In a discussion the subject of a Duck Bill shotgun setup for the military in WWII. As described, would make a horizontal shot pattern. New to me. Anyone else heard of it?

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TOMBECK

yes, the ithaca model 37 was fitted with a duckbill for the u.s. navy in vietnam

Interesting! I never knew that before today. I was issued a 37 in the Army during Vietnam and we (at least, I) had nothing like that..... This continues to be a place where I learn something almost every time I drop in!

If I recall correctly, the "duck bill" shotgun was an experimental item and used by the Army (Green Berets) and Navy Seals. I remember talking to one guy I worked with in the service that said he used one in Viet Nam, and that it worked well. He said you could hold the shotgun in the conventional (correct) manner and shoot it, and then rotate the piece 90 degrees and shoot it at the same aiming spot and get a "cross" shaped pattern.

Regards,

Dave

a prominent early SEAL claimed in his memoirs that he could hit every occupant in a sampan with it. i cant recall his name right off hand.

As an LEO there was a horizontal spreader tube you used to be able to get to create a " flat" shot spread you could use to skip the pellets off the hard ( cement) pavement in front of a perp to take his legs out

This one is in the SEAL museum in Florida and was carried by Patches Watson in VN. The duckbill actually wasn't very effective, often cracked and did not see wider adoption.

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

I did a Google search and saw a few cracked ones from scrap piles. Also found an interesting write up by The American Rifleman available online at:
American Rifleman | The Ithaca Model 37 in U.S. Military Service

I believe the duckbill "Spreader" was a Vietnam invention. I remember reading about it back then, but never saw one.

I wish I had one for dove hunting now. lee

They're still made, I run across them on the auction sites now and then.
One manufacturer is Paradigm SRP >> Gator Shotgun Spreader

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John

It's just a deformed shot pattern as a result of a deformed bore/muzzle. In this case the result is calculated and desired.
You can only go so far in disrupting the shot volume as it goes down the bore and hits the choke section of the bbl w/o damaging that choke/constricted area.
Shot size, type of wad, velocity has a lot to do with the pattern results and with any damage the bbl may incur from such severe crunching of the shot column.
Sometimes called 'shot diverters'.
Some very interesting results can be had.., oval, square, narrow straight lines, ect

I saw one of the Duck bills in RVn. A officers jeep driver had one.
At the time I thought it was part of some kind of launcher. The
guy that had it didn't know anymore about it than I did. Never
realized what it was until years later when I saw one in a book.
Then again I was one of the few guys that wasn't some kind of
special ops commando. Shotguns were in short supply, guys
going on R&R were buying them and bringing them back in
country.

Shotguns were used a lot more during the VN affair than most suspect. They are pretty good for jungle warfare use. Uncle Sam provided quite a few to the Vietnamese, mostly the Stevens Model 77E, as they were cheap and effective.

IIRC (?) Border Patrol Officer Bill Jordon or Skeeter Skelton used one.((Remington M11 ?)

Thanks to all for the inputs on what apparently is a somewhat unusual and unknown accessory for serious work. I know several VN vets and none of them ever mentioned the "Duckbill".

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TOMBECK

....Charles Askins jr.......

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S&W Accumulator

Center mass is where I was taught to aim. I taught the same to my students military and law enforcement. Shooting to wound left the target still able to fight back. In my book that is not a good thing and silly to do so. If I am going to shoot someone then I am going to incapacitate them and if their demise results.........then my thoughts are they started it and got what they deserved. Like I taught my students, they were being taught to stop the gun fight.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Agree: This was taught primarily as a riot control technique when shooting may become necessary. Never used it other than one in practice. Back then (in the days of wheel guns, 6 in the gun and 12 on the belt), gunfights seldom went more than two or three rounds.

I'm going to look around and see if I can fine one to buy,I had never heard of a duckbill shotgun before now.I learn something new all the time on these forum's i'm in these days.

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Life is short,live it fully.

I've never seen the actual device mated to the muzzle. All that I've ever seen were made by driving a wedge shaped piece of steel in the muzzle to get the duckbill, thus permanently altering the barrel. I didn't have knowledge of a muzzle "beak" device, only the homemade versions.......

The colonel also said that folks tended to shoot high in the dark or low light situations. He would tie a white handkerchief to the muzzle of his shotgun.

When I carried my privately owned 870 Remington on patrol, I put a band of white medical tape around the barrel, just behind the front sight.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

If you had a choke tube threading dies you could make one from a piece of shotgun barrel.......I've often thought whey they don't make screw in barrel extensions like screw in chokes.....Which by the way were first marketed by Winchester on the model 59 shotgun.........

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S&W Accumulator

"If you had a choke tube threading dies you could make one from a piece of shotgun barrel.......I've often thought whey they don't make screw in barrel extensions like screw in chokes.....Which by the way were first marketed by Winchester on the model 59 shotgun........."

Hastings did make long barrel extensions in late 90's early 2000's. Were marketed with low pressure shotgun shells to be very quiet, you could hunt crows next to your neighbors and not bother them with loud gunshots.

Attached Images

barrel extension.jpg (14.9 KB, 10 views)

I have, amongst other Cutts compensators, a "spreader". It's not a duckbill, but it does generate a wider, taller ( and less dense) shot pattern.

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Halfway and one more step