What's the worst shotgun you've ever owned...

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Worst shotgun i have owned? "topper" 20 ga. Useless for anything recoils hard, and takes forever to load/cock... I have alot of guns and this is the only one that serves no purpose but it was inherited so it sits.
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Well, it is a single-shot and all single-shots take a while to "load/cock" and it is light-weight and all light-weight guns recoil harder than their heavier counterparts, so I'm not sure it's fair to blame H&R for their rendition of an inexpensive, single-shot shotgun. The same criticisms could be leveled equally at the Topper's competition (Winchester Model 37, Iver Johnson "Champion", etc.) for all the same, unfair reasons.
They're all cheap, light-weight, single-shot shotguns that served an honorable role for the shooting/hunting public they were intended for (a kid's first shotgun, a farmer's tractor gun, a shotgun stowed behind a door in the mudroom of a midwestern farm house to ward off chicken-killing, marauding coyotes and foxes, etc.). I, for one, lament the passing of this shotgun genre.
 
Yep, I agree that the H&R topper is what it is and it's actually a nice little single shot. I bought one new for $75 prolly 25 years ago...today they don't last long on the used rack for $150 and up in great condition...mine is like new.

I don't like the Tri Star Viper Auto that's used for a banquet gun for Duck Unlimited and The Wild Turkey Federation....suppose to cycle both 2 3/4" and 3" shells, however 3" are the only ones that seem to work. I really should shoot it more to give it a fair shake, because I really haven't shot it enough to break it in.
mingo
 
Mid-1960's Sears new single shot 16 gauge. The firing pin didn't have a return spring, so it was designed to have the ejector push the firing pin back in. It took less than a box of shells for the firing pin to be so worn that it would not reliable fire.
 
A close relative had the SPAS 12 Made in Italy in the mid-80's. It was a high-tech pump action or semi-auto (pushbutton select change between the two if your low brass shells are not powerful enough to fully chamber the next round).

The gun was extremely heavy:uhoh:, extremely cumbersome:banghead:, and was really made to scare people because it looked like something that should be at least 30 years into the future:confused:.

When he finally got rid of it was when a spring that holds the shells in the tube magazine flew off:eek:. A pen spring had to be put in place to make the thing work, and that day the gun was sold (before some other part might fly off).:barf:
 
Well, you can't really blame the gun on that one. Swap out for a normal screw-in choke and you'd be just fine. I can't say I trust those poly-choke dealies one bit. Saw a guy at the range with one, and it just looked like too much fiddling around to get it right.
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Found one of those in a shop for $75, I cut it down to a 18.3" barrel because I would have been the cheapest way to get a shorter barrel. Shoots good from what I can see for a shotgun with no sights.
 
I had a Street Sweeper I got pre 94 ban. Had to send it back twice because the aluminum cylinder would seperate and jam it up. I paid $400 for it however had to get rid of it for $50 because it was reclassified as a DD, in my State cant own. The trigger pull was 25 pounds of 2 stage pull. Loaded and unloaded like a Colt SA 1892. I would get all 12 off in under 3 seconds untill my finger gave out after a second volley..

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The Seiga-12 is much better!!!!
 
never had a shotgun i thought was a pos but the lowest quality was a china H&R PARDNER PUMP the fit and finish was pretty bad but it functioned fine shoot good i guess i only have 1 shotgun i've shot the crap out of with no issues at all my 500 20ga got it 20 years ago and if i was guessing i'd say its had somewhere between 3000 to 3500rds through it never had a problem still shoots great
 
I would have to say the worse shotgun I've ever owned is my Remington 870, its also the best because its the only shotgun I've ever owned. :D

I love it!
 
Stoeger STF 3000 o/u 20ga

bought one at Dick's for around $300. was attracted by the price. safety doesn't work. it only keeps the firing pin from resetting after the first shot, so i guess it will keep you from accidentally killing 2 people, instead of 1. it's nice for target/skeet, but i wouldn't take it into the field, and CERTAINLY wouldn't let my friends/family use it.

can't sell it as is, can't let my wife use it, can't give it to my kids 20 yrs from now. really don't know what to do with this gun...

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A 1970s Browning Citori. I could not hit air with it. Other people shot it well. I was in my thirties when i bought it and I had shot nothing but side by sides from the age of eight. I guess I just could not adapt to the smaller amount of drop.
 
Back in the mid-1960's I had a 12 gauge Sears single shot bolt action. It was a big, heavy, clumsy beast to lug around for grouse hunting and I hated it. I traded it for an old Stevens .410 break-open, which was a much better gun for hunting the thick woods around these parts.

No idea of the reliability of the Sears gun since I only fired a box or two or shells through it before the swap. I still have the old Stevens and it's worked perfectly for all those years.
 
a couple of guys were knocking the nova...what specifically went wrong with them? I love mine, but anything I should be looking out for?
 
Browning Gold, constantly jammed, complete POS. Never had any problems with any shotguns that operate manually though.
 
Stoeger condor. The safety button was so loose that it would switch back to safe after the first round and you would be unable to fire the second shot.

Also, for some reason it would rust like crazy, and would be the only gun in the safe to do so.

Interesting seeing very little Mossberg love on this thread. I've got two 500's and a maverick 88 (all 12's) and have had no issues. Fit and finish not as nice as the 870, but I like the placement of the slide release and safety.

A buddy just went through breacher's course and said that he preferred the M590 to the Benelli 1014.
 
Mossberg 500. Jam-O-Matic P.O.S.Tried to feed 2 shells at a time. With the action open, you could smack the receiver with the heel of your hand and shells would fall out on the ground.
 
The worst I have ever fired was a tri-star cobra tactical model with 18in bbl. Though the accuracy was decent and it was reliable, I hated the assisted slide. It required more force to extract a shell + the slide and bolt could not be held open. At the range ALL of my guns are empty and bolts open at ALL times. I love my Mossy 550 *dodges flack* and will continue to use it as a range/field gun.The c-lect choke is another story though. Shreds wads, fouls easily, and fails to produce patterns even close to a acu-choke.:barf: Anybody know if you can replace the choke without buying a whole new barrel?
 
Tri-Star something or other in 20 GA. I won it in a raffle and when i got it home the barrel was defective. there was a hole drilled into the side of the chamber that breached the bottom barrel. i sent the gun to Tri-Star and the gave me a knew one that when i put it together the first time it was such a tight fit i couldn't open the gun. got rid of the POS ASAP. Not only the worst shotgun Ive ever owned, worst gun period.
 
As for the Stoeger, I'd think they'd fix that safety issue if you called them.

A 590 is not a 500, either. The 590 is better built, at least it felt that way. I handles lot of 500s and they just feel cheap, the 590 I've owned and it is a solid gun.

Worst I've owned? Rossi 20ga youth. Kicks like a mule, and pierces primers on the light loads I bought for my son. Oh well, it was 99 bucks for the .22/20 combo. I'll have to fill the butt and/or forestock with some lead and epoxy.
 
Mossberg Bullpup. Trigger was mush, sights were ridiculously high at all ranges. I was young and foolish then; I feel old and foolish now.

It probably doesn't count, but I deliberately made a dumb gun by taking a Marlin Goose Gun, cutting off the barrel to 20", installing a heat shield and a bayonet lug. I told people it was a new military prototype weapon. If I'd painted it black, I believe they'd have been fooled.
 
Worst pos sg i ever owned was....


Without a moments hesitation, the absolutely worst POS SG I ever owned was an HR Topper single shot 12 gauge shotgun. I paid something like 50 bucks for it, and that was 50 bucks TOO MUCH!!!
That darn thing would literally come apart in my hands when fired. The forearm would blow off, next the barrel became incredibly loose and at that point it was best to toss it aside.

It had to be a bad seed because I hear most swear by the HR line. I bought it from a friend of mines mother. Come to think of it she always said I was the devil that corrupted and ruined her son. Of course he was a hell raiser long before he and I started hanging out. This was back in the day in a section of Brooklyn, NY known as Red Hook, right on the waterfront. Those were the good old days when we roamed the streets of NY fearless. I was younger back then and far dumber.

Yes sir HR Topper, worst I ever owned, worst I ever fired. Come to think of it, I gave it away to a girl I knew that feared sleeping alone. So I duct taped that forearm in place very tightly, and tested it before turning it over to her. She told me she shot it and liked the kick. As I remember it had quite a kick to it that's for sure. As I remember she had quite a kick to her as well. Never saw it again, never saw that girl again either come to think of it. Some things are better gone than had.
 
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my worst is a Chinese copy of the Ithaca 37, I thought that pump actions were pretty much fool proof. How wrong I was, I still have it hoping putting a ton of rounds might smooth it up. I haven't felt any desire to shoot it though.
 
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