I've never seen a .410 shotgun like this before.

jughed440

jughed440

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Saw this Italian made single shot .410 "Handi-Gun" shotgun laying on a table at the gun show last Saturday. It's something i have never seen the likes of before. I searched the net to learn more about it and see what it's worth (marked $500). A Google search came up with very little info on the firearm, especially on the value, but i found out that it's late '60s-early 70s vintage.
I went back on sunday to have another look at it and was impressed by how well it was made. It's very well balanced. The dealer and I have done numerous trades and sales before, and he inquired about a shooter grade Model 10 that i had offered as trade in a previous deal. We traded even up. The barrel measures 18 1/2" from breech to end, and the overall length is 32".

Any information on this oddity would be much appreciated.

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6518John said:
Where has the modern Italian army ever been deployed where they would need to “survive” anything?
Click to expand...

Actually the Italian military is a very active part of NATO and has deployed troops to just about every combat and peacekeeping mission including Kosovo, Bosnia, Egypt, the West Bank, Pakistan, Iraq, Afganistan... wherever.
 
damienph said:
Actually the Italian military is a very active part of NATO and has deployed troops to just about every combat and peacekeeping mission including Kosovo, Bosnia, Egypt, the West Bank, Pakistan, Iraq, Afganistan... wherever.
Click to expand...

Well, sure, that's accurate, but the previous quote was more funnier!
I think he confused them with the French.

That IS one strange and unusual firearm, thanks for sharing. I love the weird stuff.
 
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RV4driver said:
Well, sure, that's accurate, but the previous quote was more funnier!
I think he confused them with the French.

That IS one strange and unusual firearm, thanks for sharing. I love the weird stuff.
Click to expand...

I agree that it was funny but fair is fair... the Italian Army is the real deal, the French, well... um.... NATO supporters they are not.
 
That's an entirely new gun to me. Never even heard of one. I assume it must be legal but the barrel seems awfully short. And why would Italians name it "Handi-Gun" if it was in Italian service? Why not Maneggevole-Lupara?
 
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Does the Stock on the OP's gun easily unscrew/detach?,,or is it a permanent fixed stock?

Just wondering if the gun is a USA import version of the gun sold elsewhere in world at the time.

The original version had a short bbl,,maybe 8 or 10" long. Same ramp sight. Stock easily unscrews from the frame and was made to do so for ease of handling and use.

They were made by Francesco(sp?) Serena, Fabrica Armi, Brescia. Italy
Gauges 410 and 28 as well as 22LR cal.
I have read of them being chambered in a couple pistol type shot cartridge loads but don't really have any other info on that.
That would have to be something like the 9mmFlobert shot or something like it I'd think.

They came in a somewhat flimsey plain pasteboard box, with a appropriate length cleaning rod and a certificate from the company claiming how well it was made and the fact that it passed Gov't Proof and at what specs. Ser# & cal of the pistol was listed.

410 ga guns were listed as '410cal' and also as '36cal' on the same end lable and paperwork.
36 being the correct 'gauge' for .410 caliber,,

I don't know anything about them being an issue survival weapon for any Armed Forces.

I've only ever seen 1 and that was a short bbl'd version that a customer brought into a shop I was working in in the 90's.
He was shown the door with his detachable stocked shorty smooth bore and told to never bring it in there again.
But we got a nice look at it before that happened!
 
DWalt said:
That's an entirely new gun to me. Never even heard of one. I assume it must be legal but the barrel seems awfully short....
Click to expand...

18 1/2" barrel. Was told by the dealer that hunting with the stock removed is illegal.

BC38 said:
Veeeely INT-er-est-INK!
Smoothbore I presume?
Click to expand...

It is smoothbore.

2152hq said:
Does the Stock on the OP's gun easily unscrew/detach?,,or is it a permanent fixed stock?
Click to expand...

One of the few pics on the internet that can be found shows a short barrel version with the removable stock

89406d1382972594-hey-there-speerchucker-recognize-pistol-3443187.jpg
 
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Here's a YouTube video showing a short barrel version. Too bad i can't understand a single word that the Italian kid is talking....sounds like a Beatles record playing backwards at double speed.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4eOVB6-u9w[/ame]
 
"36 being the correct 'gauge' for .410 caliber"

It's really not, as I think the true gauge for a .410 is more like 54. However, for a long time .410 boxes were also marked ".410 (36 Gauge)". I have a 1920's era Remington wooden shotshell crate which is marked that way.
 
Thats very cool! It would be better if the stock had a pin in the pistol grip so it would be easier to collapse and keep in one piece, then hold it in a backpack like a takedown model... at any rate very cool, and it wouldn't have much recoil with 410 shells. Wonder if it can shoot pistol calibers like a Governor? Its a smooth bore or rifled?
 
GT_80 said:
Thats very cool! It would be better if the stock had a pin in the pistol grip so it would be easier to collapse and keep in one piece, then hold it in a backpack like a takedown model... at any rate very cool, and it wouldn't have much recoil with 410 shells. Wonder if it can shoot pistol calibers like a Governor? Its a smooth bore or rifled?
Click to expand...

It's smooth bore. If you take that stock off, it becomes an NFA weapon . . .
 
You're right, the 410 is a 67gauge or there abouts.
The confusing history of being incorrectly labled a 36gauge goes back quite a ways and from different dirrections.

Here's a rundown of the way it got to be known as such:
fourten shotgun resources

I should have said the 410 is also commonly known as the 36ga,,incorrect to say that it is a 36ga.
 
GT_80 said:
Thats very cool! It would be better if the stock had a pin in the pistol grip so it would be easier to collapse and keep in one piece, then hold it in a backpack like a takedown model... at any rate very cool, and it wouldn't have much recoil with 410 shells. Wonder if it can shoot pistol calibers like a Governor? Its a smooth bore or rifled?
Click to expand...

That's what I was wondering and why I asked about whether it was smoothbore or rifled. With a rifled barrel and a chamber that would also accept 45 Colt rounds that would REALLY be an awesome survival gun. Even without rifling using 410 shot and slugs it would still be a pretty cool piece of survival gear.
 
BC38 said:
That's what I was wondering and why I asked about whether it was smoothbore or rifled. With a rifled barrel and a chamber that would also accept 45 Colt rounds that would REALLY be an awesome survival gun. Even without rifling using 410 shot and slugs it would still be a pretty cool piece of survival gear.
Click to expand...

Well i do have a Governor to back it up. LOL
 
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