Most reliable action/shotgun

roadwarrior

roadwarrior

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Ok here it goes folks: what type of shotgun action is the more reliable in regards of durability, reliability and ruggedness in all types of weather and applications combined? Is a low end single shot more reliable than a high end semi for example? How about sxs vs o/u? Or bolts (e.g. Savage) vs pumps? If you could only choose one shotgun to survive in the woods for a undetermined period of time, without spare parts or a cleaning kit which action and brand would you choose?

I'll be making a fresh pot of coffee :popCorn: :D
 
Side by side, double trigger non-ejector. Unless the lock itself breaks ( nearly impossible), you have two separate, independently functioning guns. You can break a firing pin or a hammer spring and keep on shooting. Ever wonder why the classic African dangerous game gun is a double rifle? Unfortunately, also the most expensive. For cheapest, with rugged reliablily, a Remington pump would get my vote. I use both. A very cheaply made double is not as reliable as a good pump IMHO.
 
1. quality sxs or o/u
2. Rem. 870
3. Win. 12
4.Win 97
i didn't include any single shots..most are made to cheaply.
 
i didn't include any single shots..most are made to cheaply.
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I got a 'cheaply made' single shot that's been in the family for near a hundred years now, and has fetched more ducks, geese and grouse than you would care to count. It's served 3 generations in my family. Still works great, still goes out every year and still brings the birds down :D

That kind of 'cheap' i can live with.
 
well maybe then you could offer up your ideas on good dependable actions instead of picking apart others' experiences, I have had alot of experiences with cheap shotguns that have ruined hunts for folks in the past and most of them were with cheapo single shots. Now I realize you may be the Guru of cheap single shots, and maybe you could grace us with a list of the "must have" cheapo single shots.
 
well maybe then you could offer up your ideas on good dependable actions instead of picking apart others' experiences,
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Ummm - that'd be what you did sparky. I simply corrected you and said those 'cheap' singles often are pretty damn dependable.

I can't help it if the people you hunt with don't know how to take care of their guns. But there's a lot of 'cheap singles' that do just fine. Their actions are simple, their parts are simple, etc. With even minimal maintenance they perform reliably for many years.

However - seeing as you started this, please: by all means outline which singles you've had these regular constant failures with. I assume it's more than once for each brand, nobody'd be daft enough to condemn a gun because he had a single one fail - every gun in the world would be 'crap' if a single failure was the determining factor. So - go ahead. Which ones did you have all these negative experiences with? For that matter - which ones have you personally owned that failed on you so many times that you deem them all to be 'cheap'.
 
I have had good reliability with my Mossberg 835, in very adverse conditions. Snow, rain, freezing temps, mud, etc, and it still keeps going. You could field strip it, and clean it with a nail, and a piece of toilet paper, if you had to. Synthetic stock, no warping, parkerised barrel, no rust. I ran 600 shells through it trap shooting one weekend without a cleaning, and it never missed a beat. Probably wouldn't pack that many shells around out in the bush.:p

My last choice would be a semi-auto..
 
Longwalker said:
Side by side, double trigger non-ejector. Unless the lock itself breaks ( nearly impossible), you have two separate, independently functioning guns. You can break a firing pin or a hammer spring and keep on shooting. Ever wonder why the classic African dangerous game gun is a double rifle? Unfortunately, also the most expensive. For cheapest, with rugged reliablily, a Remington pump would get my vote. I use both. A very cheaply made double is not as reliable as a good pump IMHO.
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Double triggers because the single has a more delicate device or for redundance in case of failure? I mean, would you pick a single shot vs a single trigger double barrel?

No one voting for the Winchester model 9410? :onCrack:
 
roadwarrior said:
Double triggers because the single has a more delicate device or for redundance in case of failure? I mean, would you pick a single shot vs a single trigger double barrel?

No one voting for the Winchester model 9410? :onCrack:
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I would not pick a single shot in any case! A single trigger in a double barrel gun has some inherent weaknesses. ( high volume target shooters would probably disagree with me)
1. If your first shot doesn't fire ( bad primer, etc.) , and you have an "inertia" reset type trigger, your second shot will not fire either.
2. The alternative is a mechanical trigger. Mechanically activated single triggers are complex, and must reset themselves somehow to switch barrels between shots. I've had them fail on a couple of different guns.
 
ben hunchak said:
well maybe then you could offer up your ideas on good dependable actions instead of picking apart others' experiences, I have had alot of experiences with cheap shotguns that have ruined hunts for folks in the past and most of them were with cheapo single shots. Now I realize you may be the Guru of cheap single shots, and maybe you could grace us with a list of the "must have" cheapo single shots.
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Alright. Browning BT-99, H&R Topper, Winchester model 37. All great guns, with the Browning being the candy. Both the H&R and '37 will out last you, your kids, their childrens children. Etc etc. In my opinion, you need a hug. :popCorn:
 
Hotwheels81 said:
no mossberg 500 fan's?..... k i will slink back into the corner....
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I love my 500, works flawlessly and I can strip it down with a nail or toothpick ( same as somebody previously mentioned for the 835). For sheer indestructabilty though, I think the old Mossberg bolt guns have it. The Stevens may be similar. No more moving parts than the break actions, and those moving parts are more accessible for maintenance. Break action single would be my second choice ( both available used for about the same $$$).
 
I have taken more birds with my cheapo 149.00 single shot break action .410 than any of my other shotguns, in 20g or 12g.

That is partly because it is so handy, I will often toss it into the truck "just in case" when I am out for firewood or out with the dogs.
It has been a suprisingly reliable and accurate piece, and I like the external hammer on it - but it is not pretty, and it is not much of a comfort when you startle a moose or something big on the trail.
 
I'm not surprised that no one voted for a gas operated semi, but how about those who are inertia operated like the Beretta's? How would those do in an extreme weather survival type scenario compared to other actions?
 
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