Survival Shotgun (H&R Pander 12 Ga.): Initial Modifications
This is part one of a series of post that will follow me throughout hunting season this year as I hope to use this weapon exclusively for all species this year to demonstrate the versatility of this weapon and this setup. I will get into the survival contents of the weapon, ammo, restoration of the weapon, take-down and maintenance, etc. in future post.
I picked the H &R Trooper Edition 12 Ga. as my "survival weapon" of choice for a few reasons: 1) This isn't some Zombie or WW3 gun this is a gun I'm going to take with me into the woods along with my EDC kit when hunting to get game and if that hunting trip ends up being a month instead of a day all is well; 2) 12 ga is one of the most common calibers in the United States and during the recent ammo shortage I never once went into a gun shop or sporting goods store that didn't have 12 ammo; 3) The single shot configuration allows me to utilize chamber adapters to fire nearly any size projectile I may come across; 4) I can convert this weapon into a black powder gun with ease; 4) $$$ this gun cost me $50 used and I will have roughly $100 extra in the accessories and equipment once the project is complete.... where can you find another platform for $150 equipped?; 5) The weapon is fairly compact and light; 6) I can take game from squirrel to bear and anything in between with ease; 7) There are commercial signal flares in this caliber to assist in effecting rescue; 8) A 12 ga. single shot gun is legal in every state of the union and even has the endorsement of a liberal Vice President (How funny is that?); 9) The availability of accessories for this weapon was excellent cutting down production time; 10) This is a simple gun with very little to go wrong with it and what could be better for survival that less wiggle room for failure?; and 11) I wanted something I could use for every hunting season (other than archery) and this is the only weapon other than a black powder gun that fits the bill (I didn't want to go the black powder route as it was not where near as versatile.
Before you go to there is only one shot what if the SHTF/TEOTWAWKI happens? Well as I said above this gun isn't for dealing with hostiles that shoot back unless you are in dire straights. Now that being said what one could do if that situation arose is take this weapon along with an AR-Platform pistol and you will have sufficient fire power for that event without having to carry a long gun. I will do a review in the future on my AR pistol as for the price it is very hard to beat and a tack driver at 100 years with just an EOTec optic. So I hope that will limit the you don't have enough fire power for a gun fight debate with those Peppers who frequent the page. This gun is meant to save your life in the woods and put food on the table when you need it not to prevent the fall of society, but if it did fall and you were in the woods you honestly could just stay there and not look back with this platform!
2) I chose to replace the wood stock with the H&R survival stock available countless places online. This allows me to store a full size knife, shelter elements, etc. inside the stock and out of the way allowing normal operation of the weapon without having multiple items attached to the outside of the gun which could effect its ease of use as a hunting weapon. The one complaint I have about this stock is the pistol grip comes hollow but is unusable for storage space as it does not come with any kind of end cap. I have a modification in mind but will save that for a later post.
I picked the H &R Trooper Edition 12 Ga. as my "survival weapon" of choice for a few reasons: 1) This isn't some Zombie or WW3 gun this is a gun I'm going to take with me into the woods along with my EDC kit when hunting to get game and if that hunting trip ends up being a month instead of a day all is well; 2) 12 ga is one of the most common calibers in the United States and during the recent ammo shortage I never once went into a gun shop or sporting goods store that didn't have 12 ammo; 3) The single shot configuration allows me to utilize chamber adapters to fire nearly any size projectile I may come across; 4) I can convert this weapon into a black powder gun with ease; 4) $$$ this gun cost me $50 used and I will have roughly $100 extra in the accessories and equipment once the project is complete.... where can you find another platform for $150 equipped?; 5) The weapon is fairly compact and light; 6) I can take game from squirrel to bear and anything in between with ease; 7) There are commercial signal flares in this caliber to assist in effecting rescue; 8) A 12 ga. single shot gun is legal in every state of the union and even has the endorsement of a liberal Vice President (How funny is that?); 9) The availability of accessories for this weapon was excellent cutting down production time; 10) This is a simple gun with very little to go wrong with it and what could be better for survival that less wiggle room for failure?; and 11) I wanted something I could use for every hunting season (other than archery) and this is the only weapon other than a black powder gun that fits the bill (I didn't want to go the black powder route as it was not where near as versatile.
Before you go to there is only one shot what if the SHTF/TEOTWAWKI happens? Well as I said above this gun isn't for dealing with hostiles that shoot back unless you are in dire straights. Now that being said what one could do if that situation arose is take this weapon along with an AR-Platform pistol and you will have sufficient fire power for that event without having to carry a long gun. I will do a review in the future on my AR pistol as for the price it is very hard to beat and a tack driver at 100 years with just an EOTec optic. So I hope that will limit the you don't have enough fire power for a gun fight debate with those Peppers who frequent the page. This gun is meant to save your life in the woods and put food on the table when you need it not to prevent the fall of society, but if it did fall and you were in the woods you honestly could just stay there and not look back with this platform!
1) So there it is when I first got it. Unfortunately for $50 it did have a couple issues (barrel needed re bluing and front fore grip was epoxied to the barrel because they broke off the barrel nut) I had to fix and I will cover those in future posts. So this is the old trooper model (Model 88) 12 Ga. with modified choke (that is important!) made by Harrington & Richardson Inc. 100% in the USA! I learned to hunt on the 20 Ga. version of this gun and loved this guns adaptability for hunting squirrel and deer or whatever showed up and was legal to kill at the time (rabbit, squirrel, turkey, deer and bear overlap in my state). So since I was born I have been using this platform much like my father did as a boy and his father to hunt and collect game. Since I was planning on starting a trap line this year I thought no better time than the present to develop my own take on a survival shotgun using the same platform I have grown to love and have taken most of my game with.
So there it is the initial survival shotgun post complete and ready for your initial evaluation. While this gun took a lot longer than I had hoped to get restored and put back together (life is busy these days) I believe it turned out above my expectations and will serve me well for years to come and hopefully will bring home a few deer, squirrels, rabbits, turkeys and maybe even a bear or boar this year!
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This is such an interesting blog. Worth reading. I am an outdoor lover too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.