The Single-Barrel, Break-Open Shotgun

[CharlesHarris]

Be advised the following article is written from the viewpoint of a rural "back to the land" retired government bureaucrat in the USA. I hope that it is of general interest.

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People I knoiw who have real Third-world experience agree that a break-open, single-shot, 12-gauge shotgun the least expensive, most handy and versatile firearm that anyone can own. It is legal in many places which don't allow people to own a modern battle rifle or handgun. But any gun is better than no gun if you need one, so use whatever you can get.

A subsistence farmer doesn’t want a heavy "duck gun" or "tactical" shotgun. When on foot, out doing chores around the farm and nearby woodlands you won't carry a bandolier of fifty 12-gauge shells which weigh 2.5 kilos and make you look like some wannabe Mall Ninja! Instead, you will take only what ammunition you need for the day, probably one "up the pipe" and 5 or six on an elastic buttstock carrier to exploiut any table game opportunity which appears, protect you from predators, either two- or four-legged, and to get you back home.

The isolated rural dweller will make a box or two of ammo last for as long a time as possible, especially if ammo re-supply is an hour or more bicycle or automobile trip away. We are speaking here of a simple meat getter, predator eliminator and if need be, home defense gun. Low cost, safety, simplicity, ruggedness, durability, ease of carry, fast handling and versatility are its essential attributes. What other firearm can you get for about $100US which does so much?

The break-open shotgun “always works” and is simplicity itself. Minimal training is needed. You can’t “short-shuck” one, as often happens to novice “pump gun” owners. It keeps going like the Energizer Bunny with only minimal care, despite monsoon rain, desert sand, snow, ice, mud, dust or saltwater exposure and takes apart to fit in your suitcase or pack. Nothing much goes wrong or breaks on them unless you are stupid enough to dry-fire them with the action open and slam the action closed, breaking the firing pin.

A break-open single-shot 12-gauge with rebounding hammer and automatic ejector is the best choice. This is because 12-gauge guns and ammo are the most effective, least expensive, and available everywhere, world-wide. A typical break-open single-shot gun weighs about 3 kg. Yes, it’s true that its recoil can be intimidating. So buy low-base “field loads” and “low recoil” law enforcement slugs and buckshot to take the “sting” out of it. Fifty shotgun shells weigh about 2.5kg, which limits how much ammunition you can carry on longer foot trips.

If someone in the family using the gun is recoil shy, a 20-gauge may be considered. Its lighter shot load has about 10 metres less effective range than a 12-gauge, roughly 25 metres vs. 35 using a full choke barrel on game. Figure five metres less using a modified or half choke and ten metres less if using a cut-off cylinder bore. Twenty-gauge guns and ammo are less common and more expensive. If you buy a 20-gauge get a 3-inch chamber, which can shoot either standard 2-3/4 inch field or heavier 3-inch Magnum loads. A 3-inch Magnum 20 gauge carries the same shot load as a standard 12-gauge 2-3/4 inch field load.

Forget shotguns in other than 12-ga. or 20-gauge if cost or convenience is a factor because the ammo is harder to get and more expensive. In the US the 16-ga. has become an orphan and ammunition is hard to find. In the EU it is more common, and older guns may be a good buy. Some people like .410-bore because of its lower weight and cube of ammo, but it has VERY limited range, no more than 25 metres. The .410 slug only compares to a .32-20 rifle in energy. Thin patterns make game hits iffy beyond about 20 metres. In the US .410 ammo is more expensive than 12-ga. The 3-inch 5-pellet 00 buck is an effective defense load within 25 metres.. In the US you can find single-barrel shotguns factory fitted with an extra rifle barrel chambered for common rifle or pistol cartridges such as the .30-30, .357 or .44 Magnum. Seek out one of these if you already have a handgun or rifle in one of those calibers...

While a shotgun is no substitute for a rifle, it can place a slug about as accurately as a non-expert can shoot a revolver from an improvised rest at the same distance. Reality is hitting a 10cm target at 30 metres or so. Having rifle sights on your shotgun doesn’t improve its inherent accuracy, but lets you “zero” the gun so that it will “hit where it points,” in case your plain bead-sighted barrel doesn’t.

The value of short barreled shotguns with rifle sights is over-rated. Rifle-sighted shotguns are usually either improved cylinder choke or full open cylinder bore with barrels 1/2 metre to 60cm long. While they are handier to carry taken apart in a backpack, shot patterns they produce are thinner and the effective range with birdshot or buckshot is significantly reduced. If accurate slug shooting beyond 30 metres is important to you, should if at all possible get a center-fire rifle instead. Ask yourself if it worth giving up 10 metres (or more) of effective game harvesting range, which effectively limits you to about 25 metres, just to get that handy length and rifle sights whose benefit is to look "cool."

For most people a 26 inch Modified (half-choke) or 28 inch full choke is best on game and hits well enough with slugs for practical use. If you can do the job with the plain vanilla simple gun you have, learn to love its Long Tom barrel and the virtues of instinctive point shooting.

Expert shotgun gunners wield a shotgun on moving game as if sweeping a paintbrush. The “non-expert” single shot user makes his one shot count by shooting his shotgun at game the same as if it were a rifle. Typical table game in the US is sitting turkeys or squirrels up in tall trees. "Ground sluicing" birds when hunting in a survival situation is OK. In hard times so its taking game out of season. However don’t try that in ordinary times and tell the Game officer you were in a survival situation and didn't want to waste the left over’s, so you brought them home after you rescued yourself. "That bird will not fly."

Simplify your shotgun ammo supply. For training and periodic practice buy a case of “dove and quail,” or “trap” loads of No. 8 shot. For general hunting, predator control, big game and home defense buy 100 rounds each of “duck & pheasant loads” loaded with No. 6 shot, BB for large pests such as coyotes, 00 (SG) buckshot for defense and 1-oz. rifled slugs.

The “low-recoil” (reduced velocity) buckshot and slug loads made for law enforcement use are less punishing to shoot in a light gun. They give up little in effectiveness and some guns pattern better with them than they do with “high base” loads, so it is worthwhile to seek them out if you can find them. Otherwise learn to hold onto your gun tightly, cut loose and get over it. Remember that the force of gravity is perpetual and that of recoil is brief, so enjoy the virtues of your simple and handy gun.

Advice for the basic load of 20 gauge ammo load parallels the 12-gauge. Buy a case of 2-3/4 inch 7/8 oz. No. 8 shot “dove and quail loads” for training and practice, then 100 rounds of 1 oz. No. 6 shot “duck & pheasant loads” for general hunting and 100 rounds each of buckshot and slugs for predator control and home defense. The 3-inch Magnum, 18 pellet US No. 2 buckshot has better penetration than the 20 pellet No. 3 buck loaded in the 2-3/4 inch shell, so get these if you get a 20-gauge gun with 3-inch chamber.

If self-defense potential is more important to you than putting meat in the pot, you want a gun which can be accessibly carried, concealed if necessary, which handles easily and can be quickly grabbed, instinctively pointed and fired instantly. Only a short barrel gun fits these requirements. Harry and I once had to equip a married couple whose overseas assignment normally wouldn’t have required them to be armed with personal weapons, but the situation on the ground changed, and we had only one afternoon before they left the US to orient them. We bought two H&R Model 158 Toppers and made a quick trip to the hardware store for a tubing cutter, file and pipe deburring tool. They didn’t make the short barrel, iron-sighted H&R “Tracker” or “Survivor” models back then. A few minutes with common hardware store tools turned the 28-inch full choke barrels into 1/2 metre cylinder bores with a slight muzzle constriction induced by the tubing cutter. They patterned 12 pellet “short Magnum” 00 or 16 pellet high base, or 20-pellet "short magnum" No. 1 buckshot wonderfully out to 30 yards. These legal-length sawed-offs stowed in their Fiat 124 between seat and door post and proved successful in thwarting a kidnap attempt, whereas another less fortunate embassy employee was killed a few weeks after our charges returned home.

Any single-shot gun is a “shoot and scoot” weapon used only to provide an opportunity for escape. If you use a shotgun in combat you must realize that any opponent who knows that you are armed with a shotgun will change the battlefield conditions to his advantage. In an extended gun fight an adversary will undermine your use of the shotgun by staying outside its limited range and just plink away at you. He will get behind substantial cover capable of stopping buckshot, and expose little of himself, being difficult to hit with a slug beyond pistol range. He will rush you while you are reloading or extend the time of battle until you run out of ammunition. If reduced to using a single-barrel shotgun, you must quickly end the fight at close range, exploiting your shotgun’s strengths, by surprising the bad guy who didn’t expect you to be armed, while you escape the killing field before an opponent can take advantage of your weapon’s limitations.

With practice you can learn to reload and fire more rapidly than most people would expect, especially if you carry spare ammo on an elastic carrier on the butt.