Does your Shotgun work without the fore-end?

[subwoofer 13]

I have been looking at getting some sort of security cable to secure my guns when in the car. Previously I had a saloon with a fully lockable boot and seat arrangement making it pretty secure as you would need to cut metal to gain access. Now I have a Zafira which means you only need to break a window to get in, so am looking for a suitable cable.

 

However with regards to my shotgun, a Nikko Shadow, I thought I would test out the 'Remove the fore-end and the gun is safe' theory and was shocked that I could still easily load, close the gun and fire it all without the fore-end. OK, if you are not careful, the barrels will come off when you open it, but if you are careful you can easily load, fire, unload, all without the fore-end.

 

This makes me wonder how many other shotguns will function without their fore-ends and have any of you even tried to test it with your gun?

Edited August 22, 2010 by subwoofer

[SportingShooter 0]

Most O/Us and S/Ss will function without the forend whilst the gun is cocked.

 

However, once the springs have been released, generally there is no way of re-cocking the gun without re-attaching the forend.

 

So if you fire both springs onto snap caps and then remove the forend, it is relatively safe and not readily usable.

[tomburras 2,730]

this is a verry interesting question and answer, i have wondered this before but never tried it. sounds good for higher security, with forends removed and fired with snap caps then stored seperate.

[subwoofer 13]

Most O/Us and S/Ss will function without the forend whilst the gun is cocked.

 

However, once the springs have been released, generally there is no way of re-cocking the gun without re-attaching the forend.

 

So if you fire both springs onto snap caps and then remove the forend, it is relatively safe and not readily usable.

 

Thanks for pointing that out. I have just tried exactly that, and found what you said. In fact after firing onto the snap caps I found that when trying to open the gun with the forend removed, the ejectors immediately started to move instead of waiting until the gun is open before popping out. I then tried to examine what was needed to make it function properly and cock the gun again and without making something I was not able to.

 

This leads me to ask how bad for the gun is dry firing? If I find myself needing to make the gun unusable by making sure it is not cocked and removing the forend, but don't have the snap caps on me, is it OK, on occasion, to dry fire the gun, or in this case it it better to dismantle it and take the stock with me instead of the forend?

 

I have added one more question to the poll to reflect this new information.

Edited August 22, 2010 by subwoofer