Free Republic

Gettin Ready for Shotgun Season Like many of you, I am much better at just doing stuff than getting ready for it. I guess it’s all about being prepared, and I was never the sharpest Boy Scout in the troop, or something like that. But some things are too important to not prepare for. Depending on what and where you hunt with your scattergun, your season is either coming up fast, or is already here. September is often the last call for getting shotguns and other paraphernalia ready, so let’s talk about what you need to do to get out...

The guys from Taofledermaus took 12 large, extremely sharp X-Acto blades and loaded them into hi-brass 12gauge shotgun shells. They were hoping to see if the razors would stay intact. These are highly sharpen razor blades wrapped with industrial thread, the whole load is encased inside the 12 gauge shotgun shell. The threads were meant to hold them in place while in flight, but in this test it didn’t work out. Electrical tape was also used, but with the same result. Various targets were used for testing such as watermelon, the head of a manequin and three large cucumbers. See...

The shotgun has long been a standard in home defense for obvious reasons. The ability to modify this weapon into a shorter more versatile style has sparked the interest of a large number of shotgun owners. This guy seems to know his stuff when it comes to creating a sawed off shotgun. Having a versatile gun like this is important when seeking to be able to protect your family and home from intruders or other external threats. Watch the video here to see how to make a sawed off shotgun. A few simple steps and you are ready to hit...

You read right, this beast of a shotgun has 6 barrels and holds 48 rounds at a time. The ultimate zombie apocalypse weapon. Triple double is usually a term thrown around in basketball. Not so much in shotgun lingo. Double barrel shotguns are awesome. But you know what they are not as awesome as? A triple double shotgun. The guys from Demolition Ranch brings us one of the coolest and craziest guns you will ever see. Sure it is super heavy and quite uncomfortable and to be honest, not practical whats so ever. But that doesn’t matter because it is...

I had been discussing this for a while with Dave Miller, the shotgun product manager at CZ-USA, a firearm manufacturer headquartered next door to Missouri in Kansas City, Kan. CZ-USA is the US-based subsidiary of the Czech Republic company that makes a long list of firearms, including rifles, pistols, submachine guns and some very fine shotguns. Many of their scatterguns are made in Turkey, which, if you didn't know, has a long history of making firearms. CZ-USA also owns Dan Wesson Firearms, which has produced excellent revolvers and pistols for years, including some very nice 1911s. I have talked to...

Here's a story from one of the angler's on his experience shooting water moccasins with the .410 load. While out fishing with his brother-in-law, snakes were everywhere swimming right up to within a few feet of us to check us out, heads above the water the entire time and not even remotely afraid. Given that I live about 100 yards from the pond, and I'm not a fan of water moccasins (which I'm pretty sure is what these were, because most harmless water snakes swim with their heads down and shy away from disturbances), I ran back to the house...

Those of us who have shouldered a shotgun a few thousand times in our lives can recall that first time we touched off a 12 gauge, or any gauge for that matter. It reminds us that we didn’t always have the bulk or the muscle memory to handle one. Did it stop any of us from wanting another try, one of our own, or a trip to deer camp with dad? Maybe, its the macho side or just trying to impress Dad. Cheer for a young fella who just got his shoulder popped and in a minute when it quits...

Gun maker Beretta USA is opening a new factory on Friday, the culmination of generous land and tax offers in Tennessee and restrictive gun laws at its old Maryland location. Beretta USA is holding a ribbon cutting ceremony at the recently built facility in Gallatin, Tennessee, on April 15, having moved all manufacturing from Maryland. The new factory is 160,000 square feet, compared to 115,000 square feet if left behind, said Gabriele de Plano, vice president of defense marketing and operations for Beretta USA. "We've got plenty of space to expand as well," he said.

JERSEY CITY -- A traffic stop near the Holland Tunnel yesterday evening lead to the recovery of a shotgun and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition, a police spokesman said. At about 6:30 p.m., a police officer saw a blue plastic drum in the back up a pickup truck that had just passed through the Holland Tunnel toll plaza. The officer stopped the vehicle driven by a Pennsylvanian man to make sure there were no hazardous materials in the drum, Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo said. Police asked the driver Marlon Murphy, 45, of Easton, if there were any weapons in...

This has gotta be the world's largest shotshellThanks to TAOFLEDERMAUS, you can see this improvised giant shotshell hurl inflatable balls high into the air. This video displays an impressive super shotshell. All of the regular shotgun shell components are there that are usually needed, though significantly larger. The bucket is the shell, Tannerite is the propellant, and then the wadding and the projectiles are inflatable balls, in this case. With a mighty explosion triggered by an accurate shot with an SKS rifle, the balls sail high into the sky. See it here.

Can a Safe hold up against a Shotgun?Taofledermaus has just the improvised shotgun shell to try on this tough target. This test of wax slugs is against an old safe. Can an old safe be penetrated by these wax slugs? Well, a full can of beer is what is being protected inside of this safe. Watch as a shotgun loaded with wax slugs tries to strong arm it. At first try the rounds went through but missed the beer can inside the gun safe. Second try the rounds went through the safe and destroyed the beer can. The damage is...

At the time of 1923, Stoeger has been associated with fine firearms for the hunter, sportsman, and defensive shooter. Firearm diversity includes a variety of calibers and gauges: double barrel over-and-unders, side-by-sides, semi-autos, and pump-actions, as well as auto-loading defense and sporting pistols. Stoeger actually began in 1923 in New York City (cough - back when NYC had common sense gun laws that promoted business) and grew until the 1990s, when Sako purchased the company. In 2000, Sako was in turn acquired by Beretta Holding, and Stoeger was placed under the current ownership of Benelli USA. I first noticed Stoeger...

In the Bugs Bunny cartoon that shows Elmer Fud shooting at the wabbit with a barrel stuff full of carrots. Ever wonder what actually happens to the shotgun barrel or the wabbit, if it was real. Anyone try this for real? The setup: shotgun, carrot, string and a turkey to simulate the wabbit. Depending on which loads you use for the shotgun, in this take they were using No. 4 Shot high brass (big bb's). Here's what happens to the barrel. Yeh, you would need to replace the barrel. And here's what happens to the turkey (wabbit) Not good for...

I am thinking of buying a Russian Molot Vepr 12 Gauge Tactical Shotgun as an antidote to Obama's rhetoric. Anyone have any experience with them?

OMG! Ted Cruz is anti-gun or something! Its so beyond laughable. FYI, Gizmodo, thats how the hunter safety course TELLS YOU TO CARRY A BREAK ACTION!But lets point out how they never got their panties in a bunch over past politicians shall we… Sure do hope its unloaded…Again, sure do hope its unloaded…You NEVER point the gun at the ground when you are hunting with dogs…And a second before: Sure hope its unloaded…Also, the classic finger on the trigger not looking where the gun is pointed…Liberals probably dont have a problem with this because its not an evil firearm…

The AK family of weapons is reliable and rugged. It was designed to be operated by illiterate teenage conscripts with little to no training. It was never intended to protect a family after a natural disaster and is ill suited to that purpose. If the answer comes down to supportability and simplicity, you need a shotgun. Everybody has their own ideas about guns, that is part of their charm. There are near-infinite combinations of precision, wounding potential, and magazine capacity. There is much opinion on this. I will give you mine. You are welcome to violently disagree; it is your...

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden would run an optimistic and unscripted "campaign from the heart" based on restoring middle-class opportunity, one of his top political advisers said Thursday, laying out for the first time the argument Biden would make if he runs for president. Former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, one of Biden's closest political advisers, said Biden would soon make a decision about whether to enter the race. In an email obtained by The Associated Press, Kaufman asked former staffers to stay in close contact and said Biden would need their help immediately if he enters the race. "If...

Towards the end of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, the soldiers of the 506th Parachute Regiment, 101st Airborne, are sent to Hitler’s “Eagles Nest” retreat in the Bavarian Alps. There, Nazi leaders had a getaway resort where they could enjoy an opulent lifestyle away from the public eye. As depicted in the miniseries, this is where the real boys of the 101st found a treasure trove of war souvenirs, and this is where the story of our shotgun – engraved with the initials A.H. – begins. The shotgun This style of shotgun, known as a Drilling, is uniquely German....

I’ll say this right here at the beginning: Shooting a drone out of the sky is probably a bad idea. But, if you’re dead set on taking down one of those unmanned flying camera copters, Snake River Shooting Products makes a shotgun shell made for that specific purpose. The packaging says, “Prepare for the drone apocalypse!” which is either a joke or a really alarmist thing to make people feel paranoid. The shells are full of #2 steel shot, which is rather big, meaning that hitting a drone from a reasonable range with one of these would likely reduce it...

The shotgun is an iconic weapon most often associated with the pump-action badassery of action films and video games. While awesome in fiction, its use in the real world is limited to close combat and breaching doors, not to mention bird and deer hunting. Despite its drawbacks, a mystique surrounds the weapon, and soldiers as well as law enforcement officers still use them. The draw of the gun is so powerful that the Pentagon has spent several decades and millions of dollars to improve on the basic design. In the late 1960s, the military and private companies started tinkering with...