What can you tell me about my shotgun?

[Sandy 44]

I got this from my Grandpa .. it says Mossberg 195 k-a on the barrel . Was told by someone it was a Goose gun. Pete is the only one who shot it so far..he put some bird shot in it , was told that would sting a person. It blew a wooden target apart. That would more than sting I imagine

 

So..what is its purpose? what would one use this shotgun for? Pheasant ? Ducks ? Clay ? We have some buckshot for it , I don't doubt its value as HD ..but we have other guns for that. Is this more of a hobby gun? I think my Grandpa had it since the 60s. Could be wrong though.

 

[Jon 264]

Interesting. Looks a lot like the 20ga my dad put in my hands when I first started deer hunting. If I get a chance to run over to his place in the next few days I'll be able to give you more info.

[Vlad G 345]

The bolt action shotguns were made to be fairly inexpensive hunting guns. The 195k-a like your have an integrated adjustable choke, and odds are right now it is more useful as a conversation piece and for its sentimental value. As a hunting gun it might be ok of deer with buckshot but I wouldn't use slugs through it because of the integral choke might get damaged and I don't think they would be rated for the steel shot now required for waterfowl, although it might be ok with the bismuth type shot.

 

I don't think they have much resale value.

[Sandy 44]

Thanks It is a 12 gauge. What does the choke on a shotgun do?

 

yeah , I would not sell it even if it was worth anything. I looked it up and found nothing except for its worth which I noticed is around 120 to 200 bucks. It is definitely sentimental to me .

 

I was supposed to get his WWII German issued Luger 9mm too but got screwed out of it. At least I got this .

 

So..is it a wall hanger or do you think it is safe to have some range/field fun with? I hate to sound like a girly girl..but is this thing going to dislocate my shoulder ?

[Krdshrk 3,877]

Thanks It is a 12 gauge. What does the choke on a shotgun do?

 

Choke essentially narrows the muzzle end of the barrel so that the shot pattern comes out tighter

[Vlad G 345]

The purpose of the choke on any shotgun is to restrict slightly the diameter of the bore right before the shot leaves the barrel. This allows you to control the pattern of the shot downrange, basically how much the cloud of lead spreads as it moves downrange. Normally a shotgun with no choke is referred to as "cylinder choke" and then they narrow slowly through about 10 sizes (the more common ones being skeet, improved, modified, full). On most shotguns a portion of the last couple of of inches of the barrel is threaded and recessed to allow you to screw in whatever choke you want to use so you can switch around based on the need. There also a few designs for adjustable chokes (like the the polychoke) and your gun has one of those permenently attached, by twisting the bit at the end of the barrel you can change the choke and hence the pattern.

 

It is probably safe as a range and field gun, and it won't dislocate your shoulder, although without proper technique it might bruise it.

[coldsolderjoint 84]

i had one of those.. pretty sweet gun for taking to the range and messing around.. lots of nostolgia.

[Smokin .50 1,907]

Sandy,

 

Vlad pretty much covered it, except to say that most of the time they came with military-style square butts without any recoil pad. You can however tame the 12 ga. recoil down a bit with the addition of a rubberized recoil pad that can be drawn over the butt like a tight fitting sock. Once on the butt, the recoil pad will make this gun a lot easier for a Girly-Girl to shoot, especially with 2 3/4 dram low-brass target loads.

 

As Vlad said, I wouldn't put slugs through the Poly Choke, although some Shooters did. These bolt-action shotties were known to kick like a mule, especially the bigger brother to this one in 10 gauge!

 

Detachable magazines are still available for this shotgun at various Gun Shows throughout the Tri-State area. Keep it well oiled and it will last forever.

[M4BGRINGO 139]

Take the firing pin out, hang it on the wall, put the firing pin in your safe. Cool old gun that I wouldn't want to shoot, leave it nice as-is.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

I had a 185, same thing but 20ga. Bought it for $95

 

[Sandy 44]

Thanks everyone!

 

That all was very informative. Think I will keep it clean and polished , and maybe play around with it once in a blue moon. It had not been fired for over 20 years when I got it. Gave it to a friend of mine who hunts and he had it clean and test fired. Then Pete tried it at Winslow. It has a hard butt on it , I think I will get a rubber slip on pad for when I shoot it. I don't mind a bruise as long as it does not interfere with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and carrying my kids:)

[Mikeythumbs 1]

the reason they called it a goose gun was that years ago marlin made a 12 or 10 ga bolt action that they named the goose gun. I have the mossberg model 190 which is the same gun in 16 gauge. I have put lead shot through it never steel though did unscrew the choke tube all the way till it was basiclally cylinder and put a few slugs through it and even in 16 ga it kicks like a sob hope this helps

[Silent Service 7]

These bolt-action shotties were known to kick like a mule, especially the bigger brother to this one in 10 gauge!

 

even in 16 ga it kicks like a sob hope this helps

 

Why do some guns that shoot the same gauge shell have heavier or lighter "kick" than others?

 

Beautiful gun IPW.

[Mikeythumbs 1]

There are a few things that make the difference. Weight of the gun. Action a semi auto asorbs some of the recoil. the stock type can help certain stock types distrubut eht recoil better. The charge in the shell has something to with it too aslug has more more kick than a load of birdshot just as a 2 3/4 has much less kick then 3 1/2. So as you can see there are alot of differetn reasons for a gun to kick more or less mostly to do with newtons laws .

[DaddyNick 408]

cool old gun yea not much $$ value. saw the 410 version sell for a $100.

your gun is clean and great shape. the poly choke is used to open up the birdshot pattern if you wanted.

open the choke to cylinder, improved cylinder for small game like rabbits and quail. tighter choke for buckshot or huntin turkeys.

polychokes were very popular when they first came out. not that most shotguns have removable choke tubes the polychoke has gone by the way side.

check prices and pics of others on gunbroker.

nice piece.

 

Nick

[Parker 213]

You have a nice, old utility shotgun in near perfect shape. It has Mossberg's C-lect-Choke adjustable choke, similar to a Poly-Choke. It is safe to use with any lead shot, buckshot or slugs. This might help explain the choke and its settings.

 

 

 

[Smokin .50 1,907]

Parker, this ought to be made into a "Sticky"! Great job in digging this up and posting it, THANKS!

 

Dave

[Malsua 1,422]

Why do some guns that shoot the same gauge shell have heavier or lighter "kick" than others?

 

Recoil is essentially a force spike. If you look at a chart with force in one direction and time in the other, a firearm is flat until the trigger is pulled then it spikes very high and then comes back down to zero all in a few milliseconds. Anything that you do that flattens the spike out makes it less painful to shoot.

 

Lighter guns have more felt recoil because there is less mass to resist the rearward motion. The action of some firearms like a semi automatic will absorb some of it. Add in a recoil pad and the rubber helps to tame that big spike. The overall rearward force from the shell itself is the same, but the springs, weights, pads, brakes, etc all seek to do the same thing; Spread the rearward force out over a longer period of time.