Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Why the Heck Would You Want a Single Shot?

This is exactly what I thought 2 years ago. One shot only...seriously? What if I miss? There is certainly superior firepower to be had.

Well, I've had a change of heart and now really like a SS! I picked up both a Rossi 357 and a H&R single shot 20 gauge 6 months or so ago and took a turkey with the 20 this morning. Had a second shell in within a matter of seconds.

Why did I leave my 870 at home today? SS is lighter and I appreciate the absolute simplicity of it. And did I mention cheaper too? I'll still make plenty use of the 870 but the SS was a blast!

My turkey gun is a H&R turkey special with 24 inch barrel and screw in choke tubes. The gun weighs about 5 pounds and is so easy to carry that I can't imagine lugging around a Browning A5 magnum like my uncles used. I did put a Limbsaver recoil pad on it because it kicks like a young mule with 3 inch or 3.5 inch shells.

Single Shots are the cat's meow & the dog's bow-wow.

Love my 1885's.

My timber deer rifle is a T/C Pro Hunter with a 23" barrel chambered for .357 Remington Maximum. Very accurate, packs a punch, just plain fun to carry.

Welcome to the Dark Side.....

I've shot everything from squirrels to elephants with a singleshot. With the exception of two leveraction rifles, all the rest of my long guns a single shots.


maddog

First off I'm lefthanded and I favor the H&R platform and have 7 30-30's. I favor the older Topper slim profile barrel on these.

Really like the light weight they offer, with a modern SB2 receiver and 1-4x20 Leupold, mine weigh just under 6lbs. Really like where the breeching lever is on the H&R as well. At 38 inches they are "Handi" to boot.

Also own a couple of Sidekick muzzleloaders and a couple of 30-06 Handi's With four Topper/Pardner shotguns it makes for lotsa singles.

Single shot Remington 510 22


Single shot 177 pellet gun


Single shot 22 Remington 510


Single shot H&R 50CB


Single shot Ruger #1 7mmRemMag


Single shot Uberti 1885 257 Roberts Ackley Improved rimmed

"One shot only...seriously? What if I miss? There is certainly superior firepower to be had."

If you miss, the animal is either hauling ass, walking away dead on his feet, or hit badly is gong to lead you on a merry chase into the bracken before he lies up somewhere.

Filling the woods with lead after him is a pretty poor response to any of these scenarios. The one shot mindset should vastly reduce the times you will take any marginal shot. A downed animal that gets back up or one traked to his lie down spot can easily taken with a reloaded second round in almost any single shot.

I would not want one in combat, but single shots work fine in hunting.

1B

You can dump a 2nd round in most single shots faster, if practiced, than most un practiced folks work the bolt on a Rem 700.

Not that I ever plan to need a second shot, but even with a Ruger 1, I carry ammo along....

I've been contemplating how long it takes to slip another round in a single-shot vs. clear a jam on a Remington M742 or Winchester M100. For me the time difference is very large. However, I understand some semi-auto users are so very experienced and practiced at it that they might be able to give me a run for the money

This is why

Of the two pictured below, I use the bottom one - it is a single-shot. The top one is not. It has never jammed on me.

Jus' about every rifleman has a "dream-rifle"... a rifle he really WANTS more than anything!

I had such a "craving" for a Ruger #1 International (AKA "RSI") in 7x57mm for the greater part of my adult life, but could never bring myself to spend the money to get one. I truly admired it's Mannlicher-style stock and short dimensions (only a 20-inch barrel)... a "very-handy-woods-rifle", I thought to myself and anyone else who would listen to me. It was just the "coolest" thing I ever saw in a rifle!!! YEAHHHH!!!

Well... "it" finally happened, a fella was selling his RSI in 7x57mm in order to get enough cash to buy a rare Colt "Peacemaker" from a collection another fella was breaking up... and the ONLY way this guy could afford the Colt was to sell his RSI through which he had shot less than a full box (20 rounds) of cartridges. He needed another $800 on top of what he already had in order to buy the Colt. So he put his RSI and it's bright, very nice, new-looking aluminum rifle case up for sale for that "$800"!

Fortunately, once he decided to sell his RSI, I was the first fella he mentioned it to... me being a total stranger... a very "lucky" total stranger.

The rifle was in "like new" condition... not a mark or a scratch on it... the "perfect" rifle... and I just COULDN'T (and "didn't") pass-it-up!~!~! That was 5 or 6 years ago... and I've never been sorry I bought it. It's a "pretty" little rifle with nicely-figured walnut wood and no "dings".

The only "bad" part is... I already had a dedicated deer rifle... a 1953, very traditional Savage Model 99 (EG) in .300 Savage caliber in pristine condition that is (in my mind, at least) THE perfect eastern deer rifle and I can't make myself leave it at home in order to take the RSI on my annual trek to deer camp at my bestest hunting buddy's cozy cabin up on the High Plateau among the mountain laurel in the Moshannon State Forest in north-central Pennsylvania.

SHUCKY-DARN !~!~!

But I'm really gonna try to take my single-shot RSI on a deer hunt one-of-these-days... maybe... possibly... perhaps... we'll see.

Meanwhile, I figured out that a man doesn'really HAVE to have a reason to own a single-shot rifle other than "jus'
because he jus' WANTS TO !~!~!"... and you can take THAT to the bank!!!

Jus' my 2� worth...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Besides history, styling, and all that jazz, a single shot has a couple of practical advantages.

1) shorter overall length, even with a 26" barrel, so you get a better compromise between ballistics and length.

2) the lack of a magazine allows one greater loading flexibility. You can load the bullet to any desired OAL. Or you can load bullets that may otherwise not feed well.

Not only can single shots work satisfactorily, they may actually give the optimum first shot, at game.



turkey at 120 yards, through the wing butts. DRT, and little meat damage:

Liberty .270? Did I read that right?

Good looking, good shooting rifle!

I actually picked up my rate of fire when I started using a single shot Ruger. I had been hunting with a traditional .50 muzzle loader...

correct, it's a Liberty 1B. And 130gr Ballistic Tips work on deer, too

Oh yeah, that's an even better photo!

I fell in love with the Ruger #1 as soon as it hit the shelves..

But, I was busy raising a family in my little hick town and couldn't justify the cost - even more so when the gorgeous little Browning Low Walls hit the market !

When the opportunity to buy one from a 24Hr member came up AND it was chambered for the cartridge that I really wanted - I pulled the trigger right away !



This little .260 is shooting bug hole groups with 129gr Hornaday IL's. I had the trigger done by Lee Shaver and topped her with Talleys and a Leupold 2x7.

There's just something about a sleek, classy single shot and I can hardly wait to turn her loose in the deer and elk woods this year !

This 7x57 never stays home (but my 99 does).