My Dads hunting shotgun

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My Dad passed away a few years ago. Yesterday I was gifted his shotgun. This thing was a game slayer in his hands.
As I recall the bag he kept in in had a string on the handle that had spare chokes tied to it. This didnt come with the bag or chokes. Just the one in the gun. Its marked JC Higgins Sears and Roebuck Model 20 2 3/4 chamber and Proof Tested.
The curious thing is the choke ends before the barrel. Theres probably a 1” gap. No rust at all but pretty dusty.

[LHS]

Guns with family history are some of my favorite guns. I hope that one continues to put meat on your table.

[Jim Watson]

The choke is a Pachmayr Power Pac or maybe a copy made for Sears.
The reverse tube and gap from barrel to tube are correct.
Check for wad leaves getting between the choke tube and body, it was designed in the card wad era.
Tubes are advertised on eBay.

[okie john]

Nice shotgun.

When I was a kid, every Sears and Montgomery Wards store had a sporting goods department and a gun department. The gear wasn't fancy but they had what you needed to shoot, camp, hunt, and fish. It wasn't quite as pretty as better-known brands but it was functional and definitely more refined than military surplus from WWII and Korea.

The guns came from major brands who stamped the JC Higgins name on proven models or economy variants. I’ve owned several, mostly Mausers built on commercial FN actions with chrome-lined High Standard barrels, and they’re rock solid. But people have caught on to the fact that some of them are real sleepers and those models are now priced more like the originals.

Here's a little background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._Higgins

FWIW, parts and aftermarket items for the corresponding non-Higgins model usually fit and work properly.


Okie John

[ACP230]

I bought one of them for my son when he started to hunt grouse at 12.
The stock had been cut down, for a small trap shooter, so it fit him well.
Did not get extra chokes with it either.

Every grouse he's killed has been taken with it. A good gun and
quite a deal at under $100.

[gato naranja]

My Dad passed away a few years ago. Yesterday I was gifted his shotgun. This thing was a game slayer in his hands.

Neat! I used to see a lot of these when I was a kid... Sears sold a ton of them out here in flyover country. My best friend's dad kept one hanging in a two-gun rack on the interior wall of their back porch; I think it functioned more as a decoration than a tool, but it nonetheless had the reputation as a reliable and effective shotgun.

[Pacioli]

Nice shotgun.

When I was a kid, every Sears and Montgomery Wards store had a sporting goods department and a gun department. The gear wasn't fancy but they had what you needed to shoot, camp, hunt, and fish. It wasn't quite as pretty as better-known brands but it was functional and definitely more refined than military surplus from WWII and Korea.

I don't remember where my first gun came from, might have been Sears. But I have vivd memories of picking out my first baseball glove and bat at Sears, branded Ted Williams. And I remember Sears having a Boy Scout gear department where i acquired camping and uniform necessities.

[UNK]

Guns with family history are some of my favorite guns. I hope that one continues to put meat on your table.

I dunno they might not like if I took it into krogers. 😂

[willie]

No other choke arrangement will throw a better pattern. The holes serve to reduce recoil. They do, but this causes a giant noise level.

[Jim Watson]

The Cutts Compensator is more common and is a real "loudener." See posts on the Colt Monitor BAR with Cutts.