My everyday foraging gun

[Mountaintrekker]

The title should probably read: My everyday everything gun.

I wanted to pop back in here and start with some new things the Mountaintrekker family has learned in the last year or two up here in Alaska. This particular post will be about my everyday long gun I use for everything.
We live off grid and on the edge of the boonies and because of that I have a longarm by my side most of the time. I have gone through a laundry list of survival, hunting and tactical rifles and shotguns in my search for my perfect long gun for my situation. My needs are as follows;

1. Whatever it is it better be enough for a charging moose or bear as we get those encounters quite a bit, mostly snotty moose.
2. It needs to be in a common caliber and not too expensive
3. It needs to be simple both in operation and functionality
4. it needs to be compact and not too heavy
5. It must allow me to be able to take the widest range of game possible
6. It must be either a repeater or double barrel
7. It must be able to handle various loadings of it's or other calibers

Those are the primary criteria for using while out with the livestock to dispatch varmints or predators, getting an opportunity at wild game for food, throwing in the canoe, boat or on the 4 wheeler to do whatever. I do have specific firearms for specific purposes like scoped rifles and such, this is just "that gun" that is always with me.
And the winner is... My Stoeger 12ga blued hammerless double barrel coach gun. She does it all... within 100 yards of course. I use birdshot #7.5 or 8 for practice and pests, . #5 for bunnies, ptarmigan etc. 410 inserts for same and small game, buck for larger pests like coyotes and
two legged varmints and Breneke Black Magic 600gr 3" mag slugs for bears and moose not to mention some flares thrown in when I venture out. I'm very happy with this for this purpose. I'll be doing some modifications to this side by side like mounting some rifle sights with tritium inserts on the center rib, I've put a limbsaver recoil pad on and I'm in the process of mounting sling studs and sealing the wood. A teflon coating or parkerizing is on the list as well.
I'm going to get a .22LR insert for one of the barrels and see if that would work as I am aware of my somewhat limited amount of ammo I can carry.
Until I get some pictures or upgrades done...

[Sourdough]

Mountaintrekker, first welcome back, you have been missed on this forum. You are living the dream of many. Sounds like a good tool for the job. I have the same concept in a single barrel 12 ga. 18"bbl.
Something to keep in mind is length of pull, what is perfect for you will be too long for your wife, and if your getting bear nibbled you will want her to light that puppy off. Also in the dead of winter when I have six snow suits on, a shorter LOP is desirable. For my "I don't care if it's butt'ugly" firearms, I have gone to 12 7/8" LOP which is not comfortable in summer (want 13 7/8") but workable overall. I am glad to hear your families dream is becoming a reality.

[glockcop]

Sounds pretty good. As I was reading your post, a 12 guage pump with about a 18''-22" barrel came to mind, then I got to the part where you said "coach gun". I didn't see that one comming but that's a darn good choice. It seems to cover your parameters to perfection. Does that coachgun of yours have a choke system. If not, a gunsmith should be able to cover that. One modified and one full choke would be handy to extend the reach a bit. Gotta say though, that's a cool choice.

[Sourdough]

This "Bad'Boy" might be in my near future.............

http://www.stoegerindustries.com/fir...le_defense.php

[Beans]

I aways wanted an O/U= 30-30/12 guage with a 32 ACP chamber insert.

http://www.mcace.com/adapters.htm

I have a .223/,22LR.L.S chamber insert that will work in any rifle chambered for the 5.56 or the .223

[crashdive123]

Good to see you back around MT. Sounds like your move to Alaska is agreeing with you. I am a fan of Stoeger Coach guns. Nice choice.

[glockcop]

Check out the Stoeger Condor "Outback" 12 guage over and under with iron sights/ 20'' barrels. It's got a choke system and comes in Nickle with black stocks. That's a great candidate too.

[Mountaintrekker]

Well for starters let me clarify a couple of things... As to my wife needing to shoot, I built her a nice Remington 1100 12 ga and had the 28" vent rib barrel cut and crowned to 18" and put a tactical charging handle on (as she has some arthritis and fine motor skills can be difficult in the cold). We mounted some Williams fire sights on the rib and upgraded the gas seals and she is good to go. Next is having the stock shortened a bit and new recoil pad, although she seems fine as is. Her main concern was to be able to stop any threat around the homestead and loaded with slugs and buck she will have no problems. She has been practicing with it quite a bit and it goes everywhere with her. Gotta love it!
As far as a pump or the condor... the pump doesn't allow me to change munitions quietly or very quickly for that matter. My 870's seem to be pretty loud when ejecting and the new shell coming into battery.
I need to swap out my slugs and throw in bird shot or .410's while keeping the potential dinner in sight and being quiet. The condor was on the top of my list until I learned it's only a single trigger. I like having the option of a game load on one side and a slug or buck on the other or any other combo and then just switch triggers. Being committed to firing whatever is in the first barrel on the condor didn't fit the bill. It comes with fixed chokes one IC and the other Modified which is just fine with me.
I'm over on the mainland right now and took it to the range yesterday. I was hitting pie plates with regular 2 3/4 Federal slugs at 100 yards with just the bead so I'm still ok in practice. The Breneke's are even more accurate, just $4.00 every time I pull the trigger... ouch!

[Pal334]

Thanks for sharing your thought process. One question, do you feel that quick reload is something you can do? I have not done alot of practice, but it seems to be "doable". Are slugs your normal "carry" condition (may have been in your posts and I missed it)?

[Mountaintrekker]

I'm pretty fast at reloads, but I do usually carry it full time with two slugs in it. Bears and moose being the biggest threat, I can take a couple of seconds and switch to other shells should I come across ducks or a porky etc. they tend not to be life threatening!