Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters If you only could buy 1 Shotgun....12 gauge, all around ???

Silver Hawk, pistol grip, with double triggers , 28 in barrel. Hasbeen

Browning BPS

The only shotguns I have right now are two Maverick 88 12 gauges. One with an 18" and one with a 28".

I've had more expensive shotguns, but I've always included them in trades to get other stuff.

I can't choose between my Model 12s, Model 31s or my Model 37. I like them all.

We're talking "all around, any place, any time," not "my most versatile pretty gun," right?

Easy. Especially if can have an extra barrel (length). Beretta 390 or 400. Nostalgic runner up: Rem 870.

If talking "most versatile pretty gun," just pick your poison. But odds are it doesn't handle with comparable aplomb steel, slugs, optics, rain/river, etc.

Any Beretta semi-auto from the introduction of the 302 up through current production 400. I can skip 3.5" capabiliity, make mine 26" bbl please.

Benelli SBE:
> Available Left Hand.
> Already have one.
> Already dialed in:
.. - Federal Blue Box 3 inch #3 steel for ducks
.. - Federal Blue box 7-1/2's for everything else

I have that very gun in 12 gauge though with IC.

I've shot several 12s over the years, but never owned one. Now I have a BPS in 20 and a 16 with extra chokes. I could do everything I wanted to do with the 16.

SBE

"Top of the line" has nothing to do with neglect.
You can blow up a Ferrari if you don't check the oil, but that says nothing about the quality of the product

Great info, appreciate all the replies.

Sounds like 870 owners have not been let down. I read awhile back the later runs were not as good as the older, but maybe it was the el cheapo promo model, which granted lacks in the finish dept.

JB- I also have a '79 - but it's a Lightweight 3" 20, won in Stuttgart at the World Champion Duck Call contest, Jr. division.......great gun, light, but the 12 calls for all around duty, abundant ammo of all types, with a good payload. Like others, I have no use for anything larger than a 3" 12, if that won't get the job done, well it might be time for a rifle. Lol. JB, I had a TB - trap model long ago, the comb never suited me, would over shoot game, so it went down the road, and the 30" was a pain, 28 is much better and shot many over the years, but went to a 23 on a whim and loved the handling, blast...not so much, but the 26 sounds like a real fast handler with moderate blast vs say a 21 or 23.

Last question folks. Can the 870 magazine tube be swapped out for one that is extended? I take it the standard models hold 5 w/o a plug? Yes/no?

Thanks all, great info.

Last question folks. Can the 870 magazine tube be swapped out for one that is extended? I take it the standard models hold 5 w/o a plug? Yes/no?


No need, you can buy a magazine extension that just screws on, in place of the magazine cap, IF there's no crimp on the magazine tube. The newer 870s are crimped. Brownells and Midway sell tools to remove the crimps.
I have several magazine extensions, for various things, a seven-shot, an eight-shot, a ten-shot, and a 12 shot extension. They come with the needed springs, and aren't costly or hard to change over.
I've been using them for 3-gun matches for a LONG time. Lots of fun, those extensions fit on 870s, 1100s, and 11-87s.

That's good info/news to me.

One of the slickest 870s I know was one used by a duck hunter who put that gun thru years of abuse/use that only made it all the smoother. Read an article years ago by another guy, shot competitive trap as I recall, he had shot his untold tens of thousands of rounds. Seems you cannot wear one out....

A semi does have a slight speed advantage in the field, but it's only an advantage if you do not waste subsequent shots.

Many years back, my Dad used Model 12s extensively over the years, and later went to Browning and Beretta about the time steel shot was mandated and for recoil reduction. His M12s had nice Bishop/Fajen wood he checkered himself and finished by hand rubbed oil - and nice blue. They served him well for trap when not using a his base model Krieghoff.

For my use, a shotgun is a great tool, so I can take an ugly stock wood or synthetic, just sans the high gloss wood to not spook game. The satin wood stocks today are fine and matte blue has it's purpose.

Thanks for the info on the tubes, great to know.

It's not a 12 but until last year it was a Sweet 16. Now it is a FABARM L4s.

In all practicality a 3" chambered 870 with 26" VR Remchoke barrel is a true workhorse. I can't think of anything more dependable and widely used; parts and repairs are simple.


A sturdy German double with a little extra underneath is my idea of the all-around shotgun...a Merkel/Simson/Fortuna, they're all the same gun and are tough as nails.

Browning A5 Light 12 W/O a doubt!

Had my 870 12ga for 30+ years without any problems.

Good posts; also on that Merkel, what is the lower?

I bought a used 870 33 years ago and it still serves well. I’ve never thought it lacked what I need a shotgun for.