Help me bone up on shotgun knowledge!!

[bballwizard05]

Hey yall, I've got a friend who's husband passed away. I learned that her husband did some hunting and she said she would give me an opportunity to buy some of his rifles. She mentioned bird hunting, which is good. Unfortunately i know next to nothing about shotguns, only fired one along time ago. Can you guys fill me in on what to look for, and some terms I should know. Like Choke, idk what that is? Anything you guys would look at when buying a shotgun from someone, tell me so I can know what I'm doing. Also how do I check if its loaded? Rack the slide a few times (joking...sorta) ?? Thanks

[bballwizard05]

IF it helps at all I may sell one or two to you shotgun lovers!!! plz help??

[aippi]

I would think about taking someone with you who knows how to check a weapon to ensure it is safe and that would know somting about the verious models. He could have a $200 pump or a $2,000 O/U in that safe or collectible weapons worth thousands.

Your asking for a complete course on shotguns here. Kind of hard to cover all that. So, check that the weapons are safe and write down the Manufacturer and model number of the weapons you find there. You can also write down other stamping on the barrel for each one. Come back and post those and the guys here can fill you in about that weapon. There are guys here that only know certain weapons. Like me, I know as much about Remington shotguns as anyone here and little to nothing about others. There are trap shooters here that know the Side by sides and over and unders better then the guys that build them. Once these guys have the models you have an option to buy, they will be a big help.

[acorn]

You know once you go shotgun you'll never go back.

[bballwizard05]

oh sorry I should have mentioned I was planning that. I mean I'm familiar with checking handguns, and rifles to ensure safety. Just unsure how different it is to check a shotgun.

-As far as writing everything down and coming back for advice. You read my mind. But can someone at least answer the choke question?

[acorn]

http://www.briley.com/understandingshotgunchokesabriefexplanationbybriley.aspx

[Peter W Bush]

The best thing to do would be to post information about the guns here such as make and model and features and I'm sure we can tell you just about everything you want to know about the particular guns.

[bballwizard05]

got it. will do.

[BigDogatPlay]

As to safety checking a shotgun.....

** If a pump or autoloader, the magazine tube will be visible to some degree through the opening in the bottom of the receiver. Visually check for shells in the tube.

** After that, with the gun pointed in a safe direction.....

--- On a pump gun, work the fore -end back toward the receiver and the action should open. If it does not move, then the gun is cocked and there will be an action release button alongside the trigger group. Remington is on the front of the trigger guard, Mossberg at the back of the trigger guard. Other makes will follow this general layout.

--- On a semi-auto, grasp the charging handle sticking out the side of the bolt and pull it to the rear until it locks.

** On a break barrel gun such as a side by side or over under, the release will usually be on the top tang and look like a long lever you push to the side. There often will be a sliding safety in the same vicinity. Push the lever to the side and the barrels should open from the breech end with not a huge amount of force.

Good luck and stay safe.

[wjc]

As to safety checking a shotgun.....

** If a pump or autoloader, the magazine tube will be visible to some degree through the opening in the bottom of the receiver. Visually check for shells in the tube.

** After that, with the gun pointed in a safe direction.....

--- On a pump gun, work the fore -end back toward the receiver and the action should open. If it does not move, then the gun is cocked and there will be an action release button alongside the trigger group. Remington is on the front of the trigger guard, Mossberg at the back of the trigger guard. Other makes will follow this general layout.

--- On a semi-auto, grasp the charging handle sticking out the side of the bolt and pull it to the rear until it locks.

** On a break barrel gun such as a side by side or over under, the release will usually be on the top tang and look like a long lever you push to the side. There often will be a sliding safety in the same vicinity. Push the lever to the side and the barrels should open from the breech end with not a huge amount of force.

Good luck and stay safe.

...all good info here. Just wanted to add verification that the action release on my Winchester pump shotgun is at the back of the trigger guard on the left side of the receiver.

[Cali-Shooter]

Also, very important, here's a crash course on what to look for regarding shotgun ammo.

Gauge: The most common gauges are .410, 20, 16, and 12 gauge. All shells will specify which gauge they are for. Only use shells for your shotgun that have the corresponding gauge. 20 gauge shells for 20 gauge shotguns, 12 gauge shells for 12 gauge shotguns, etc. A general rule of thumb, the lower the gauge number, the stronger and more powerful the shell will be for that gauge. .410 is not a gauge, but a caliber.

Shell size: Idk about other gauges, but for the most common and popular shotgun gauge, 12 gauge, there are shotgun shell sizes which denote how large the shell is. For the 12 gauge, there are 2 3/4 Inch shells (the most common size, standard shell size IMO), and there are 3'' and even 3.5'' shells. Any shells above 2.75 inches are usually labeled "Magnum" or "Super Magnum."
Important: Never, never use shells that are larger than what the shotgun was designed to shoot safely. The best way to figure out if your shotgun can take the 3'' or 3.5'' shells is to look at the barrel. For example, my Ithaca 37 shotgun says "2 3/4 in" on the barrel, which means it won't take any shells that aren't 2.75 inches. My Mossberg 590A1's barrel says "2 3/4 / 3 inch" which means that it can take both 2.75 and 3'' shotgun shells.

The Shot Sizes: Basically, for Home Defense situations, you want shells that have "00" otherwise known as "double-ought" buckshot. These shells have 9 (for 2.75 in shells) or 15 (for 3'' shells) spherical pellets/balls that each act like a single round of 9mm or .38 spl when fired at a target at close range in a spread pattern. Another good choice for defense are slugs, which is a single projectile which will destroy whatever it hits, however it requires precise aiming, since it is not a spread shot shell. #1 Buckshot is good also for defense.
For range and skeet shooting (shooting clay pigeons, or as I like to call them, 'pottery frisbees'), you want to buy and use #7, #7 1/2, #8, #8 1/2, or #9 "Birdshot" shells. These shells are inadequate for defensive purposes (they shoot a wall of projectiles that are anywhere from 1/5 to 1/8 the size of a BB) but these are great for bird hunting and for overall shotgun target shooting practice (they come in boxes of 25 for 6 or 7 dollars, compared to a 5 round box of HD 00 Buckshot for $5).

Shotgun Chokes: This is probably the most baffling aspect of shotguns. Cylinder choke is the most preferred by Law Enforcement and Military, because it causes the shells to have a large spread at close range, but the disadvantage is less accuracy at range. The different chokes cause the shotgun to shoot it's pattern a certain way up to a certain range. This is usually for bird hunting reasons.

[mjsweims]

Don't worry too much about chokes. On many/most older guns the chokes are fixed (won't come out). Very often the barrel is marked with what the constriction is - full, modified, cylinder, etc.
Some, not all newer shotguns have removeable chokes. Extended chokes are easy to identify - they will look very different from the rest of the barrel. Flush chokes are screwed into the end of the barrel - with the gun unloaded look at the muzzle and if there is an annular ring at the end of the barrel with two or four notches in it you have a screw in choke - often they are marked with smaller notches to identify the constriction.
To add to the comment about the top tang release lever - they move to the right to break open the gun. There are also underlevers but these are far less common. On some break guns there is a release adjacent to the breech just in back of the barrel.

[bjl333]

The overall appearance of the shotgun is very important, as in any firearms. If they looked abuse they usually are. The bore has to be checked like all used guns. Look for rust in the bore and more importantly check for bulges in the bore. If they are bulges in the bore then the barrels are probably not safe.

The pumps and autos can be worked as mentioned above to check for safety, just make sure things aren't loosy goosy. The pumps are pretty hard to wear out so we wouldn't worry too much there. The autos usually have gas rings that could wear out, especially guns like the Remington 1100. It'll be hard for you to check since you are not familar with taking them apart, so just make sure the bolt area and magazine tubes are free of rust.

On the S x S and O/U's, make sure the barrels are NOT loose on the frame when its shut. This is very important as a loose barrel means the gun is not safe !!! If the barrels are tight the look at the lever that opens the shotgun. The lever should be on the opening side of centerline. If the lever is on the other side of center then the lock work is wearing thin. This could be fixed and tightened, but gotta know model to determine if its workable. Also the ejecter/extractor has to work. Thats the part that pulls the shell out of the chamber. They work much like the extractors in a revolver except onlu for 2 shells.

Good luck on checking the shotguns out. Post pictures for ID and we could go further with what to check for.

[SubieRX]

As to safety checking a shotgun.....


--- On a semi-auto, grasp the charging handle sticking out the side of the bolt and pull it to the rear until it locks.


Good luck and stay safe.

Great info from BigDog... but I'd like to add one thing regarding semi-autos. On some models, simply pulling the action rear-ward does not lock it in place. Some models have a small button at the back of the elevator that must be depressed in order to lock the bolt. Finding this button isn't crucial if all you want to do is check if the gun is unloaded... but it may catch some fingers if you aren't careful.

Good luck!

[randy]

Find a trap range and or gun shop and take the gun(s) there. Let them know you aren't interested in selling them but need to know the value. Also buy a blue book, and take it with you have them show you in the book the gun and how they rate the value.