Was the Marlin "Goose Gun" really better for goose hunting?

MD

MD

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Remember the Marlin "Goose gun" 12 gauge with the 36-inch barrel?

Was it really any better at long shots than a 28-inch barreled shotgun? I mean how much fuller than full can you make a full choke?

So, thinking back to the lead shot days; if you had one of those guns with a 36-inch barrel loaded with #2 or BB shot and shot at geese 40 to 50 yards away, what was the benefit over using a gun with a 28-inch or even a 30-inch barrel? Did that long barrel work like the special extended custom chokes we can use today to supposedly improve our patterns?

Was it really better or just clever marketing?
 
IIRC in the days of black powder longer barrels did indeed shoot harder. But smokeless loads did away with that reality. I think some long shots were made with the Goose and the 10 bore Super Goose probably because of the guns swinging ability more than the loads it fired.

Darryl
 
My Dad has one.

It looks pretty cool but after shooting it a bit at the skeet range I will take my 870 Rem over it any day.

It's a bolt action with a magazine (just plain weird in a 12 gauge) and believe it had a fixed choke (no tubes that I remember).

I never really shot any kind of comparison tests between it and a 3" or 3 1/2" chambered shot gun with a more (standard) 28" barrel but when I did shoot skeet with it I certainly never got the impression that it was better at longer range - there was no "wow this great" moment.

But it's a gun and it's different - that alone resulted in sales. Guys/Gals will buy anything if they think it will give them some "edge". If they were really "better" I suspect they would still be on the market and every shotgun maker would have one in their lineup.
 
I have the 40 inch marlin goose gun in a pump ,and I will say it is a real goose getter with lead shells .it just swings so much better then a shorter gun ,you can shoot at geese as thy fly by or pass shooting all real long range with the long barrel .it is a lot quieter and has a lot less recoil as well as a great pattern .Dutch
 
I agree with madtrapper...the looong barrel on those things, once you actually got it swinging, pretty much insisted on a smooth follow-through whether you wanted one or not. That was its biggest benefit to goose-hunters.

Plus, if you wanted to get a pair of honkers with one shot, you could usually reach up with the barrel and nudge one over a bit closer to his buddy before pulling the trigger. :)
 
dutchhunter said:
I have the 40 inch marlin goose gun in a pump ,and I will say it is was a real goose getter with lead shells .it just swung so much better then a shorter gun ,you could shoot at geese as thy flew by or pass shooting all real long range with the long barrel .it was a lot quieter and had a lot less recoil as well as a great pattern .Dutch
Click to expand...
Fixed it for ya!
Steel shot and migratory birds and all...:)
 
Longer bbl amounts to the shot scrubbing and deforming as it travels down the bbl which in turn translates to poorer patterns from the deformed shot . As for longer bbl's helping with the swing that possibly could be true but I can't see it being that much of a advantage over a 30" bbl . I have shot them and found them to be quite muzzle heavy
 
Bought a new 5510?? Super goose I think they called it 10ga from mailorder about late 70's . ( remember those days ;) ) Was less than 100 bucks from lebaron I think
Had the rare polychoke and 36" barrel
Hated it. Way too long for a blind and never could I get it to cycle right with the mag. Two shots at best most times
It sat at Moms in the cabnit not being used until maybe 12 years ago when I gave it to a guy that wanted a 10ga
Also had some bite if I remember right even with the nice recoil pad it came with but nothing like I experienced with a mossy 835 3 1/2 pump
Maybe if it fit me better and was better balanced I could shoot it right but never could
Cheers
 
The first moose I shot was with a Marlin Goose Gun. I did not have a rifle at the time, so I humped this along after borrowing it from a friend.
What a PITA to carry in the woods, but up on the open country it was not too bad. First shot at around 60m (i think, I was pretty exicited at the time and it was a long time ago) with the CIL slugs passed right through. It went two steps and collapsed.
Never used it for birds, though.
 
little bear said:
The first moose I shot was with a Marlin Goose Gun. I did not have a rifle at the time, so I humped this along after borrowing it from a friend.
Click to expand...

Cool story! I thought I had cornered the market on re-purposing when I cut an old Goose Gun down and had it threaded for chokes...the Ultimate Turkey Sniper!

But you, sir, win the cigar! :)
 
The long barrel was a hangover from black powder days when if you desired more power you had to burn more powder and needed a longer barrel to do it in. I have read that smokeless loads reach maximum velocity in a 20 inch barrel, don't know if that is true or not. A smooth swing and follow through for pass shooting is the only benefit I can see for the long barrels.
 
I've got one, it's full choke and patterns extremely well; still decently at 80 yds. When son and I were patterning it, going back 5yds at a time that's as far as we went, as it's range was starting to seem almost silly.

I used it for turkey hunting last and geese when I first got it. Keep in mind at least the one I've got are 3" chambers. But ya, pretty ungainly looking with the long barrel, although the stock is nicely shaped and it actually points well as it's really nicely balanced.

I wrote marlin to ask what shot it would be suitable for and they were kind enough to write me back. At least the model I've got are fine for almost everything; there were a couple that are a no -use (steel bb's or somesuch plus one or two others, I'd have to find the letter to be certain)

A heck of a gun in the day compared to the 2 3/4" competition, and really still a good gun,especially if you're on a budget and don't mind the bolt action.

That being said, when I hunt waterfowl now I use my moss. 935, but while I keep thinking my goosegun is just taking up space I never seem to get around to selling it, either.

If the OP want's one I'd say be patient and find a nice one, they're out there and occassionally you see a nice one in the ee for around 150.00. While I'm not really sure why, it likely will never be mine you see for sale.
 
Suka said:
I've got one, it's full choke and patterns extremely well; still decently at 80 yds. When son and I were patterning it, going back 5yds at a time that's as far as we went, as it's range was starting to seem almost silly.

I used it for turkey hunting last and geese when I first got it. Keep in mind at least the one I've got are 3" chambers. But ya, pretty ungainly looking with the long barrel, although the stock is nicely shaped and it actually points well as it's really nicely balanced.

I wrote marlin to ask what shot it would be suitable for and they were kind enough to write me back. At least the model I've got are fine for almost everything; there were a couple that are a no -use (steel bb's or somesuch plus one or two others, I'd have to find the letter to be certain)

A heck of a gun in the day compared to the 2 3/4" competition, and really still a good gun,especially if you're on a budget and don't mind the bolt action.

That being said, when I hunt waterfowl now I use my moss. 935, but while I keep thinking my goosegun is just taking up space I never seem to get around to selling it, either.

If the OP want's one I'd say be patient and find a nice one, they're out there and occassionally you see a nice one in the ee for around 150.00. While I'm not really sure why, it likely will never be mine you see for sale.
Click to expand...

Do you have any pictures of those 80 "measured" yard patterns? I would love to see the core/density/pellet count and %'s from that testing.
 
No, that was a few years ago(like 10-15), using 8.5 by 11" paper with a turkey head drawn on them. As we moved continually further back it became much further than I'd ever actually shoot, rather almost amusingly interesting at the distance. You're ever in the neighborhood you're welcome to try it though, just bring your own shells.

I don't even remember the max distance I decided for turkey, but it was the furthest of the shotguns we had at the time by quite a bit.

edit: just remembered at whatever distance my max decided distance was it put 17 pellets in the turkey head on the target,but don't remember the distance.
 
MD said:
Remember the Marlin "Goose gun" 12 gauge with the 36-inch barrel?

Was it really any better at long shots than a 28-inch barreled shotgun? I mean how much fuller than full can you make a full choke?

So, thinking back to the lead shot days; if you had one of those guns with a 36-inch barrel loaded with #2 or BB shot and shot at geese 40 to 50 yards away, what was the benefit over using a gun with a 28-inch or even a 30-inch barrel? Did that long barrel work like the special extended custom chokes we can use today to supposedly improve our patterns?

Was it really better or just clever marketing?
Click to expand...


Marketing!

As are most "must have improvements"
 
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