OUCH - NEF Single Shot 12ga 3.5" Shotgun

[dust_101]

Ok, so many months back I was given a H&R / NEF SB1 12ga Single shot, this one had a 28" barrel with a threaded choke and a 3.5" chamber. I thought to myself, 'self, this would make a decent spare turkey gun!' but it needed some work first.

There was a good deal of surface rust, so I cleaned it all up, bead blasted it and tried to blue it (more purple on the receiver due to the metal) and even blasted the wood and painted it a nice flat black. The stock has the original recoil pad, and it has the added lead rod in the stock to help absorb recoil (I think).

Well to make a long story short, prior to spring season I took it along with my Mossberg 835 out to pattern check, and the NEF with a X-Full choke damn near jumped clean out of my hands on the first shot!! Kicked like a mule and didn't even say it was sorry! I tried a few more rounds and it was just not pleasant to shoot. To make sure it wasn't me or my grip, I let one of my hunting partners shoot it, and he just about tossed it at me and said he never wanted to see that gun again!

So back in the safe it went for more work later on. Now to this weekend. I had spent a touch of time shortening the barrel to a modest 18.5" and a nice open Cyl Bore. It has a nice crown and a new silver bead threaded in, and I thought it might be a good time to see if this improved the recoil at all (less of a choke, less recoil, right?) and I was going to sight in my Remington 700 .30-06 for deer season anyway.

So I took the same turkey load in 3.5" and a few 2.75" slugs just to try it out. OW!! Same thing! The slug loads were kicking just as hard! I was able to keep it on a man-sized target at 25yd, but my shoulder still feels like it was kicked by that mule again! (The 700 was benchrest shot after that!!)

I have not owned these shotguns before. Do they just kick that hard all the time? Could there be a short chamber in there? Malformed forcing cone? I know that putting a new Limbsaver recoil pad on may help, possibly getting a pistol grip stock for better control may help too, but jeez if I had known these kick like that I would have politely said "No, Thanks." on this one!

 

[PTK]

It's a light shotgun. It'll kick. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just too dang light to fire 3.5" magnum loads with any comfort at all.

 

[FuzzyBunny]

They are great with reduced loads.
Good for training new shooters with light loads.

 

[Crazy Fingers]

My favorite shotgun is a NEF Pardner 12 ga 3". I took it dove hunting this past weekend, in fact. Even over my autoloaders and my Citori.

No doubt the thing will kick like an angry mule. I remember putting a 3" slug in it once and man was I sorry that I did! But the same thing that makes it kick like hell is the same thing that makes it so nice for wingshooting. It's so quick, and so pointable, that I rarely need a second or third shot to hit what I am aiming at.

Also, remember that if you are turkey hunting you should only have to shoot it once. In the heat of the hunt, the recoil will seem half of what it is when you are patterning.

 

[DaleCooper51]

Also, remember that if you are turkey hunting you should only have to shoot it once. In the heat of the hunt, the recoil will seem half of what it is when you are patterning.

Still a heck of a lot.

I shot two 3.5 shells out of a 24" nef turkey gun and that was more than enough for me.

 

[dust_101]

Well, that tears it. This one is going back in the safe until I take a class on porting barrels.

Feels like I'm getting premature arthritis in my shoulder from that little pup!

 

[nalioth]

This one is going back in the safe until I take a class on porting barrels.

You're still gonna have a major kick.

It's weight that largely negates recoil.

Your lead bar in the stock is a good idea, but you might want to look into a mercury recoil reducer instead.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Never studied physics, did you 8^)?

Whacking off the barrel removed weight. That made it kick harder, not less. Porting will make it louder and that's about all.

If you want to keep shooting Roman candles in it, you need to add weight. A good bit of weight. However you can strap it on. Mounting it on a carriage like a ship's cannon might help.

Or you can pronounce yourself a masochist and get a tee shirt made that says I LOVE RECOIL, so people don't attribute your bloodshot eyes to excessive indulgence in Old Stump-Blower.

Or you could just shoot nonmagnum 2 3/4" loads in it...

In short- yes, lightweight single shots with maggie numb loads are an absolute recipe for recoil. Two choices- heavy up the gun or lighten up the loads. That's about it.

lpl

 

[sm]

No disrespect , still you goofed up big time.

In my experience and observations, a 2 3/4" shell is all one needs for most applications, including Turkey.

The Rule of 96 applies, meaning a 96 ounce gun (6 lbs) firing a 1 oz loading is managable for a shooter to shoot.
In other words, payload to gun weight is a factor in recoil management. Hence the reason competition shotguns weigh 8 lbs or so, and shoot 24 gr loads for Int'l clay games, and 7/8 oz loads.

Less felt recoil and multiply times the round counts folks shoot in competition and this adds up to more factors in regard to effective and quality shotgunning.


The longer 3.5" chamber with a 2 3/4" shell is sorta like "lengthening"the forcing cone. This assists in less felt recoil and better patterning performance.

You no longer have a choke.
Even most cylinder bores have a point or two of choke.

One actually wants choke, whether they fully understand the Art & Science of Shotgunning as Brister put it so eloquently or not.


Each gun , barrel, and choke is a entity of its own.
That said, going from memory, some Turkey loads from a H&R Single Shot with a 3.5" chamber & Mossberg 835 include, still not limited to:

2 3/4" AA (old compression ) and Rem STS hulls -

1 1/8 oz of hard #4, #5 or #6 shot

I am biased toward #5 shot size, and 1 1/8 ozs have felled Turkey, and Ducks.
Chokes were most often "Modified" ( generic term) , as these when measured varied from ~ 15 to 22 Points of Choke (POC).
Generally speaking , 19 POC is Modified.

1 1/4 oz loadings of hard #4, #5, #6 shot are proven as well.

Yes, most, still not all had buffering. It might have been Grex such as Winchester calls theirs, or it might have been corn meal, farina, grits...some kind of grain.

--
I actually prefer a fixed choke barrel.
This alleviates variables in pattern testing factory , and one's reloads.

This allows me, and those like me, to work with load testing with the pattern board.
Yes, one can get "improved cylinder like" patterns from a Fixed Full and Fixed Mod barrel, if'n you know how.

One can get other "choke performance" as well such as Improved Mod, Skeet II and others.
Just a simple matter of loading for tasks at distances, and shooting within the perimeters tested and patterned.

One can also get "full like" performance from a fixed Mod barrel as well.

Art & Science ...

Hence I wince when folks cut down barrels, among other things, there is NO choke and I personally want some choke.


No disrespect, still perhaps someone else will learn from this thread.

You have a great "barn gun".
Reload some popcorn kernels into a 2 3/4" hull and use to rid barns of pigeons.

 

[Bud Tugly]

The moron at NEF who decided to put a 3 1/2" chamber on these guns should be punished by making him shoot 3-4 boxes of those shells in one afternoon.

With the cut-down barrel and no choke, you've got a nice light gun for hunting grouse or similar birds in heavy cover. Use 2 3/4" shells with no more than 1 ounce of shot and the recoil will be tolerable in hunting situations.

 

[gp911]

You can also get accessory barrels in different gauges/chokes, etc. through the factory website: www.hr1871.com

Click "customer support" then "barrel accessory program".

Any shotgun barrel but 10ga. (or the 12ga. ultra slug hunter I think) can be fitted at the factory, including .410, 28, 20, 16, numerous 12s, etc. and .50 caliber black powder in case you want to use it as a "Huntsman" muzzle loader. Since it's a spare gun anyway, why not send it off during hunting season to get some cool barrels fitted? I bought 5 and I'm still patterning them...

gp911

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The moron at NEF who decided to put a 3 1/2" chamber on these guns should be punished by making him shoot 3-4 boxes of those shells in one afternoon.

Is HE the moron who made the decision to market it, OR is the shooter who bought it the moron for trying to shoot 3.5" shells out of it??

IF you check out their rifled slug guns they are much much heavier. Seems like they make what they should when the buyer knows what to buy.

I LIKE my 3.5" Pardner, with full recoil pad, and wearing a secondary pad on my shoulder. Looking forward to trying some handloaded BPI Sabot Slugs.

LD

 

[MCgunner]

Well, my 10 gauge NEF turkey should be in these next few days, thought maybe today. The 10 is NINE lbs, which should help, heavy son of a gun. Actually, I want it for geese and bought a mod choke tube for it. I'm also going to hunt some hogs with it this Feb and March in a buckshot only WMA near my home. The 12 feels barely 6 lbs to me. No kiddin' it should kick. DUH. LOL! I'm sure the 10 is gonna kick despite the 9 pounds, but I can handle it.

The NEF 10 gauge is a different frame/receiver and all the other NEF stuff won't fit it.

 

[DaleCooper51]

The NEF 10 gauge is a different frame/receiver and all the other NEF stuff won't fit it.

Except for the 12 ga ultra slug hunter barrels. The 12 ga is based on the 10 ga frame size. Not sure about the 20.

 

[MCgunner]

Yeah, on the NEF accessory barrel page, the 12 gauge slug barrel is listed under the 10 gauge accessories. I really got little use for a slug gun, but the barrel is only 85 bucks, not sure if that includes the fitting.

I got the kid a 20 to start her on, mistake. That little 20 kicked pretty hard for a kid. I even felt it needed a recoil pad. I sold it. She learned on my 12 gauge Winchester 1400 gas auto. My Spartan 20 side by side is pretty light, but much less felt recoil than that NEF. 3" loads in that gun are comparable to 2 3/4" 7/8 oz loads in the NEF for recoil.

 

[KevininPa]

Put a Limbsaver on it.

I purchased a NEF Survivor 12g when they offered them. Felt like a mule kicked my shoulder. Ordered a synthetic stock and fitted a Limbsaver on it. Completely different firearm to shoot. Made a big difference.

 

[goon]

I made the mistake once of trying some 3" slugs out of the 12 gauge NEF Pardner I had.
The recoil back was painful, no doubt about that. But I'm a little chunky and I took that OK. What I didn't take as well was the way that the stock cracked me in the cheekbone - Yeeouch!
It only took me two rounds of those and one round of buckshot to know beyond any doubt that I wasn't going to need to fire anymore of those any time soon.
Wound up selling that gun (which was a mistake) but I've been thinking about getting another 20 gauge parnder lately to replace it. I like the 20 in these guns because you can use buck and slugs from a 20 gauge without recoil that is too punishing. But it has been my experience that if you just stick with regular 2.75" loads like sm suggested you'll be entirely happy with a little NEF.

FWIW, I saw a 3.5 inch NEF on the used rack today. Just the thought of that is enough to make my stomach do somersaults.

 

[Dookie]

Could always just buy a really cushy butt pad, worked for me.

Mine had a plastic butt plate on it and we were only shooting 3", and after about 10 shots at clays, I was done, but gave it to my "buddy"

 

[single stack]

I shot a NEF 12 gauge once.

"If you can't say sumthin nice don't..."

SS

 

[plumberroy]

I can shoot a 10 H&R single shot all day long no problem. I fire one 3.5 12 gauge shell........decided I don't want a turkey that bad
Roy

 

[Gary A]

I have several configurations of NEF single-shots being somewhat obsessive. One is the Topper Deluxe with a 3.5 inch chamber. I've noticed on it and on the Turkey version with a 24 inch barrel, both have weighted stocks to offset the lightness. My others (and favorites) are the 3 inch chambered versions which are indeed much lighter than the 3.5s. None of them are ever likely to see anything larger than a 2.75 inch shell. At least the deluxe versions, whether 3 or 3.5 inch chambers have some semblance of a recoil pad. The basic Pardners and Toppers don't. I love mine but they're not good for shooting up a 100-pack. Geez, I could have had one better gun instead of several of these, LOL, but I wouldn't part with them, except for maybe the 3.5 inch.