Anyone remember my Mushroom Gun?
Way back in the late’90s or early 2000, somewhere thereabouts, I posted about a much modified H&R single shot shotgun I owned that I had reworked into a handy companion for woods walking. It had a shortened barrel, some sort of BIG bead front sight, and a friend humored me and took the time to inlet a patchbox so I could stow some matches and fishhooks. Turned out real nice, and was a dandy gun to tote around.
Well, we take to the hills each year for either ‘shrooms or huckleberries, so I figured something similar to pack would be a good idea. I always take either a Ruger Vaquero in .44 Special, or a GP100, but I thought a short shotty might be a comfort. This is the result....
Shortened the barrel to 19”, for an overall length of 35”. Added a fancy slip-on recoil pad (the brand escapes me, sigh). It had a synthetic buttstock when I received it, but I added the forend as it has storage capability for, oh, matches and fishhooks! Last, but not least, I installed an old MMC sight I’ve had laying around for better then 15 years. End result is a modernized version of my old Mushroom Gun, and one that isn’t likely to get sold off or traded away any time soon.
Otony
![[image]](images/uploaded/201907220342435d3530b3e0719.jpg)
Anyone remember my Mushroom Gun?
by J.Michael 
, peoples republic of new jersey, Monday, July 22, 2019, 11:33 (1952 days ago) @ Otony
Made something similar as a NJ truck gun. Took a 20GA H&R side break I paid a woopin $80.00 for with cleaning kit and case and had it cut to 21" and had Remington slugger sights welded on. Replaced the bead front sight with a green fiber optic. Hollowed out the fore arm and stock to reduce weight and cut the stock as short as to be use full. Shot Brenege slugs out of it and they would stack one on the other at 50 yds. It ended up on the farm permit rounds because it weighed nothing and shot great. First shot killed a deer. We were going out on the farm to a sand hill to sight it in and a deer stepped out and down it went. After a sight in session I think it went 13 for 13 before recording a miss. Still kicking around the farm somewhere but has not been used in years.
![[image]](http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/TheRealHobie/Firearms/PCSGun.jpg)
Anyone remember my Mushroom Gun?
by Slow Hand 
, Indiana, Thursday, July 25, 2019, 19:02 (1948 days ago) @ Otony
AK Church gifted me a similar shotgun several years back. It was a long barreled H&R that he’d cut down short and had threaded for choke tubes. It has a new bead installed. He also lengthened the forcing cone to help with patterns and reduce recoil. It’s one of those fun ones where it’s got more in smithing work than the gun cost! It has a synthetic buttstock and a wide fire end that is designed to hold a couple of extra shells. It has a simple nylon sling/carry strap. One of the best parts about it (other than the fact that a good friend gave it to me!) is the bag it’s in bits a tan ‘antenna bag’ from a place called county comm. It is very sturdy and has a built in shoulder strap. It has a dual zipper to open a flap wide for easy extraction. It also has a few pockets on both sides that I have loaded up with birdshot, buck and slugs. Somewhere I glommed onto a rifled, steel 12 ga to .45 acp adaptor. It’s in a pocket with a few 10 round stripper clips loaded with JHP and FMJ .45 ammo. It lives under the back seat of my truck. I haven’t shotnit in awhile and now I think it needs to come out and play next time I hit the range!