.

If this hasn't happened to any of you 870 fans, then I can see why you would be in love with it. But I saw this same thing three times, and since then I have always looked at the 870 with the jaundiced eye.

Has anyone ever seen something similar, and is my theory correct that it was somehow caused by short stroking?

I don't particularly care for Mossbergs, but I do admire and respect them. They can stand up to decades of hard use, and I never seen a shell stuck behind the bolt. I have one, and it was and is a great gun, but they don't look distinguished until after you use them for 20 years!

Ithacas are my favorite, they just ooze quality and workmanship...

 

[Dave McCracken]

Bowfin, one can tie up an older model 870 by short loading. If one fails to insert a shell in the mag far enough to be past the latches, it can bind up the shotgun.

Fixes are mentioned in the floater threads up top.

 

[darkwing]

SwampWolf,
Sorry just one action bar. I"m blaming my typing and not my memory.

 

[jfernett119]

My 870 hasn't treated me that well. Bought it brand new and it has decided not to eject spent shells. Remington has tried but failed to fix it twice now. It is on it's way back for a third time. I would have to say Mossberg is the way to go.

 

[MCgunner]

Bowfin, one can tie up an older model 870 by short loading. If one fails to insert a shell in the mag far enough to be past the latches, it can bind up the shotgun.

Fixes are mentioned in the floater threads up top.

This is one of the reasons I sold my 870 and bought a Mossberg for waterfowl and never looked back. You can't load the danged thing with gloves on, elevator/loading gate pinches the glove. So, you take the glove off to reload the gun, it's cold, you thumb is numb, you shove a shell in there and that elevator/loading gate pinches your numb thumb and it HURTS! You yank the thumb out and you haven't pushed the shell in far enough for it to click into the mag. The shell jumps back under the shell elevator and ties up the gun. What I'd do when this happened out in the marsh is dig out my pocket knife and push the shell back in from between the elevator and receiver. It was a PITA and took a few minutes.

The Ithaca my uncle had that I used to borrow had no loading gate/elevator in the way. I bought a double in 1971 and my loading gate problems were over until the steel shot law came out. I didn't wanna destroy my old double with steel shot it was never designed to shoot, so I traded a guy a motorcycle frame for a 25 year old Revelation badged Mossberg 500. It has no loading gate in the way. In the late 80s I sold that gun and bought a Mossberg 500 camo and am still using this gun.

I took my Winchester M1400 out one cold, cold morning this past season and that loading gate/elevator brought back memories when it started pinchin' my thumb again. I was very determined to get the shell in without it stickin' the works. To be fair, the 870 is not the only gun with this malady, but with the Mossberg, I don't have to worry about it and my old south paw shooting habits prefer the tang safety anyway. But, I do like that Winchester cause it don't beat me up so bad. The gas operated action on that M1400 has to be the softest shooting 12 gauge out there. On the coldest days, I have enough layers of coat and clothes on that the recoil of the pump isn't so bad and on warm hunts, my thumb isn't numbed by the cold. So, I can sort of match gun to the weather I reckon.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Bowfin, as I've said elsewhere, I used the heck outa 870s for 20 years and more before I found out about the short loading jam thng. Good technique,I guess.

Same on the thumb, and I've big thumbs. Must be just subtle differences in physiognomy.....

 

[Kilrain]

Ithaca 37/87 pump gun is tops..........just my opinion. I carry an 870 but only because my employer mandates it.

 

[Lonestar49]

...

I would have to say My/a Winchester Pump 12/12 Full, as I inherited it back in 1966 from my Great Uncle, along with a Winchester Pump 12/16. They have both fired every time, all the time, be it at the skeet or trap range, or in the old days, out hunting Rabbits and Quail, when we had open land here in So. Calif.. no mas. sigh


LS