Have you heard of a "long tom" shotgun?

[whackemstackem]

I have just recently been thinking of refurbishing a handed down 10 ga. 38 inch barrel "long tom" single shot made by Harrington and Richardson.  I took it out last year and it shot fine with no problems (got a lot of looks too as it doesn't even fit in my truck sideways).  My question is before I touch it, is there much dollar value on these as I have only ever heard of a few still around? I am also curious if any of the newer loads like Hevi-shot and the like may damage my barrel in any way.  Thanks for the info, I am struggling with finding any so all is appreciated.

[h20hunter]

Need a pic of this!

[hoyt2002]

Ive only seen one that a buddy of mine has.

[Huntbear]

I have seen two.. both owned by the same old geezer that also had 3 of the ORIGINAL Marlin Goose Guns.... 

Not sure on value, but if you plan on keeping it in the family, I would refinish it and shoot it...  just have it checked good by a gunsmith before putting heavy loads through it..

[whackemstackem]

I have seen many 12's but not a lot of 10's.  Here's a pic I took off of the internet. 

[CP]

I wouldn’t refurbish any old gun unless it needs to be made functional.  Refurbishing takes away the character and lowers its value.

[whackemstackem]

I agree CP  (kinda why I am asking and looking for opinions) but the barrel does need re-bluing and the stock sometimes shifts under heavy loads. Also was thinking of replacing the firing pin too but it's not necessary yet.


As for gunsmiths, I cannot find one in the Kittitas valley yet.

[Huntbear]

Whackem.. pm sent

[bearpaw]

Do not shoot hevi-shot through any gun unless you have hevi-shot coke tubes. You will ruin a full choke barrel!

[KFhunter]

My bro has a "long tom" model 12g - damm thing is almost 6 foot tall 

His is bolt action and if memory serves he got it at the General Store in Spokane in 1985 or so for just under 100 bucks.

[NW-GSP]

Do not shoot hevi-shot through any gun unless you have hevi-shot coke tubes. You will ruin a full choke barrel!

Is that for all guns? or just any gun with a full choke

[bearpaw]

Do not shoot hevi-shot through any gun unless you have hevi-shot coke tubes. You will ruin a full choke barrel!

Is that for all guns? or just any gun with a full choke

Most of your older guns with fixed chokes that did not have removeable choke tubes can be damaged by Hevi-Shot. Of course your more open chokes are less likely to be damaged.

This is from the Hevi-Shot forum, they recommend using steel shot chokes:

http://www.hevishot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5

HEVI-Shot® Duck and Goose; HEVI-Steel®; Dead Coyote®; and HEVI-13® are safe to use in all steel rated shotguns using steel rated accessories. For those older guns we recommend using our Classic Double’s line of shells.

The materials that make HEVI-Shot® products have no human or environmental toxicity. They don’t corrode.
Our pellets are hard, like steel, so you don’t want to bite into one when eating your game. Please be careful!

[MadHatter]

Definitely heard the term... My grandfather used to talk about his 10ga long tom... He used to talk about his being double barreled and pulling both triggers once while hunting squirrels.  Needless to say the tree top and squirrel were both obliterated (according to the story). Heard a lot of stories about that shotgun though... would be a cool piece of history to have.

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[Bofire]

"Long Tom" was applied to many shotguns with long barrels. Mossberg made a bolt action yours looks like a single shot breakopen. The Mossbergs were sold under many names. Many arguments over if they really worked or not, or if they worked because of longer sight plane(better aiming) or if the barrel length really helped the pattern.
Carl

[KFhunter]

My bro's is a mossberg I'd bet a beer on it - bolt action with a magzine if you can fathom lol

always hated mossberg, still do.   


But to my bro's credit he did knock down some pretty dammed high flyers with that gun

[Crisptrigr]

Certainly wouldn't want to date myself by sharing memories of pond jumping mallards
with a long tom single and Winchester Super X high brass 6s during the early midwest
winters of my youth.

[whackemstackem]

I have to admit it's the best patterning gun I have for that one shot it does have. I paper test all my choke/load combos and this one takes the cake even with my higher end shotguns.  I wonder if it's because the full choke forcing cone is longer than the conventional screw in chokes but I dont know enough about barrels to say  . 
I do know that for pattern testing purposes that it even holds a good pattern to 65 yards....yup 65 was as tight as my patternmaster at 55 with the 3 1/2 12 gauge.  I do know that the gun is long enough a freind of mine who is near-sighted couldn't even see the bead


Thanks for the info in the hevi-shot.  Haven't put any down it yet but wanted to ask before re-loading any.

[ghosthunter]

I wouldn’t refurbish any old gun unless it needs to be made functional.  Refurbishing takes away the character and lowers its value.

You should be watching Pawn Stars.

Money wise it is worth more left alone. Period.

[h2ofowlr]

Do not shoot hevi-shot through any gun unless you have hevi-shot coke tubes. You will ruin a full choke barrel!

They make a line of hevi-shot loads just for some of the old guns, so you won't split the barrel.  I have shot steel through mine.  You take the chance of ruining the barrel though.  But they  are heavier duty than many of the more modern guns.  I would refinish this gun.  If it was a valuable gun, I wouldn't.  I still can find the long toms for $150-$250 dollar range.

[whackemstackem]

That is kind of what I was thinking about the value.  I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a gun that had gone up in value and I was about to degrade it's value.  To me the gun is worth much more than what I'll get selling it so I'm gonna give this a go.
Ghosthunter- I will have to admit that I don't watch a lot of pawn stars but I understand what your talking about with the value going down when it's "refurbished" by an amateur (that is me) and that's why I wanted to get input first.

 Crisptrigr-Don't worry, I actually still use the Super X high brass and specifically use it for jumpshooting(just because).  I feel like it should have come with a periscope attachment too when sneaking up on a pond or ditch.

[muzbuster]

I have one in 10ga. and have shot lots of steel #2 3 1/2" with it without any problems. Got it about 17-18 years ago for 75 bucks. 

[JimmyHoffa]

does it say long tom on it?  I have one that looks like the picture but says model 176 (H&R).  Thing is a cannon.

[whackemstackem]

I do believe it's the same one.