New home defense gun.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Fri May 11, 2012 12:45 pm

I`ve gone round and round over what i like in a HD gun from pumps to auto loaders and seems i feel the most secure with a double barrel.
Ain`t much to go wrong and the wife can shoot it with no problems.
It`s a 12 ga. Herculie's that the stock had been refinished and the forearm is not original on so cut it off to 20 inch.
Look Terry it`s a lever shotgun.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Fri May 11, 2012 12:51 pm

That's nice Pitchy. My problem is my CFO likes the CLACK,CLACK of a pump action being cycled. I guess I'm stuck with my Wi
ngmaster.

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:29 pm

Nice "coach gun"

It fits you!

Mine HD gun is a Remington Wingmaster 870 with an open choke 20" barrel
I use it for skeet too! and I have the original trap barrel for trap shooting...

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:30 pm

Nice toes.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:32 pm

Rusty wrote:That's nice Pitchy. My problem is my CFO likes the CLACK,CLACK of a pump action being cycled. I guess I'm stuck with my Wi
ngmaster.

We can fix that.

Thanks guys.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:34 pm

Awesome. I like your choice. Hope you never have to use it for it's intended purpose

hightime · Post by **hightime** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:45 pm

There might be a lot of ways to defend the home. I have a surpent. Then the grandsons.

Owen

Old Ranger · Post by **Old Ranger** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:48 pm

That's a dandy little twice barrel there. Thought that the "lever" was a funny photo addition!

Bet with a full house load that scattergun kicks like a mule! Keep having fun Pitchy!!

Wade

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:52 pm

Thanks Mike , Owen and good to see ya Ranger.

That Surpent should do the trick, just don`t forget it`s there and blast it yourself.

C. Cash · Post by **C. Cash** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:53 pm

My Stevens 311 guards the house!

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:57 pm

C. Cash wrote:My Stevens 311 guards the house!

Basically the same gun, i think mine is a 315 or somethin.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Fri May 11, 2012 1:57 pm

Rusty wrote:That's nice Pitchy. My problem is my CFO likes the CLACK,CLACK of a pump action being cycled. I guess I'm stuck with my Wi
ngmaster.

+1. Although I personally, prefer a short gun for indoors work and a short rifle for "yard" work!

Old Ranger · Post by **Old Ranger** » Fri May 11, 2012 2:08 pm

Aw, Pitchy I got over my mad spell....not at you by the way...a couple others that I won't mention...

Yeppers, around my place way out in the deep woods, if one wants to approach my place they have to evade three huge dogs...The 75 pound Husky is quiet, but full of teeth and attitude. The two big labs are more prone to make noise to wake pop if there's someone out there....Then it's too late. The husky's got ya!

She'll hold 'em down so pop can do his old cop thing......oh yeah, I retired from police stuff,,,, So they have no rights. I don't have to use minimum restraint. And I don't answer to internal affairs anymore.....Ahhhhh, a dream come true!

That husky's 1/2 timberwolf....forget to mention that part...hee heee....

I like being way out in the middle of nowhere.....kinda gives ya "a little latitude for your attitude".....

Wade

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Fri May 11, 2012 2:52 pm

Beautiful!! I have a 12 Baikail shorty double, and a 20ga shorty hammer double....that means two never fail shots.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Fri May 11, 2012 3:32 pm

If they see that there bayonet it'll scare the flibety giberts out of them! Would me!

Nath

Canuck Bob · Post by **Canuck Bob** » Fri May 11, 2012 4:18 pm

Fine house gun. There is something intimidating staring down a double barrel 12 gauge! It might help out with things at the gunpoint negotiation stage sometime.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Fri May 11, 2012 4:31 pm

Thanks guys, yep there is something to the look of a double that gives that old western feeling.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Fri May 11, 2012 5:19 pm

Ithaca actually makes a breakopen 'lever' shotgun, but it's a single barrel...

DixieBoy · Post by **DixieBoy** » Fri May 11, 2012 5:27 pm

I think you've got it covered Pitchy. - DixieBoy

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Fri May 11, 2012 5:33 pm

Been wondering O.R.

tman · Post by **tman** » Fri May 11, 2012 5:51 pm

Cool, My Father still has his Ward's hercules 12 gauge singleshot that he bought in the early 1930's. It still takes game

MrMurphy · Post by **MrMurphy** » Fri May 11, 2012 6:52 pm

I tend towards a rifle before a shotgun for indoor work, and a pump over a double due to training and experience, but a smart person with a double barrel can still take care of things, assuming you don't need a reload.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Fri May 11, 2012 7:31 pm

Sweet!

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Fri May 11, 2012 7:47 pm

MrMurphy wrote:I tend towards a rifle before a shotgun for indoor work, and a pump over a double due to training and experience, but a smart person with a double barrel can still take care of things, assuming you don't need a reload.

The main reason i don`t like the Auto-5 is it`s hard to reload, the early ones anyway.
I think it could be a issue in a stressful situation where the double can be loaded pretty fast even in the dark.
My Mossy 590 with nine rounds is a dandy alright but i want something the wife feels comfortable using too so chose the double.

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Fri May 11, 2012 9:43 pm

My 311 parts gun/ builder ( which will shoot right now ) is still original length.
The question now is, should I cut the barrels or not?

ollogger · Post by **ollogger** » Fri May 11, 2012 9:49 pm

All them look right nasty, you can spread them all over the house
and have it pretty well covered, maybe a revolver or 3or 4 also!
yea you got one of them self loading 45s to dont ya?
If i ever get up there ill give ya a mile by mile report as soon as i get within 30 miles

ollogger

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat May 12, 2012 6:47 am

Mescalero wrote:My 311 parts gun/ builder ( which will shoot right now ) is still original length.
The question now is, should I cut the barrels or not?

Took a little thought before i cut this ole girl off but they arn`t worth alot in the shape mine was in.
All original 311 i`d think hard on it.

Ollogger

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Sat May 12, 2012 7:44 am

Pitchy wrote:
MrMurphy wrote:I tend towards a rifle before a shotgun for indoor work, and a pump over a double due to training and experience, but a smart person with a double barrel can still take care of things, assuming you don't need a reload.
The main reason i don`t like the Auto-5 is it`s hard to reload, the early ones anyway.

I prefer the Auto-5, and keep an old one for HD, because it's a little safer to keep more or less ready to go, and if it gets in the wrong hands, it takes a little more skill to operate, but that's not a problem for me. I keep the mag loaded, chamber empty with the magazine cut off engaged. That way a kid or someone can work the slide but no shell jumps into the barrel, but but all I have to do is pull the slide back and hit the cut off lever and I am ready to rock and roll.

I do like the simple workings of a short double, and I have an old hammer double that I like for some uses, one being that you could load one, put some tape over the muzzle to keep out dirt dobbers, and leave the hammers at rest, and that gun could sit or hang somewhere for 50yrs and still probably go bang, when you needed it.

C. Cash · Post by **C. Cash** » Sat May 12, 2012 11:48 am

Savage/Stevens should have really kept the sculpted sides of the 311.

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Sat May 12, 2012 12:26 pm

That looks really nice Chris, hope I can get my builder close to that.
How long are the barrels?

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat May 12, 2012 1:12 pm

Very nice C.Cash.

C. Cash · Post by **C. Cash** » Sat May 12, 2012 1:24 pm

Thanks guys. I think they are 28" Mescalero but I will confirm. This is a 1960's gun that was like new when I got it about 5 years ago. The case color is brilliant. I have a nylon shell holder on the stock with buckshot at the ready, action cracked and ready to be broken open....a bit quicker into action that way if one chooses to leave it unloaded.

I am tempted to make it into a modernized Confederate Cavalry Double barrel, maybe with screw in chokes. That way, I could keep bringing it to the Turkey woods as well. The full choke barrel throws a really nice pattern as is though.

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Sat May 12, 2012 1:41 pm

I was thinking of cutting my builder to 24" and installing flush mount chokes.

C. Cash · Post by **C. Cash** » Sat May 12, 2012 2:59 pm

Yep, then you could do a cylinder choke for a slug. That would add camp/bear defense to the long list of things a shotgun can do, without the risk of ringing or bulging the barrel at the choke.

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Sat May 12, 2012 3:02 pm

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat May 12, 2012 3:44 pm

My Riverside Arms mdl 315.

I will quote:
Riverside/Stevens mdl 315 Shotgun

Apr. 20, 1915, refers to the patent date of Patent No. 1,136,247 granted to G.S. Lewis and assigned to the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. of Chicopee Falls, Mass. This patent covers a hammerless double with coil-spring driven strikers, rather than internal hammers rotating about an axle. From the time of the patent until WW-II this action was used on a number of different Stevens, Riverside and Springfield doubles as well as many marked with a variety of "trade names."

The gun of this design was introduced in 12- and 16-gauge as the Riverside No. 315 in the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. Catalogue No. 54, with a list price of $16.50. The plants of the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. were taken over by, as I recall, New England Westinghouse for wartime production during WW-I. After The Great War they were sold off to Savage Arms Corp. and became J. Stevens Arms Co. (NOTE: That's not quite right, Stevens continued until 1940 when they were bought out by Savage... Researcher1 has his dates slightly wrong... -_ Rick)

J. Stevens Arms Co. continued to make this gun during the 1920s as the Riverside No. 315. By 1923 they introduced a slightly upscale version called the Stevens No. 330. The Stevens No. 330 came with a capped pistol grip walnut stock, while the Riverside had a half-pistol grip walnut stock. By 1925 the 20-gauge and .410-bore were added to the offerings. By 1930 J. Stevens dropped the Riverside name for their lower priced line and started using the Springfield Arms Co. name.

For 1931 they introduced the Springfield No. 311 which was a similar gun but with an uncheckered "walnut finish" stock. For 1930 J. Stevens Arms Co. began offering the Stevens No. 330 with a Jostam Anti-Flinch recoil pad and Lyman twin ivory sights. By 1937 they made a few cosmetic changes and the gun became the Stevens No. 530. These G.S. Lewis designed guns remained in the line up to WW-II.

In that that catalog was issued in 1914, and the 311 didn't come along until the 1930s... I'd think the mdl 315 predates the 311 and from that description, is the better of the 2, and may account for why the 311 is probably the easiest to find. Wood sculpting may have changed over the period of production... as the 311 was still being offered under the Savage label into the 1970s I believe. But, will admit that I haven't researched it very thoroughly. I do know that many of the internal parts are interchangeable with both the Stevens/Savage mdls 311, 315, and some of the ones on the 330; as I've had to replace several of the internals in my Riverside gun over the years I've used it CAS. Not very long, as I quickly bought a IGA Stoeger "Coach Gun" as the 315 doesn't fully open to allow shells to just drop in the chambers without modification. I still use it on occasion as it's a "looker"! And sometimes one just has to up his "style points!"

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat May 12, 2012 4:17 pm

Nice un Griff.

x

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Sat May 12, 2012 8:14 pm

Thanks for the close up Griff,
Now I know how to finish that stock to the action.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat May 12, 2012 9:30 pm

Mescalero wrote:Thanks for the close up Griff,
Now I know how to finish that stock to the action.

While I don't know if that is the original configuration, as mine is serial 717x, est. build date of 1916, and was stocked as you see it when I bought it... although I did cut the barrels from 28" to 20". The stocks were made by Fajen.
Right side:

Left side:

It's pretty scratched up, from being banged around on the range. It's hard NOT to just throw 'em down when you're done and trying to get to the next gun! So if you're fussy about your guns, DON'T take up cowboy shootin'! Or, at the least, don't try to be real competitive! Since I don't use it much anymore, I should probably do a little sanding and putting a new finish on it!

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Sat May 12, 2012 10:22 pm

It was the metal to wood junction that was informative.