Old bolt guns

Being an old codger, in my mind, lever action, bolt actions and semi-automatics are rifles in my mind and break barrel, double barrel and pump actions are shotguns. That is what I saw and used when I was a kid in the 60s and we get set in our ways.
 
Being an old codger, in my mind, lever action, bolt actions and semi-automatics are rifles in my mind and break barrel, double barrel and pump actions are shotguns. That is what I saw and used when I was a kid in the 60s and we get set in our ways.
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I've got a lever action 12 gauge that's a lot older than you are. I've been shooting it since I was a kid in the 60's.:D
 
You can't escape your youth no matter how hard you try. As a boy on the farm (in the late 1940's Hawg and osbornk) I always wanted a bolt action shotgun but never got one. When I became an old codger, and after many other guns, I found a J.C.Higgins (Sears) 20 gauge bolt at my LGS and had to have it. It was almost new condition with well finished walnut stock and great blued steel. The tube magazine loads through a port in the bottom of the action, just like a Browning BPS and many other respected scatterguns. The action is smooth (sort of) and it handles well (sort of). I like to shoot it.

The knock on bolt actions has always been they are too slow with the second shot. That's true for birds but I think they are fast enough for squirrel hunting and rabbit hunting, especially if using a dog on bunnies. Actually, I never tried it, but a bolt might not be too bad for ducks over decoys.
 
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Well osbornk, I may have a couple years of codgerness on you. Born in 1947 that first "all my own" Stevens bolt gun came to me arounf 1958, or 59. So to me, bolt guns were shotguns as much as rifles.
 
My brother has a old JC Higgins bolt action .16 .ga, with Polly choke on it. I works great and a lot of small game has been taken with it . hdbiker
 
An interesting thing I noticed on the Marlin 55 I bought was that the rear of the receiver had mounting holes for some sort of sight. A little research turned up that Lyman did make one. Long discontinued, hard to find, and expensive though.
 
I have an Kessler Westchester “Buffalo Bill Cody” model bolt action 12 gauge/full choke 30” barrel. Traded a POS Sears & Roebuck guitar for it back in the 70’s. It’s taught me to make the first shot count ‘cause it takes a bit to get the next shots off but it’s dropped a lot of waterfowl & pheasants over the years.
 
Last week I came across a good looking gun my Grandfather owned. It is a Mossberg 183KE .410 C-lecta Choke. I am so stoked about the condition of the gun, and stock. I should put a pic up, but I am a little hesitate to post pictures of my firearms......

Anyways........ What a find at the Grandma's house. I can't wait to get it to the range. This will turn out to be my truck gun for yotes and upland birds.

This shotgun has made me interested in more bolt action shotguns.
- P
 
Bolt shotgun

My only shotgun right now is a Mossberg 190 in 16 gauge I bought several years ago for something like $200.I fell under it's spell just because you don't see that many 16's any more.
 
the 183 is a great gun. watch the 'safe fire' colored inserts. they tend to fly out. don't overtighten the trigger guard. its plastic. enjoy!
keep in mind, the 183 colors are backwards to the rest of the world. green means - go bang. red means - stop, its locked.
beware.
 
stuckinthe60s said:
the 183 is a great gun. watch the 'safe fire' colored inserts. they tend to fly out. don't overtighten the trigger guard. its plastic. enjoy!
keep in mind, the 183 colors are backwards to the rest of the world. green means - go bang. red means - stop, its locked.
beware.
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Thanks.

Slugs for the yotes.

I have heard not to shoot steel shot through these older shot guns, and i understand why. So I guess I will be limited to hunting grouse with it. But I do have another newer H&R single.shot .410 that I can shoot steel shot from.

-P
 
I hunted with a bolt 12 gauge when I was a kid. My uncle gave it to me to. He didn't want it. I couldn't even tell you who made it. I remember it had a [what I would call] a flash suppressor and an adjustable choke, which was nothing more than a collet that would reduce in size as you screwed it in tighter. It's still in the closet I slept in as a kid. I'll have to bring it home the next time I'm at my dad's.
 
The first shotgun I ever shot was a Mossberg 16ga. adjustable choke, bolt action. The one with the plastic trigger guard with the finger grooves. My grandfather traded it for a car radio in the 60s or 70s. It was the one I took hunting when my dad said I was old enough to go. I loved that shotgun even if it did kick like a mule and I couldn't aim it.
 
my dad was not a hunter, on the farm any animal that could help feed five hungry kids was game. I remember one morning after milking the cows(70 by hand) a flight of ducks lit on the fire pond and my dad said go get the shotgun(bolt action sears 12 ga) he had it setting in the grain room. I got it and two old blue peters#7.5 shot shells, we got below the pond berm and my dad raised up and shot into them and then shot again into the flopping mass. he got nine and we ate duck for two days. to him a firearm was a tool, just like a rake-pick or hammer. he had no attachment to it other than to do a job. 30 years later I bought him a new rem 870 in 12 ga and when I gave it to him he said that's nice and put it in corner in the livingroom and it sat there for about 5 years and he than gave it back, never fired. eastbank.
 
Now I know why.....

Now I know why the brits look down on American shotguns....

Just kiddin there....but for heavens sake can any gun be uglier than a bolt action shotgun with a dial a duck on it?

Esthetics aside, they do work.
 
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