Frankenshotty

G

gburner

New member
Several months back, a friend gave me an H&R Topper 88 in 12 gauge. It appeared to be a lot of rust and cobwebs at the time, but I decided to use it as a project gun. After cleaning and lubricating, the action proved itself to be smooth and the bore had a mirror finish. Then it went into Dr. Frankensteins Laboratory.........

Safety glasses, hack saw, dremel tool, circular saw, sanding block,
steel wool, flat file, cold blue and ebony stain...there it is. The worlds first single shot, tactical shotgun. 19 inch barrel, 32 inches overall, 5 round elastic butt cuff and tactical swivel/sling mounts. I'm gonna pack the buttstock with lead to take up some of the recoil and am looking for a pad as well.

After I take it to the range and recover from the subsequent separated shoulder, I'll tell ya'll how it did. IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!
 
I like your style. I'm an avid crow hunter and have toyed with a similar "frankenshottie" idea for years. Someday maybe I'll get a couple of beat up autos, One left handed, one right. I want to weld the receivers together, fab up a more manageble stock and fore end and voila.... the ultimate double barreled auto lead slinging crow busting machine to come down the pike. Kinda cute slinging hulls out both sides don't ya think?
 
Sounds like the Boomstick.

NEF "Pardner" 12ga shortened to 20". Weighs about 5.5 lbs. I originally put about six 3" shells through it. Had a nice screw-shaped bruise on my shoulder, and couldn't fire from my left shoulder for a week.

Then I bought a slip-on recoil pad. Heh.

However, firing a 3" magnum slug through the boomstick is how we initiate new shooters (if they want to be initated...LOL).

I love the thing. It's my favorite shotgun (right now it's my only shotgun).
 
Great minds move in parallel paths.

Over maybe the last 30 years, I've run across variants on the survivalist single bbl shotgun.

Some of these are woods runners, some are projects for truck guns, others are turkey guns.

A few things they have in common...

Light weight.

Rugged and reliable.

More kick than a mule with a bobcat on its butt.

20 gauge seems to be the most common, I've seen maybe 15 of these. Most have standard bbls, short or even skeletonized stocks, GOOD pads, sling studs and some sort of ammo holder attached. Great shotguns for carrying a lot and shot a little.

Saw one of these in 10 gauge some years back. It was on consignment at a now defunct gun shop near Elicott City, Md. Short bbl, camo paint, sling with shell loops, and in like new condition. The laconic comment from the employee there was it had been shot just once....
 
Man's got to know his limitations...

Before I let this bruiser off'n his leash, can one of you learned folks give me some feedback on the most effective/user friendly ammo to feed it. I reckon 3inch magnum slugs are not on the list.
 
Blanks? :D :D

Seriously, just get some off the cheap dove loads at wally world. For HD, search the threads (when the search function gets turned on). Lots of good advise there.

I'd probably take a hard look at a "tactical" buckshot load. I've had great resullts with Federal/Remington's loads.
 
They do kick! I duck hunt with one every year, and it is the gun I take when I am hunting alone. I never seem to feel the recoil while hunting, but that night there is always a nasty bruise on my shoulder and it is tender to the touch. But there is nothing more fun to hunt with in my book.
 
Son's little NEF 12 has a 3" chamber and weighs 5 lbs, 9 oz. Not on a bet...

My first shotgun was a H&R 16 gauge single. The old Western load of 1 1/8 oz of 3s was my goose load, but it killed on one end and crippled on the other. I had a flinch by my 14th B-day.

These are user friendly with light loads. As for buck, go with some RR stuff, or the Estate SWAT if it can be found and the weapon "Likes" it.
 
i MADE one of these over 10 years ago

from a springfield single-shot 12 gafe i inherted. 19" barrel, lead weight in stock, slip o recoil pad, 5 shot elastic ammo holder. still have it. A friend made one of these in 10 gage (withthe 3 1/2" chamber no less) for turkey hunting. he added a steel bar to the stock to add weight (the thging was almost as long as the stock!)
still kicked like a mule. didnt have no trouble nailing turkeys with it through<G>
 
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