Survival Shotguns!

G

Granite

Joined
Dec 28, 1999
Messages
73
I was talking with a friend recently about using a shotgun as a multi-purpose survival, hunting, self defense tool. Now, I am looking at single shot guns, because I love simplicity. My question is...would a 410 be sufficient for survival hunting? It's lighter and more compact than the average 20 or 12 ga. and one can carry more 410 shells than 12 ga shells for the same weight...
what do you guys think?
 
The 410 is a nice short range shotgun for small targets. Although I have heard of success on larger game with 410 slugs, it certainly wouldn't be my first choice. For small game at reasonable ranges (less than 40 yards) and self defense at very close range it would be fine. A 22/410 Savage 24 is a good combo gun, and others like the Springfield M-6.
Personally I think most would be better off with a 22 rifle than a 410. It has better range and more versitility.
 
I would go with a 20ga. Even though the ammo is heavier, it has much more vesatility. A 20ga slug has real athority, and the bigger shot payload is nice.
 
I hunted with a 410 sometimes as a kid because I had no other choice and I would not purchase one with survival in mind from the beginning. While I did kill dozens of squirrels and rabbits with the 410 it wasn't a great tool for the job. On occasions when the squirrel was in the very top of a large oak or hickory tree it would run off after being shot. Most of the time it would die and fall from the tree a minute or two later, deaths like that are unacceptable.

Now I can fully appreciate your idea of a single shot shotgun as a survival gun. There is nothing wrong with the 20 or 12 gauge. Lots of people overlook the 20 gauge because they haven't seen it in use. I had a neighbor growing up who had a Ithaca pump 20 gauge and used slugs to hunt deer with. If my memory is correct our last two years in high school he killed five deer one year and six the other and only had to shoot twice on one deer. People forget that the smoothbore muzzleloaders most coastal Southeners and nearly all of the French Canadians used were mostly 20 gauge. Everything from ducks to moose were killed with those.

I built a "survival single shot" a few years back. I bought a 12 gauge from a local gun shop for $70, took it to the gunsmith and had him cut the barrel back to 22 inches, thread the inside of the barrel for Mossberg screw in chokes, and install rifle sights. Then I installed quick detachable sling swivels and a buttstock shell holder. Around here you can get used Mossberg chokes for $5 or $10 each so a complete set of chokes wasn't expensive.
So for somewhere around $200 I have a gun that will kill anything from quail to bears, is short, light and quick to the shoulder.

After playing with the shotgun for a few months I decided that the only major thing wrong with it was the weight of the ammo. My brother solved that problem for me, he bought several of the cartridge adapters at a gun show to shoot 38 Specials and 357's out of a 12 gauge. Now I have them in those two calibers and 9mm, 45 Colt.... If I ever find one of the adapters that will group accurately enough at 25 yards to kill small game I will have the perfect survival gun. Still when I use this as my gun on a river trip or for back country camping I take along a couple of 9mm adapters and 100 rounds which take up about the same amount of space as 25 rounds of 12 gauge. You never know when the urge to plink might come along. Well this is the most I've ever typed on the internet and I think I'm done now.

[This message has been edited by Leef (edited 06-13-2000).]
 
Wow Leef! Great set up! I had considered that idea several times but never went forward with it. Now I guess I'll have to.

I also agree that the 20 is a better choice. I have a Savage 24C which has served me for several years and with the acquisition of 357 Mag, and 30/30 adapters it should give many more years of useful service.

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Where no law exists there still must be justice- Dan Mahoney
 
What about a Thompson Contender or Encore. You can carry both a shotgun barrel and a rifle barrel. This way you have both reach and something for small game at close ranges.
I am currently saving up to get an Encore. After shooting my friend's I just became hooked. It breaks in half so you can carry it in your pack and it is very accurate even with iron sights (we shot about 1.5 MOA).
 
Thats what I'm talking about!!!! Cheap, effective, simple, sturdy, easy to repair, versatile, handy, and even intimidating to look at from the wrong end. Lets hear it for the modern Northwest Trade Gun! Keep one at home, one in the truck, one in the barn, one (at least) in the ground, and one at your locker at work (just kiddin' bout that last one
wink.gif
)!

I have seen many of these old knock abouts "fixed" with duct tape, baling wire, rawhide, and even nails rigged for firing pins- not that that is necessarily a great idea. The point is, the all could provide food and protection.

Take the barrel off your old single shot and blow through it like a trumpet. The sound carries well, and you have just replaced a signal whistle.
 
Granite, I have a Mossberg Mariner and an Air-rifle, at the moment I am trying to get a over and under 12G... gun, with rifled and smooth bore, these are hard to get, especially hard in Ireland, where I live, but ideal for survival, long range rifle and close range shooter in one, combine this with a good knife and some ammo and experience and you need never go to a 7 to 11 again, 20g would be ideal too, thats my 2cents.

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Hunting?
Don't be a wise guy!
What d'ya hunt with a knife?
Name it!
 
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