Anyone have bolt action 12 ga experience ?

M

McFarmer

Well-known member
I’m always on the lookout for something to fiddle with in the shop during the winter. I like to shoot trap with old shotguns and am looking for a bolt action.

Seems the Marlin goose guns bring a premium, must be a collector thing.

Anyone have any advise on what to look for ? I see the JC Higgins are fairly common and a reasonable price.

Any sitting in the closet gathering dust ?
 
I have one that I got from my grandfather. I had decent success with it especially deer hunting. It has a flat ridge where the receiver meets the barrel that acts as a rear sight. It's effectively a single shot when it comes to bird hunting though, which was ok since mine has a bad magazine and doesn't feed well. It's the hunter model so only a 32" barrel versus the 36"
 
The jc Higgins is probably a Mossberg or stevens. My brothers had a Mossberg 16 when we were kids. I don't remember having any problems with it. And yes, Gun broker has a lot of them.
 
My first shotgun was a JC Higgins 12 gauge, that I inherited from my father. It was a terrible beast. It was heavy, cumbersome and didn't shoot straight. Sold it first chance I got. For bird hunting it was essentially a single shot.
 
McFarmer said:
I’m always on the lookout for something to fiddle with in the shop during the winter. I like to shoot trap with old shotguns and am looking for a bolt action.

Seems the Marlin goose guns bring a premium, must be a collector thing.

Anyone have any advise on what to look for ? I see the JC Higgins are fairly common and a reasonable price.

Any sitting in the closet gathering dust ?
Click to expand...

I fully appreciate your desire for a fun project. Several years ago, when I lived in Southern Michigan, I rebuilt several inexpensive bolt action shotguns into deer guns.

I purchased several bolt action shotguns with a max price of $60.

I had a flat machined onto the side of the receiver. I purchased Winchester 1200 scope mounts, cut off some excess metal, and drilled and tapped the receiver to take the mount.

I did a trigger job to take out take up and reduce the trigger pressure to about 3-3.5 lbs. I installed a recoil pad, sling swivels, and cut and recrowned the barrels to 19.5".

I did about 5 or 6 of these as 100 yard slug guns. Most in 12 gauge would shoot 4" groups at 100 yards. I kept one and sold a few and did some up for family and friends. When Michigan allowed straight wall rifles for deer hunting in their shotgun zone, the project ended.

I sold my personal gun a few years ago to young man that wanted to start deer hunting in Southern Minnesota.
 

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I bought a 12 gauge Marlin goose gun from JC Penny catalog in 1977 for 70 dollars I believe. I can’t even remember selling it. Sat in the corner of the blind if geese came by or to swat cripples on the water. It did reach out there.
 
Thanks for the replies, there are a bunch on gunbroker but most have seen some rough use, as expected.

I’m looking for one that has decent metal but needs the wood refinished. I see most of them used maple or birch, many of the older ones used walnut.

I guess I’m looking for one that was put in the back of the closet and forgotten about.
 
John Singer said:
I sold my personal gun a few years ago to young man that wanted to start deer hunting in Southern Minnesota.
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Starting in 2026, the state will allow deer to be harvested with rifles throughout Minnesota. However, the final decision doesn’t rest solely with the state—it will be up to each individual county to decide whether to adopt this change or continue restricting hunters to shotguns only.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Starting in 2026, the state will allow deer to be harvested with rifles throughout Minnesota. However, the final decision doesn’t rest solely with the state—it will be up to each individual county to decide whether to adopt this change or continue restricting hunters to shotguns only.
Click to expand...

It is going to be interesting to see how individual counties handle this change.

I work in the firearm industry. Also, it will be very to watch what happens to the markets for slug guns and rifles this next year.
 
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