The Right Action

While we love our svelte doubles for target shooting and hunting, they are limited in their firepower, mechanically hard to access and work on, inflexible in design and almost impossible to find parts for. Typically, they’re pricey.
Well, how about semiautos? They offer lots of firepower. Their design is somewhat flexible. Their mechanisms are accessible for maintenance and cleaning although they can be complex and unique to each brand. They’re also typically expensive and probably not the best choice for a novice.

No, if push comes to shove, my choice is the pumpgun! This good old American design is simple, easy to understand, operate, clean and maintain. It’s reliable, flexible and offers as much firepower as the magazine will hold. It’s also relatively inexpensive, while the variety of aftermarket accessories for it is simply mind-boggling. Paint it red, white and blue!

It could be a Benelli, Browning, Escort, Ithaca, Mossberg, Remington, Stoeger, Weatherby, Winchester or a brand or two I may have missed, but the pump gun combos I’ve worked with the most in the field have come out of the Mossberg 500/505/510/535/590/835 and Maverick 88 series.