The Sears and Roebuck Single Shot Twenty Gauge Shotgun

Another great Shotgun that I own is the Sears Twenty gauge Single Shot shotgun. Mine once belonged to my Grandfather, William Thomas Shaw, and now it is mine, as he has passed on. This gun is VERY similar in every way to my Harrington and Richardson Single Shot twenty gauge shotgun that I purchased at twelve years of age from the Walmart in Terrell, Texas for $65.00. I didn't pay for this gun, for obvious reasons.

Looking at the serial number on this gun, which is # 101,510670, what I can deduce without research is that this gun was manufactured by Sears & Roebuck and Co., in 1967, or it could be 1970. Such is guesswork concerning shotgun serial numbers after the fact, and with the one who purchased this wonderful American made shotgun unavailable for comment. When my Dad gave me this gun, as he inherited it, he told me,

"My Father would be proud for you to have this,"

...and I know that that is true, as I'd went dove hunting with him more than once, and because that I know that he'd always really liked me, enjoyed joking with me, and spending time with me. It's neither here nor there, but I'd been commissioned at twelve years of age to work alongside my Grandfather, working for my father as we both did, mostly to ensure that he was okay, not getting too hot in the Texas Sun, as we wired most every home standing in the city of Crandall, Texas; which is now, not surprisingly, prime, and high dollar real estate.

My particular Sears and Roebuck single shot twenty gauge shotgun is a full choke model shotgun. If you do NOT know what that means, then I'll tell you, it simply means that the barrel of the gun is longer, and that this feature ensures that the shotgun pellets, or buckshot, or even a slug, will fire more accurately at a target in the distance, or further away. It also means that should you NOT be shooting a shotgun shell with a slug, meaning that you are firing a traditional shotgun shell burst, then the pellets within the shotgun shell will hold a tighter pattern for a longer distance than they would with any other configuration of shotgun barrel. A "Full Choke" then, is preferable for hunting Duck, pheasants, deer, or any game that is typically fired upon from a larger distance. For a counterpoint, I'll mention that a full choke shotgun is probably not best suited for hunting quail, which is a surprisingly, and extremely challenging species of bird to hunt, as quail tend to sort of explode out of the nearby vicinity very quickly, from a shorter distance than most any other game that I've experience in hunting.

In addition, I should and will mention that this shotgun can, will, has, and will again fire both 2 and 3/4 and 3' inch shells. Mine's not for sale, never will be, good luck finding one of these wonderful guns. I did some brief searches looking for prices just so that I could share them on this article, but found little info on that. Like the Harrington and Richardson models, you can expect these guns, depending upon the condition that they are in, to go for anywhere from $50.00, to $300.00. Good luck to you on that, happy hunting, be safe with your shotguns, and Best Wishes!

~WTS~

I've recently reviewed here on hubpages another very similar single shot twenty gauge shotgun, the Harrington and Richardson models that are very similar.  The Sears gun differs in that it is a full choke gun.  The only real problem with this gun is that the trigger guard is made from plastic, and is susceptible to becoming broken for that reason.  Whether you prefer a full choke or a modified choke shotgun is purely a matter of preference, and what kind of hunting that you plan to do with the gun.  I would prefer the Sears model were it not for the plastic trigger guard.