OT 311 Stevens SXS

[Hillbilly]

just picked up a little Stevens 20 guage, 311. Any of you brothers know how this shotgun is choked? Can't find a mark on it any place...she's even "pre-serial number"

[Slick13]

just picked up a little Stevens 20 guage, 311. Any of you brothers know how this shotgun is choked? Can't find a mark on it any place...she's even "pre-serial number"

If you've got caliphers, measure the muzzle. A 20 ga bore should be .615". Take .615 and subtract what the muzzle measures, and you'll have the restriction. For example... say one of the muzzles measures .610, that means the restriction would be .005, or Skeet. Say the other measures .600, .015 restriction or Modified. Best way to find out what it's really choked is to put it on paper. 30" circle at 40 yards, aim for the middle (off a bench if possible) and count the number of pellets in the circle (I'd use 7/8 oz of 7 1/2 shot, roughly 350 pellets). The % of pellets left in the circle will give you the actual restriction.

~Michael

[Doc Hudson]

I think Modified and Full were the standard chokes, but I could be wrong. Slick is right about needing to pattern that scattergun to really KNOW how it is choked.

One odd thing about that M-311 20 gauge, the one I had produced more felt recoil than my Fox Model B 12 gauge. I'd bought the 20 gauge for Marcia's use, but she was more comfortable shooting the 12 gauge. So was I so I sold the 20 gauge.

[Idiot]

Doc's right, modified and full are the most common chokes. The right is modified and the left is full - probably. If they are different, they are usually one setting apart, i.e. improved cylinder/modified. Don't shoot slugs through either barrel .

[Andrew]

I like the looks of the 311. I also hear they are a good deal for your money. I would like to find one in 12ga with 28" tubes with both threaded for choke tubes. I like diversity.

Good luck with your new pet and let us know how it patterns if you try it out.

[mescalero1]

Got one in 12, 28 inch tubes, not threaded for choke tubes though

[GANJIRO]

The 311 20 gauge was my very first shotgun back in '76, and it too was choked modified/full. I sold it back in '79 so that could take a cute gal on a date, that gal wound up becoming my wife of almost 28 years now so I guess it was a good sacrifice though I think i'd like to pick up another (311 shotgun, not wife) for old times sake.

[C. Cash]

Your lack of serial numbers should mean pre-1968 and it should be Mod/Full with the 28" barrels, as Ganjiro's has reported. Guns from the early 80's in 20 gauge were Mod./Inproved cylinder and had 26" tubes. I have one like yours with no serial numbers but in 12 gauge. The sculpted reciever sides make for a nicer looking gun.

[Sixgun]

The choke issue has been well answered by the above shootists but I would like to add that the 311 is virtually indestructable. I have pounded the hell out of several of them over the years and they hold together real well. I would go as far to say that the 311 would be my pick for a survival shotgun.----------------------Sixgun

[mescalero1]

Is that why I have two?
I thought I just liked doubles.

[Hillbilly]

the (more)open choked barrel should be to the right?... I guess I need to head to the skeet range and pattern this old girl... this is the first double I think I've ever seen that didnt have some kind of marks indicating choke.

Thanks for the input .

Jeff

[Old Savage]

I had a 12 back in the 60s. I fired both barrels at once once. Only once!!!

[C. Cash]

Jeff...that's correct. The front trigger fires the right barrel with the more open choke. Then the rear trigger fires the left, tighter choked barrel which works well on the longer shots....makes sense if you miss on your first shot. Your pattern will be tighter with the left and chancing of pellets killing the bird are better than with the more open choke at the longer distance. Or you can simply use the full choked barrel initially if you are presented with a longer shot or a shot on something that is harder to kill, like a turkey. Lots of options with the double! The other cool thing is that a double is basically two guns in one. If one firing pin or spring breaks, the other side will work just fine.

[Doc Hudson]

I like the looks of the 311. I also hear they are a good deal for your money. I would like to find one in 12ga with 28" tubes with both threaded for choke tubes. I like diversity.

Good luck with your new pet and let us know how it patterns if you try it out.

By all accounts, the Stevens M-311 was the best double-barreled shotgun in it's price range for many years. And it had many innovations that higher priced guns lacked. I've been told that the action was rather revolutionary at the time of its introduction.

I believe the M-311 was discontinued before screw-in chokes became a frequently encountered factory option. I believe the only way you will get one with screw-in chokes is to buy an M-311 and send it off to Briley for installation of choke tubes.

[goon]

My grandfather explained it to me like this:
The front trigger usually fires the right barrel and the rear fires the left.
The right barrel is usually the more open choke. It's the first one you'll fire because the trigger is in the front and it's more open because you'll want more spread up close.
The left barrel is for when you've missed with the right barrel. You want a tighter pattern out where the bird or rabbit is now that he's on the run. You'll fire it last because the trigger is at the rear.

As neat as the 311's are, I've found that they don't fit me well for some reason.
I'll stick to the cheap little NEF single barrels.

[Hillbilly]

I took the old gal out and shot a short round of clays last Sunday... I usually shoot a 1187 Remington or Model 12 Winchester.
This is the first sxs Ive ever owned... there have been a couple of O/U's but they all got traded away.

First time out shooting clay birds in a year... broke 15 out of 50. I see a lot of potential in this little double...Like any thing else I figure learning what "normal" looks like will help scores a lot... those barrels have a whole differnt visual cue and figuring lead took a couple of stations..(ok, lots of stations)

I think learning to shoot this shotgun will be a fall project.

[Slick13]

those barrels have a whole differnt visual cue and figuring lead took a couple of stations..(ok, lots of stations)

I think learning to shoot this shotgun will be a fall project.

You need to see where the gun shoots, and where each barrel shoots. Get a big sheet of paper and make mulitple big crosses on it like so ++++++. Now, either off a bench or shooting offhand, at 13 yards aim the gun at the center of cross, make sure you're seeing the same sight picture (amount of rib) you'd see if you were shooting clays, and touch off a round. At that close distance you will automatically see if the gun is shooting left, right, high or low. And you'll be able to see if your barrels are well regulated. Shoot mulitple crosses to verify results. If your gun shoots 5 inches high at 13 yards, it's going to be close to a foot high at 30 yards (where most trap targets are broken).

Use 2 3/4 dram 1 1/8 oz of #7 1/2 or #8.

The 311 will probably shoot fairly flat, fine for skeet, sporting clays, and hunting, bad for trap. You'll have to go right after the bird and hit the trigger as soon as your barrles cover it up.

There's no refiguring lead when changing guns. Keep your head down, keep your eye on the target, and keep swinging. Your brain will figure lead on it's own. The thing you need to know when switching guns is where the gun shoots and that's mostly how high or flat it shoots.

~Michael

[kimwcook]

Picked up a 311 a short time back as I thought it was a nice looking SxS. It needs new furniture before I can shoot it as the buttstock is split pretty bad.

[Hobie]

My 311s, rather the earlier equivalents, are indeed hell for stout. Standard chokes were modified (right) and full (left) but different loads might pattern differently. Neither of my guns is marked for choke (IIIRC). Mine are 20 and 16 ga. Wolf sells a spring kit if you need one. A lot of these guns were made for the hardware stores. They might be ugly as sin, lacking the grace of the Parker Bros. guns but they work.

[Lefty Dude]

The 311 is the Tank of doubles, they are built very stout indeed. I have three of the savage doubles.

A model 311H in 12 ga. A fox B in 16 ga. on a 20 ga. frame. and an early 5000 in 16 ga. built in 1930.

I use the Fox B/16 for CAS-SASS and shoot brass shells, used it this morning in a Match and shot a box of my brass smokless reloads 7/8 oz shot and 550FPS. For knocking down steel it gets the job done. Also easy on the shoulder.

[Griff]

As I recall, Stevens bought the earlier Riverside Arms Co of Chicopee Falls, MA and continued their side by side double as the Model 311. My 1919 Riverside is serial numbered, but... it is located on the flat of the receiver below the barrels. I believe the Stevens are also.

[Hobie]

As I recall, Stevens bought the earlier Riverside Arms Co of Chicopee Falls, MA and continued their side by side double as the Model 311. My 1919 Riverside is serial numbered, but... it is located on the flat of the receiver below the barrels. I believe the Stevens are also.

My Stevens is NOT marked...

[edwardyoung]

Here is a terrible picture(it's the only one I have) of an old 12ga Stevens 335 I got for a song because the first 4" of the barrels were rusted beyond use. I had a friend cut it down to 19". Now it's a favorite.

[Comal Forge]

Had a 311 in 12 ga but it had factory 30" bbls and shot more like a rifle than a shotgun. It killed at looooong distance but I needed hydraulic target tracking assistance to swing it on teal when shooting in the duck marshes of Louisiana - so I sold it to a fellow who wanted a turkey gun. At any rate, it was a lot of gun for the money.