Sawed-off 12s

by Catoosa, Friday, November 06, 2015, 09:28 (3309 days ago) @ Rob Leahy

For a while back in the 70s the only shotgun I owned was a very old Hopkins & Allen 12 gauge single shot that had been hacksawed off long before I got it. The muzzle was visibly crooked. It patterned OK with the old paper/card wad shells, but with the newer plastic/shot cup shells it strowed shot like a seed spreader. I took it to a gunsmith and had him shorten the barrel to 24", recrown it, and put on a big brass bead. That was the quickest and deadliest gun I have ever shot out to 25 yards or so, but the recoil with heavy loads was unfun.

Later, after I got a couple more modern shotguns, I JB'd a homemade rear sight on it and filed it to put the little Aguila slugs dead on the front bead at 25 yards. That gun still sits by the garage door with a shell cuff full of the Aguila slugs and 7 1/2s. The squirrels hate it.