Shotgun Nostalgia

D.Turvey Jr

Eastmans' Staff / Moderator
Feb 11, 2014
171
1
Powell, WY
Let's hear a bit about your favorite shotgun. We all have a personal relationship with these inanimate objects that objectify our waterfowling passion.

I'll start...

When I was 16 I bought my first big boy shotgun, a 12 gauge Remington 870 Express pump. My intent was jump shooting greenheads on the creek behind my house south of Bozeman, Montana and "casting and blasting" along the Gallatin River. Over the last 18 years I have harvested everything winged with it and even took a few deer too. In fact, until very recently it was the only shotgun I owned (other than an heirloom .410 Wingmaster). It has been across two flyways and four states where it has drawn feathers in all. That gun has been a faithful companion from my teens, to early adulthood, through marriage, two children and two gun dogs – it's basically a family member. She now sits pretty and clean in a case waiting for my children to get old enough to make memories with her. But who knows, maybe on a pensive day this coming fall I will take her out again and splash down a few more greenheads.
 

Fink

Veteran member
Apr 7, 2011
1,961
204
West Side, MoMo
I love shotguns. I could never have enough scatterguns. My favorite is my Auto 5, given to me by my grandpa. I had it all reworked, custom fit with new wood, new barrel, springs, all that.. Killed my first duck, goose, turkey and quail with it, and my wife still shoots her turkeys with it.
I don't shoot it very much any more, usually only on duck hunts in tight timber, or where I know I won't get it dirty. It fits my wife perfect, and she's hell on spring gobblers with it. I love shooting that old gun, and hearing all the heavy steel clanking as it cycles shells.
I've always talked about it, but one of these days, I'd like to build a diorama or something for it, take an old hedge fence post with some barbed wire around it, dead-mount a pair of greenheads onto the post, and then place the gun next to it.
 

libidilatimmy

Veteran member
Oct 22, 2013
1,140
3
Wyoming
I have to admit it, I've never sold a single shotgun, only keep adding. Of these, two of them I'll never let out of my sight. The first being an Ithaca model 37 featherweight in 16ga that was my great grandfather's duck gun because of the bottom ejection and the hulls fell in the boat. It still shoots and functions like a dream even though it was made in the mid 1940s. The other is a Winchester model 12 that my grandfather gave to me as a kid which was he liked to shoot pheasants with. You couldn't offer me enough money to part with these two feather busters.
 

sneakypete

Veteran member
Aug 9, 2011
2,811
249
Oakdale Ca.
I have a few, but I'd have to say my favorite is my newest a Beretta A400 extreme in optifade. I like libidiltimmy have a Ithaca model 37 in 20 ga.
 

NE69

Active Member
Jan 6, 2013
372
59
65
Southwest Nebraska
Browning auto 5 12 gauge. My dad got it for me when I was 12 in 1970. Used at the time but still my main shotgun.
Picked up a muzzy side by side last year that we think was built about 1880. It has damascus barrels in 16 gauge. Shoots well with 55 grains of FFF. Plan is to take a turkey this spring and then pheasants in the fall with it.
 

D.Turvey Jr

Eastmans' Staff / Moderator
Feb 11, 2014
171
1
Powell, WY
Browning auto 5 12 gauge. My dad got it for me when I was 12 in 1970. Used at the time but still my main shotgun.
Picked up a muzzy side by side last year that we think was built about 1880. It has damascus barrels in 16 gauge. Shoots well with 55 grains of FFF. Plan is to take a turkey this spring and then pheasants in the fall with it.
Any pics of the Damascus gun?
 

Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
3,796
2,162
Eastern Nebraska
I started with a Remington 870 12GA when I was 12. I have owned a lot of brands and gauges through the years but I still haven't found one I like better than the 870 3" 12GA. It just feels good and I shoot it like it's an extension of my body. Lots of battle scars but its pretty to me!
 
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shootbrownelk

Veteran member
Apr 11, 2011
1,535
196
Wyoming
Browning A-5's are my favorites and I've owned plenty of them. I shoot them occasionally, but I use my Browning Citori more often than not. I've had 20 and 10 gauge doubles to get around the law when lead shot was outlawed for 12 gauges. I've also had Ithaca's and Remingtons.
 

CrossCreeks

Veteran member
Mar 6, 2014
1,023
0
Dover, Tennessee
I like am most of you have too many shotguns but my favorites are a Single Shot Sears 20 ga. my dad gave me in 1968, (killed my first Squirrel with it) 12 ga. Remington 1100 my first auto, a Browning Light Weight 20 ga. and a Ruger Red Label O/U 12 ga.. All of them I enjoy holding and just looking at. Maybe I will post some pictures also.
 

brdhuntr

Member
Feb 17, 2016
64
0
Eagle Idaho
My first love was a model 12, 20 gauge with a 25 inch solid rib full choke with a 4- didgit serial number,.my second is an A-5 sweet 16, that i got in 1962 for my 16th. birthday. My third is an 870 12 gauge 3 inch that i got in 1964. I will pass these on to my kids, and rarely ever shoot them except 870,on occasion. My go to gun is a 20 ga. Browning o.u. Fond memories with those guns..
 

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,074
4,301
82
Dolores, Colorado
My Dad started me out when I was about 7 with a single shot 20 ga Eastern Arms that was his when he was a kid. My Dad used to own a sporting goods store and sold lots of guns. I started working there when I was about 12 sweeping the floor, washing windows, dusting, etc. on Saturdays. My Dad gave me credit and I bought a used Winchester M12 12ga when I was 12. Used all my store credit. When I was 15 I told Mom & Dad I wanted a new shotgun for my birthday. Dad said it was too much money for a BD present. I said I'd pay for 1/2. I picked out a new Winchester M12 3" duck gun with a vent rib, retailed for about $98.00. I gave my Dad 50.00 and it was mine. Shot tons of waterfowl with it. My Dad and some friends owned a 200 acre duck club and I got to hunt a lot. I kept it until my son talked me out of it when he was 16. He still has it.

I shoot a Browning BPS 10 ga for geese now and a Ruger 20 ga O/U for ducks now.
 

buckbull

Veteran member
Jun 20, 2011
2,124
1,293
I don't think my dad knew there was any other shotgun than a winchester model 12, I have 4 from him in various guages. My first shotgun I was given was a remington wingmaster 20 guage that I still use to squirrel hunt with. My goto shotgun for birds is a Beretta Xtrema 2. I can shoot magnum loads all day long with the kickoff stock.
 

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,074
4,301
82
Dolores, Colorado
I don't think my dad knew there was any other shotgun than a winchester model 12, I have 4 from him in various guages.
I have 3 Model 12's in my gun cabinet. One is a beautiful trap gun my Father-in Law built from a standard field grade gun. Has a Simmons vent rib, exhibition grade , hand checkered walnut stock, a stunning gun. I also have a M12 that was my grandfathers. Simmons rib and Winchester trap grade wood. I built the gun for him. I also have a field grade 20 ga with a factory vent rib. Model 12s are really great pump guns. My trap gun is an 870 TCMC with beautiful wood. I went to our distributer in 1970 and went thru over 100 870 trap guns until I found the right one.
 
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Gr8bawana

Veteran member
Aug 14, 2014
2,634
518
Nevada
Whenever I use this little shotgun it brings back great memories of hunting with dad and my brother. It's a Marlin lever action .410 that my brother and I learned to hunt with. Dad bought it used back in the 60's and we shot lots of ducks, rabbits and sage grouse with it.
The originals were only produced from 1929 till 1934.

 

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,074
4,301
82
Dolores, Colorado
Whenever I use this little shotgun it brings back great memories of hunting with dad and my brother. It's a Marlin lever action .410 that my brother and I learned to hunt with. Dad bought it used back in the 60's and we shot lots of ducks, rabbits and sage grouse with it.
The originals were only produced from 1929 till 1934.

That my friend is a classic! I have only seen one like it and it was in terrible condition.
 

Catahoula12

Very Active Member
Apr 26, 2013
709
123
Colorado, was Az.
I have to say that I own 3 shotguns. Remington 870 12ga., Franchi Affinity 20ga. However, my fav would be my Remington 1100 magnum 12ga. Was my grandfathers goose gun who past away when I was 8. I inherited it on my 16th birthday. Sentimental piece but I use it for ducks and geese..
 

Daubs

Active Member
Aug 5, 2016
424
74
Nebraska
Just a few shotguns in our family, most purchased used, but well cared for. The one gun that sticks out, and has a cult-like following among our family and friends, is my Dad's Browning A-5 Magnum.

He purchased new in the early 70's (I think he still has the original box and receipt!). It's a 3-inch gun with 30 inch full choke. Dad is 75 now and he still is a BEAST with that gun.

Brother and I joke that there are two of Dad's prized possessions that we fill battle over some day -- the Browning and Dad's 1962 Chevy Impala that he purchased new on his 21st birthday. Brother really wants the Browning, and I'm okay with "Ol Blue" as Dad calls his car...but some days...
 

Sawfish

Very Active Member
Jun 9, 2011
767
126
Peoples Republik of Kalifornia
I used to buy and sell guns to supplement my income during the early years of my life. I have regrettably passed some nice guns through my hands, but fortunately recognized some that deserved to stay. My first "real gun" was my Dad's 16 gauge Savage Model 720, which my Mother gave to him for a first anniversary present. The Savage 720 is essentially a Browning Standard Sixteen licensed by Browning. That began my love affair with the Humpback. The old Savage has since been joined by a Light 12, Light 20 and a Sweet Sixteen, which is my favorite. My first new gun was an Ithaca model 37 12 gauge, which I used for everything that flew. I later picked up a used Model 37 in 16 gauge for my son. My favorite uncle gifted me with his much worn Model 12 when he changed to an autoloader. I foolishly traded that one away during my college years, but managed to pick up a Winchester Model 12 Magnum. This was my standard duck, goose and squirrel gun for many years. Hard times and high prices also led to its exodus, but I was fortunate enough to find a Winchester Heavy Duck Gun as its replacement. Those are my three basic models and their variants. In between, I acquired a Smith & Wesson 1000M, a steel framed 12 gauge magnum; a Winchester Model 59, with the "1,000 miles of fiberglass" barrel, and a sweet little Remington 11-48 in 28 gauge. A short trip down shotgun memory lane.