I had an old J. Stevens double that had the plastic Tenenite stocks. weighed right at 6 pounds and shot the tightest groups with buckshot of any gun I ever owned. My brother always said it "got meat at both ends" with heavy buckshot loads.
I also traded a half case of beer to a buddy for a "truck gun". It was an H & R single shot that had the barrel cut off to 18" and the stock shortened to 12". It was really handy in a truck cab, but when you shot 3" buckshot loads.....one was all you wanted to shoot.
Probably the worst case of recoil I didn't personally shoot, but did witness. My father was hunting rabbits with a muzzle loading 10 gauge double that was rated for 8 gauge loads.....so of course he was using an 8 gauge loading. Don't remember the exact load but around 4 1/2 drams of powder behind 2 1/2 oz. of shot.
He shot a rabbit and went to reload....apparently letting the gun turn....and inadvertantly loaded a SECOND chrge in the already loaded barrel.
A few minutes later another rabbit was spotted. He aimed and the cap just snapped with no explosion. He cocked the second hammer and touched it off. The results were ....spectacular....to say the least. Smoke, flame and recoil that nearly took the gun from his hands. The gun was still intact after the shot, but the shooter was a bit rattled. Guess we "proofed" that shotgun that afternoon.
The rabbit, by the way, died.
Last edited by TexasRick; 02/19/12.
I hate change, it's never for the better.... Grumpy Old Men The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know
