Just got one of these "for free" from a long time good friend. Apparently his Grandpa died, gave them to him, and he doesn't shoot shotguns - only rifles. I took it home cleaned it up and its in great great shape. A little rust on the bolt, a littlle in the corners of the action but mostly looks great.

Just wondering is this shotty is any good. Classifieds say 75 - 150 a piece. Wondering if its worth my time or if I should go get a Remmy 870 for the upcoming season

What are these good for? Small, large, all game? Anything I should know about them before I go and shoot for my first time?

Thanks,

John

Slow on the second shot, especially compared to a pump. DON'T lose the magazine; they can be hard to find.

The upside to these is that they are usually very well-fitting-- although they look like a rifle, they have shotgun-proportioned stocks that often hit flying targets quite well. And the adjustable choke works fine. Many have a little "U" shaped rear sight that makes it easier to sight them in for deer slugs, in case you live where those are used.

You will get some crap from shotgun people about using a bolt action shotgun--NOT the fashion, old boy!. But one of my upstate NYS friends has been hunting upland game for about 40 years with a Mossburg 385K 20 guage bolt action and he can out shoot most of my friends (and me....) with our "fashionable" double barrels. And he kills a deer with the darn thing almost every year....

Thanks Mesa.

Whenever I say "bolt action shotgun" to one of my friends you'd think I insulted their mothers. Not quite the reaction I was looking for, but still reassuring that aftrwards they become curious.

I figure I'll try it for the season, if I end up sucking because of the long reload time I can always find someone who will love it.

I just came across your post and thought I would try and post a couple before and after picts of my 395kb. I wanted another deer gun so I took the choke off and drilled and taped for the front bead and for the scope mounts, and picked up a stock at havlin because my original had a slight crack in it. Its 2 inch high at 50 yrds and 2 inch low at 100.

GREAT GUN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fortunately no one realizes that. Mine was a hand me down from my father. I was young and learned to shoot what I had. I have consistently hit 19 of 20 traps at the range. DOUBLES, not one at the time. Amazes the best of em. My trick was to go to the range in July or late August, get my timing and when Dove season opened I would get my limit with a box of shells. Some of the guys with newer, modern pumps or semi autos would shoot a case of shells and not get their limit. Its the long barrel, the total power available in the bolt action, not losing power to reload and no twitching of the barrel when the gas cylinder is recharging. That is a huge factor with a semi auto shotgun.
Gawd its an awesome gun.
Doesnt matter if its ducks or geese at 70mph you can outshoot anybody with anything. The poly choke is another asset. The only thing that comes close is a double barrel shotgun with a long barrel which must weigh as much as an M1.
Ive killed deer with 00 and #1 out to 80-90 yds. (I live in a swamp) and a high brass 3" slug will runout to about 150 yds with a holdover of about a foot.
Dont ever sell that gun.
True words spoken by the big Indian.

I just restored what I think is a 60's model 385K 20GA. I love it. It's a great gun and everyone that sees it thinks it's really nice. It has a walnut stock from the factory that people would probably pay a pretty penny for these days. Some before and afters.

I polished the trigger and seer, polished the bolt, refinished the stock, stripped and refinished the barrel and action. I used VHT Flameproof for the barrel and action. It works great. I baked on boiled linseed oil over the VHT and it looks satin.

Oh, and I only payed $100 for it.

The guy I bought it from said he had taken many deer with it.

It's good for just about anything you would use a shotgun for, just a bit slower for the second shot than other repeaters. The ones I have handled seemed to fit and swing well.