Bolt action shotguns.

[50 shooter]

Who makes a tactical bolt action shotgun?

I remember back a few years ago that a couple companies were making shotguns that held pretty good accuracy. Anyone remember what the name of the company is and if they still exist?

[Screwball]

I've never seen a tactical bolt action shotgun...

I've seen Marlin and Mossberg bolt action shotguns. Don't know if they were discontinued, but you'd have a two shot magazine to be hunting legal.

[Model12Win]

Nobody.

[osbornk]

For some reason I have never warmed up to a bolt action shotgun or a break barrel single shot rifle. It just seems backwards.

[shootbrownelk]

Browning made an A-bolt shotgun, don't know if they still do.

[FITASC]

Tactical is so very overused as a word; it is not hardware, it is software (mindset).

That said, neither definition would have anything in common with a bolt-action shotgun. Marlin made a goose gun long ago; IIRC it had a 36" barrel

[deserted]

I used to have a bolt action 12 gauge, in the late 70s. I think it was a Stevens or Savage, along the lines of their bolt action 30-30. It did not fit well, could hardly ever hit anything with it, had a two round box magazine that often fell out into the bottom of the canoe. One day I found the magazine on the bottom of the river after having fallen out the last trip (I had two). As soon as I could afford a pump gun, any pump gun or auto (turned out to be an Ithaca 37), I dumped the bolt gun. It is now merely a memory.

[Scout]

http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/212

Not tactical, but a good slug launcher.

[O4L]

I have a Mossberg 20 gauge that is bolt action with a two shot magazine. My dad bought it for me in about '75 for pheasant hunting.

I doubt you would consider it tactical.

It is like this one but without a sling.

[Rob228]

http://www.browning.com/products/fir...ns/a-bolt.html

Not sure if this fits the "tactical" bill but its a dedicated slug gun.

[darkgael]

What is a "tactical" shotgun?
I have two Mossberg bolt action shotguns. One o.j. s a model 185k-a smoothbore. The other is a model 695 slug gun.
Tactical?

[eastbank]

most bolt action shotguns turn into a PITA over time, for a three or for boxes a year shooter-hunter maybe ok. but every one i know from when i was a kid in the 50,s ditched the bolt action as soon as they were able to up grade. eastbank.

[50 shooter]

I found one of the companies that make them, one is TarHunt RSG-12, kinda looks like a Rem. 700.

Yeah, the word tactical gets tossed around like a wet rag and all the fanboys wet themselves over it but I read about these tactical shotguns before the word was worn out.

It's a different concept but at $3,500 for just the shotgun, doubt many agencies will be buying as that will buy alot of AR's. If you compare it to the cost of a precision rifle, then it sounds a little bit better.

I would think that a custom slug would be needed for accuracy or some very custom ammo made for doing precision work.

[Ricklin]

Back when I was a broke kid in the 60's-70's bolt action was the cheapest way to get a new shotgun.

They have never been popular, pretty much an oddity today. Probably the most common was the old Marlin goose gun, with that "hit's harder" 36" barrel.

About the only thing that 36" barrel did was got the shooter 4" closer to the geese.

But try to convince an old timer who was brought up on that drivel......

[muzzleblast...]

Originally Posted by Ricklin

Probably the most common was the old Marlin goose gun, with that "hit's harder" 36" barrel.

About the only thing that 36" barrel did was got the shooter 4" closer to the geese.

LOL.

[FrankenMauser]

I've got a 20 ga Savage 258 that's fun to take out for upland game.
Most people that use it think it's a fun shotgun. ...Until they have to reload the gawdawful detachable magazine.

Tactical? Not if considering modern, common use of the word.

[10-96]

Until they have to reload the gawdawful detachable magazine.

Lol... Good times. I learned to shoot with my dad's bolt 16ga as a kid. Fast forward to adulthood when I got out of the Army, I wanted that nostalgic feeling so I went and bought some kind of old 12ga bolt and took it dove hunting a time or two. On the last time out the spot welds on the clip broke loose. My reloading went like this: Drop the clip, pick the follower and spring up out of the dirt/grass, kinda mush it back together, carefully put in two shells, turn it around so it can be stuffed back in the bottom of the shotgun, try to get another finger on the release button, drop the d%*@ thing, start over, pick up all the parts plus 2 shells, put them all together again, load the 2 dirty shells, sneak it up the bottom of the shotgun, have a shell pop out, throw that one away, push the remaining shell down, direct load another shell from your pocket into the chamber, shoot once, pick all the magazine parts up out of the grass/dirt again, stuff it all into a pocket, get mad, and go home. It takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it... you tend to take up fishing as a preferred sport.

[chardin]

Will this do? It has a handguard, a bayonet lug, and could sport a sling and a reflex sight if I ever felt like it.

[James K]

Those shotguns were decent sellers, but never a big profit item and the makers dropped them when GCA '68, went into effect with its requirement for serial numbers on all guns. Faced with the added expense in marking and record keeping, many companies dropped their low profit lines entirely.

There are two major problem with the guns today. The first is that they were always cheap and have not held up very well. The second is that they all use detachable magazines which got lost, and new ones are scarce. There may be a market for someone to make new magazines, but most owners choose to scrap the gun instead of buying a magazine for two or three times what the whole gun cost way back then.

Jim

[10-96]

Not quite all were bottom feeders. Mossberg made a bolt with an underbarrel tube starting from the late 40's... say '47 or so until it was dropped in '68.

[FrankenMauser]

There are two major problem with the guns today. The first is that they were always cheap and have not held up very well. The second is that they all use detachable magazines which got lost, and new ones are scarce. There may be a market for someone to make new magazines, but most owners choose to scrap the gun instead of buying a magazine for two or three times what the whole gun cost way back then.

Yep.

My 258 was rolled over by a horse or driven over by a truck (and then still fired for what I estimated to be 50-75 rounds!). Absolutely decimated. Some one actually took it to a gunsmith, whom quickly convinced them to go buy a Remington 870 and never fire a bent gun again.
I paid $8-12 at the gunsmith's estate auction.
(Can't remember exactly. I got five "parts guns" at that auction, with all falling between eight and twelve bucks each. --The gunsmith was still kicking, and sharing whatever he could about the lots. He was smart enough to liquidate 70 years' worth of possessions before his wife got stuck with all the "junk" after he died.)

But, of course, me being the stubborn fool that I am... I fixed the receiver; mostly straightened the barrel; glued, screwed, and pinned the stock back together; and paid $40 for a replacement magazine. (The Savage/Stevens magazines are available.)

I'm glad I saved it. It's a fun shotgun.

But loading that magazine requires three and a half hands, two miracles, and alien intervention.

(...) It takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it... you tend to take up fishing as a preferred sport.

[T. O'Heir]

There's no such thing as a 'tactical' anything. The word is a marketing term only.
However, Browning, Savage, Mossberg and Marlin did or do make a bolt action shotgun. Mostly rifled barrels now.

[chardin]

If I take the box magazine out of mine and weld a metal AR-10-ish mag to its bottom, will that be enough to make it tactical?

How about a laser sight?

This is the military weapon of the future, guys!

[eastbank]

a man i know said he used a 870 12ga in the battle for hue and said it was useless there and left it proped up againest a building and picked up a m-16 with a bandoler of ammo. i don,t know if he was lieing or not, but he was a marine in vietnam durning tet. eastbank.

[44 AMP]

Back in the early 70s one of my buddies had a "tactical" Mossberg 16ga bolt action.

It was "tactical" because it had an adjustable poly choke on it! (of course, we didn't CALL it tactical back then...)

ALL the bigger caliber bolt action shotguns I know (12 & 16ga) did use a box mag. My Grandfather had a bolt action .410 with a tube magazine. Worked really well mechanically, except for ejecting the last fired case. The lifter would come up too far and block the empty from being ejected. That gun was lost in a house fire, but a few years ago a friend GAVE me one just like it. No name on it anywhere, I believe it is a Stevens, but I haven't researched it.

Also don't know if it has the same problem, to date, I've never fired it. Something I should do, I suppose, will add it to the bucket list.


As to the Marlin goose gun...

About the only thing that 36" barrel did was got the shooter 4" closer to the geese.

The long barrel actually did do something. Not make the gun hit harder, that part is drivel (not so much drivel with black powder though) the extra 4" (or 6" if your standard for a long barrel is 30") adds weight to the muzzle and can "smooth" the swing when pass shooting.