Marine Grade 12 Gauge

Fishhawk

New member
I will be aquiring a saltwater tolerant J.I.C. (just in case) shotgun for "Osprey". I am wondering though, if any of you have experience with either the Remington 870 Marine Magnum, Winchester Coastal 1300, or the Mossberg Marine 500 or some other brand and can share your veiws to help me decide. Corrosion resistance and reliabilty are both very important to me.
 
Watch out for the Winchester's. :smileo I bought a Winchester "Marine Riot Gun" and found when it started to pit that the stainless on the receiver was plating. :crook Also, watch your regs. You can't "freely" take a shotgun into Canada any more...Now it costs you $50.00 for.....Are you ready for this?.......An Importer's license. :sad ..Just another hand in your pocket. Before you spend the money..think of how intimidating the wrong end of a flare pistol looks...It's just a little slower to reload. :wink

:smiled Jack
 
Fishhawk-

I've got a Winchester Model 1200 Riot Gun, which is a fun toy to bring along on a cruise or fishing trip, as well as a great self-defense weapon.

I don't store it on board, even though I'm almost always in fresh water, for concern over the rust/corrosion issue.

Some hunters feel the action isn't as good as the old, hard to manufacture Model 12, but I've never noticed any limitations on it's operation.

It's a cannon loaded with slugs or buckshot (even though it's not a magnum), and we've done some fun modified very short range skeet shooting on my C-Dory 22 and Sea Ray 265 Sedan Bridge with it.

Best if you don't shoot from under the canvas, though, as 'dem holes could get expensive!

(About 30 years ago we were conducting a sailboat championship on San Francisco Bay, and one of the stiff shirt/blue blazer type race committee members got overly excited during a general recall where you have to fire two additional blasts and blew the center out of the race committee flag flying from off the backstay of the big sailboat! 12 gauge blanks with just black powder and wads still do some damage at less than 10 feet! Kinda embarassing as little pieces of blue cloth fell down all over the place. Blows a hole in not only your flag, but your holier than thou image as well!) "Score one" for the Commodore, or whoever!

Photo_2.jpg

All joking aside, a 12 gauge shotgun is a serious weapon when you need it! You DO need to think though what circumstances would make you use this device as a weapon in advance, however. I doubt I'll ever have to do so here, though, so it's more of a recreational sport item.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Joe gives new meaning to the term "Spitting Lead" :wink

I'll never forget the time I took a dogfish off of my Dad's hook with the Riot Gun. :crook Little globs of "Stuff" rained down all over the boat and I had a heck of a time getting it off when it dried. :embarrased

Jack :smiled
 
This reminds me of a similar discussion a while back where someone suggested using the flare gun for defense. Intimidation for sure, but if the bad guy was already in the boat and you actually had to let him have it with a flare gun, wouldn't he be on fire when he fell on your boat?
 
Just the sound of dropping one in the chamber with the Mossberg will send anyone with common since off in the other direction. I like to carry mine in a canvas bag that is made for a lawn chair. Just smile and walk past everyone with it hanging over your shoulder, they think it's a lawn chair. An added bonus is you do not need to remove it from the carry bag if you ever need it in a hurry. There's volumes written comparing the two guns if you google either one you will find them.
 
Capn Jack":3a43ku20 said:
Joe gives new meaning to the term "Spitting Lead" :wink

I'll never forget the time I took a dogfish off of my Dad's hook with the Riot Gun. :crook Little globs of "Stuff" rained down all over the boat and I had a heck of a time getting it off when it dried. :embarrased

Jack :smiled

Jack-

You're too kind!

Some might have labeled me a "bullethead" or worse!

Joe. :lol:
 
I haven't owned any of them, but I have looked them over, and the Remington 870 just feels like a better product, to me. Little things here and there make it feel a bit tougher. Plus it uses the Robar NP3 coating, which has a great reputation, or did when I was still shooting regularly and therefore paying attention. It's electroless nickel with teflon in it, and it's supposed to make for an extremely smooth action.

I'd love to hear from some folks who actually know what they're talking about, though!
 
Hi, All,

You might be interested in the Taurus .45 caliber/410 shotgun revolver.

In the tight quarters of a C-Dory, swinging a shotgun, even one with a short barrel can be a little unwieldy. That Taurus, called The Judge, can be loaded with 410 shotgun rounds, as well as with .45s. In whatever order you wish, in a 5 cylinder revolver. And double-aught is available in a 410 shell.

I don't own one, so I can't speak for the gun itself, although I have always been happy with the quality and workmanship of Taurus guns.

See it at: http://taurususa.com/products/product-d ... y=Revolver

Ken
 
As loud as a shotgun would be in closed quarters the 12g revolver would be much louder. It could cause permanent hearing loss.
IMO if you wanted a high power handgun with reduced chances of over penetration a .44 or.45 with frangible bullets would be a better choice.
I vote for the Remington. :thup
 
I'm curious are Winchesters still being made? I did own a Winchester Ranger
12 that didn't like to eject 3" mags. I use a Remington 870 for water fowl .... great gun......but its no Benelli.
For those that own a "Marine gun" in a salt environment do you have trouble with the internal parts corroding? Trigger assembly?

Chris Bulovsky
 
I have a friend who has an old navy issue flare gun. It's 12 guage with a long barrell. Some of the "flares" he was caring in his emergengy kit didn't appear to be of the signaling variety.
 
mpmccoy":3qcxsr1k said:
I have a friend who has an old navy issue flare gun. It's 12 guage with a long barrell. Some of the "flares" he was caring in his emergengy kit didn't appear to be of the signaling variety.

I've got a WW II Nazi 25 mm hardened alloy flare gun that will fire 25 mm flares or take a chambered down sleeve to fire 12 gauge flares (and probably 12 gauge shotgun shells, maybe low-base), if you're willing to take the chance the barrel might explode all over the place. Basically, it's probably not a good way to bet your life, etc.!

I also found a .50 caliber A:E (Action Express) cartridge last weekend that makes a .44 Magnum look weak. Was developed for the Israeli military Desert Eagle automatic pistol. Have seen one of the guns in a gun shop. Not an ordinary cowboy six-shooter. Must be a real two-handed cannon to fire!

Back when mulling all this over before the Riot Gun, I considered a lever action .44 magnum rifle. Probably very effective and jam-proof. The commercial fishermen have kept lever action .30-30 Winchester Model 94's on board for years to deal with Sea Lions, I'm told. Wouldn't have as much recreational potential as a shotgun, though.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Think about an ak with 2 clips. More range more chances to hit something
from a rolling platform. It's what the bad guys (and gals to be PC) use.
Don't take any guns to our neighbors to the north. They allready think we
plan to invade. Mabey not such a bad idea. We could get there $$$$$$$
back to par. Only kidding I love you guys up North A.
:smiled john schuler :smiled
 
I have a benelli shotgun. It is a stainless model. Nice gun but I have not had to shot anything with it on the boat.

I bought the stainless model to combat our moist conditions.
 
I picked up a J I C shotgun earlier this year when we had a prowler around the house in the middle of the night. I live in a remote area that is still within the city limits, so a person has to be intent of getting to my place.

I looked at the stainless Remington 870, Mossberg 500 and a Benneli. I ended up selecting a used Mossberg with 2 barrels. I paid $220 for a gun that I can use for home defense and also for chasing upland game. Even though the stainless Remington made sense for boating needs, it was heavy and didn't seem as handy as the Benneli or Mossberg.

So all said, I went on the cheap but still got a nice firearm that I can use for more than one purpose
 
I've always owned and used shotguns for hunting geese, deer and elk. I bought a brand new Rem. 1187 for $683 and sold it a year later, what garbage, not reliable. I wanted to step up to a 3.5" 12 gauge and tried the Mossberg 500 Ultimag and found it better than the semi-auto Remington, but also, not very reliable. I then bought a Benelli Nova and love it. They are black or camo and the prices have dropped to something like $383. Most of the gun is plastic and not going to corrode. It is lightweight and available with a variety of barrel lengths, stock models. The finish on the metal is thick and I've never seen a sign of corrosion or rust and it is out in the weather, being abused often. A great waterfowl gun or turkey gun, esp. in the PNW. If you don't hunt, then those stubby self defense models are easier to store. I'd strongly consider Ruger's all Stainless over under 12 gauge double barrel. The stock is synthetic and the metalwork is truly stainless, not nickel plated. The simplicity and reliability of a double is legendary. 3" chambers. 12 gauges can also shoot flares. A handgun worn in a holster is very handy and compact. A double action stainless .45, .44 or .357 or even .38 is hard to beat for simplicity and effectiveness. CW
 
My vote is for the Taurus, no C-Dory should leave the dock without one on board. It appears ideally suited for the close quarters combat situations that one would normally encounter on a small boat (I guess the CD25 would qualify too). As the ad for this formidable killing instrument reads it "is one decision-maker that lays down the law".
 
The Taurus 4510 would be an effective self defense gun indeed. However, I think the shotgun shell capability puts it the catagory of "sawed-off shotgun" because of the under 18" barrell length. Am I missing something?
 
Yes, they are handguns and have rifled barrels.
But back to the original question. I played with the Remington, Winchester, and Mossberg marine models side by side at a gun shop. The Remington 870 just looks and feels better made to me. I grew up shooting 870's and they are so familiar and natural for me that I don't even think about working the action.
I recently shot my all-time best score on a sporting-clays course with the marine mag. Used a 28" barrel with a improved cylinder choke tube and a Knoxx recoil reducing stock. Looked a bit goofy next to all the fine over-unders in our group, but out-shot them all.
The posting about the Robar coating on the 870 was interesting. I thought the finish felt like a teflon coated frying pan, and now I realize why. If you believe the hype, it probably will hold up better in a saltwater environment than a stainless model, and the action is very smooth.
 
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