NEF Pardner Acquisition

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dovedescending

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:D

So now that I've dealt with the stink, let me tell you a bit about the gun, and ask a few questions too.

It's a very simple single 12 gauge, full choke, 3" chamber. One tiny little bead for a front sight, no attempt at a rear sight/notch/what-have-you.

I'm a shotgun n00b, so I'm wondering: what can I shoot through this thing? Soft lead slugs? Magnum loads? Anything and everything? Can I hunt deer?

I am trying to restrain my inner mall-ninja, but I do like these. Seems better than a pocket full of shells. I was also wondering about the front bead, and whether or not I should replace it with something else.

0_o

Thanks in advance for the comments.
 
If you have to shoot a slug shoot hollow foster type, you won't enjoy it, same with 3" anything. buckshot for deer, right choke for turkey w/6s or 5s. also good for ringnecks flushing wild. have to use bismuth not steel on waterfowl, you will find the 30" balances better. I like em alot.
 
I believe you can shoot anything 2 3/4" out of it and anything 3" out of it. The only thing you cannot shoot out of it is 3 1/2" shells.

I agree with the previous post, that 3" Magnum (anything) is going to hurt!
 
:D I remember shooting a 3" slug through a friend's shotgun several years ago, when I was but a munchkin... and yes, it hurt like h***.

After poking around online (here and elsewhere) for a bit, I think I'm correct in understanding that non-sabot slugs should be fine despite the full choke?
 
Dove, the similar NEF here (actually out on loan) weighs about 5.5 lbs and kicks like heck with anything over 1 oz at 1200 FPS, and chances are several generations of McC's will live and die without touching off a 3" load in it.

However, with appropriate ammo it's a delightful little woods gun and lots of new shooters have reason to recall it fondly.

It handles stronger loads, but you may not like shooting them.

With a slug you've tested and some practice, it will take deer as it is probably out to 50 yards, but recoil will be fierce.

The butt shell holder you like works, but eliminates the possibility of shooting from your other side.

Some other options include shell belts, bandoliers, pouches and just stuffing a few loads in a pocket.

A premium recoil pad on this is greatly recommended.

HTH....
 
I was wondering if you would comment, Dave :D

I like the butt shell holder as a sort of magazine. If I have to grab the shotgun and use it, I have a reload at my fingertips. I don't anticipate shooting from my other side too often, but that is an excellent point. Bandoleers look a little Rambo-ish to me, but I may grab a belt pouch or two.

Any thoughts on the bead sight? To my mind it's a little inadequate, but maybe that's because I am, as previously stated, a n00b. :p
 
A premium recoil pad on this is greatly recommended.
Click to expand...

If you're going to shoot standard 2 3/4" foster style rifled slugs, or Brenneke slugs, it will be the most useful option you can have, or one of the slip-on pads.

NEF Pardner shotguns are very reliable and often passed down through the generations.



NCsmitty
 
You CAN shoot anything you want through it. You should not though.

I bought one for my best friend for exactly the purposes you want to use yours for.

We put 3 inch saboted slugs through it. We couldn't hit anything with it.

With slugs it feels like it recoils harder than the barret .50 . Much, much harder. Don't do it!

It's a great light weight bird gun though.
 
I've made lots of meat with bead sights including venison. And for most usage, we shouldn't be looking at the sights anyway.

Sabots work best in fully rifled barrels and not so well otherwise.

Back when the world and I were young, I started out on a H&R single in 16 gauge, very similar to the one you posted about. With the old Western 1 1/8 oz goose loads I had bruises and nosebleeds after a few shots, though they killed geese well.. The very first shotgun accessory I ever bought with my own money was a slipon recoil pad.

One advantage of that shell holder on the stock would be it will add maybe 3/4 lb. That will help the kick, but with it all at the back end, the balance will be hinky.

A fanny pack here I used for deer hunting has two of the Viet Nam style shell pouches on the belt. One held slugs, the other a mix of 00( Not legal for deer where I hunted but along JIC of ferals) and some bird shot loads. The pouches hold 12 each,IIRC, in elastic loops.

BTW, what do you plan on doing with your unstunk treasure? Hunting, defense, clays?
 
I've yet to had a problem feeding mine, but then again, I don't have the huevos to fire 3" shells through it....yet.

I have a little bit of everything for it. I put the shell holder on it, and keep 3 brenneke slugs and two #8 birdshot on it for anything and everything. I keep her loaded with Winchester PDX-1 HD slug/shot loads, just in case.

Now, this may seem a little bit too tacti-cool for you, but look into the Remington Tactical Choke, if you can replace the choke on yours. I put it on mine and noticed a great deal of difference in recoil, muzzle blast, and report. During a side-by-side friendly shootout between me and my landlord(he has a Remington 887), I was able to fire mine without ear protection and no trouble whatsoever, but his made my right ear ring for a good while.

For the price, you won't find much better. Expect many years of good service out of yours.
 
Dave, I'm not sure what Stinky Pete will be used for. I lean towards handguns for HD (leaves a hand free to deal with a child if necessary), I'm guessing I'll use th 12 gauge for hunting/clays/combat-wth-fierce-and-terrible-milk-jugs.

I'll definitely make a quality recoil pad accessory purchase #1.
 
I have the turkey model Pardner, and it does kick hard!! I have the same shell holder, and it works great on it. I did buy a high quality recoil pad, and it helped some. If you have the real small fore-end, you might want to replace it with the larger synthetic one, or a larger wood one. I bought the wood one, and they send me the synthetic one...they then sent me the wooden one for free. I hated shooting it with the small fore-end. Mine has x-full turkey choke and patterns well up to 50 yards with 3". I have a few 3 1/2 that pattern well in it also that we use if the bird is between 50 and 65 yards. Thats all I use mine for!!! It does the job as good if not better than the higher priced more expensive models
 
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=580659

Posted a video review on the NEF Pardner Pump, hopefully it'll answer some of your questions. You'll have to skip through the history of shotguns part to get to it quick though, I intended that episode as a primer for non-gun people who were interested in shotguns.

In the video I put a 3" slug through the head of an IPSC brown man target at 50yds using just the bead, and I'm a ghost ring fan, so you shouldn't have to worry about being able to hit things out at distance.
 
Arsenal, my understanding is that saboted slugs ONLY work well in specially rifled barrels.
Click to expand...

That is 100% correct! But I didn't know that when I was 17 and the gun store clerk that sold me that ammo though it was too funny to correct.

He gave us a free box of foster slugs after he pulled himself off the floor from laughing so hard.
 
Yeah, sabot slugs are perfectly safe to fire from a cylinder bore barrel, but they won't perform as designed.

Won't hurt the gun any though.
 
What Dave said about that 5.5 pounds of weight and kicking.
It just so happens that I took mine out this morning to fire two low base #8 rounds and two 7 1/2 shot rounds.
Mine has a Mod. choke and patterns pretty nicely at 30 yards.
But even with that lightweight load I could feel it.
I once suffered through shooting a box of 5 Remington 2 3/4 foster style slugs and I am here to tell you that was an extremely uncomfortable session.
 
I think we have two camps of owners here.
The first that the OP is speaking of and I and others have commented on is the single shot break open original NEF Pardner.
The other camp of confused owners is the pump Chicom "Pardner".
Totally different shotguns here.
I have had mine for well over a decade and probably much longer than that as it was a gift so when I aquired it is a bit foggy.
Great utilitarian single shot shotguns.
 
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McCrackens right bestest, firstest thing to do is get a good pad. I have had poor luck with the stretchy nylon style buttstock shell carrier, I agree it good to grab the gun and have the loads right there. But when I fire the whole thing zips forward a scrunches around the action. My next solution was to have my brother make one out of leather. Top notch job, looked great, held the shells in place, but completely destroyed the balance and handling of the gun. I keep shells in my hip pocket now. As for having the cohones to fire 3" I didn't either,I just had normal 13yr old curiosity, it didn't hurt til I woke up.
 
You can shoot anything you like, but you will not like heavy loads. :D

I like these guns. They are simple and quite workable. I think they are at their best with low brass birdshot and reduced recoil buckshot.

To get your money's worth out of rifled slugs you need to add some sort of sight, as aiming with just the bead sight is rather a vague approximation. Once again, the reduced recoil type of ammo would be my choice.

Some people will say that they get adequate slug accuracy with just the bead, but who wants to be merely adequate?

As already pointed out, sabot slugs are made for rifled guns, not smoothbores. You can shoot them, but who knows where they will end up?

Here is my take on how to get off a second shot fairly quickly with this sort of gun. http://shootery.blogspot.com/2010/05/speedy-reloading-of-single-shot-shotgun.html

I used to look down on these guns but, upon reflection, I concluded that they are actually efficient arms for several purposes, and quite convenient.
 
These single shots shine when carrying happens more than shooting. Lots of times I've carriesd one of these scouting pre season, hiking or just to be outside.

8 or 10 loads in a pocket suffice, a few 7 1/2s, the rest 6s cover lots of bases.

Good luck with yours.....
 
Dave,since this thread came about and I was out shooting my NEF single on Sunday I have been wracking my old brain just when I aquired mine as it was a gift.
I still have the original box and paperwork but nowhere does it show anything about being called H&R 1871 INC. or LLC.
Just New England Firearms.
All other info was to Industrial Rowe Gardner MA.
I am sure thinking I received this shotgun before the turn of the new century but I just dont know.
Any idea if they were ever just called New England Firearms?
 
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