Over/Under Rifle Shotgun Combo

Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
883
I know they make over under shotgun/rifle combos but i cannot seem to find any. It might be because i woke up in the middle of the night with the urge to find one. Can anyone recommend any brands that carry them? Looking for 12ga and a 308 or any center fire really. For deer hunting and target shooting.


Thanks
 
Dont think anyone makes them new anymore, You can find several used Savage 24s on Gunbroker.com at good prices . I had one years ago in 30-30/20ga and it was a fine shooter. Savage 24s came in quite an array of calibers/gauges.
 
Baikal makes combos, also known as bockbucheflint & cape gun. Sights need upgraded, but otherwise very good. Your LGS should be able to find just what you want.

Uplander
 
There are two major reasons why combination guns never really caught on here in the USA. First is the fact that they are illegal for hunting in many areas. Looking at the hunting regulations for much of the West you will find that carring a shotgun for big game is not allowed, and game wardens have historically considered "combos" to fall into that catagory. Same with small game; most small game regs do not allow the carrying of rifles while hunting, and the combo falls into that catagory as well. If, for example, you were hunting chukar in WA you would loose the gun and pay a fine. Combination guns (double, triple, quadruple, etc) are much more common in Europe because regulations there make it easier to own just one gun and hunt multiple types of game. Here in the USA it's easier to own several firearms, and the hunting regulations reflect this.

The second issue is cost. Regulating the barrels of combination guns is serious business. Most gunsmiths, and gun manufacturers (not the same thing) can't do it. Those that can charge accordingly. You can still go to Germany (or other European countries) and order a gun like this built to your requirements, but expect to pay. This task gets harder when you increase the disparity in power between the two calibers; (a .410/.22lr is simpler than a 12ga/.30-30). This is simple ballistics; the loads do not shoot to the same point of aim, and the barrels have to be built to adjust to this. It's actually easier to get two similar barrels to shoot to the same point of aim than two dissimilar ones (a .425/.425 double rifle vs. the 12ga/.30-30), and even that is difficult (and something most "gunsmiths" in the USA cannot do). This is why you can find sets of barrels for shotguns (Browning especially) that interchange between shotgun and rifle calibers, and why double rifles command the prices that they do.
 
I had a 24V several decades ago and I wasn't too impressed. It was heavy and not all that accurate. Back then it was fine in WA state for hunting deer and grouse. I think it still would be. The finer doubles or drillings are very expensive so I like looking at them but $5K and up exceeds my means. For the price of a used 24V you could pick up an H&R Topper and a Handi-Rifle.
 
Maybe you want something like this?
kmc_masterkeyPumpShotgun.jpg
 
Check out the Springfield M6 Scout. It is bare bones, crazy light, and really cool. One of these days I'll suck it up and buy one on Gunbroker.
 
Check out the Springfield M6 Scout. It is bare bones, crazy light, and really cool. One of these days I'll suck it up and buy one on Gunbroker.

I could have picked one up about a month ago for $400. But it was .22/.410 and I think the .22 Hornet is a better round for a survival situation. I wish Springfield would produce another batch. The M6 tends to hold its value real well so you probably won't loose much if you need to sell it in a few years.
 
"Back then it was fine in WA state for hunting deer and grouse. I think it still would be. "

You would be wrong.

The current Upland regs read, "IT IS UNLAWFUL TO HUNT: Game birds with a rifle or pistol, except forest grouse (see page 21 for restrictions)." The current Big Game regs read, "Rimfire rifles are not legal for big game."

Depending on the caliber combination, and if you are not in the right area, your 24V could get you in a lot of trouble. The burden of proof would lie on you to prove you were not using a restricted or illegal caliber to hunt. The best way to do that is not have any ammo. If you do that there's no sense in carrying that weapon.
 
Last edited:
"Back then it was fine in WA state for hunting deer and grouse. I think it still would be. "

You would be wrong.

The current Upland regs read, "IT IS UNLAWFUL TO HUNT: Game birds with a rifle or pistol, except forest grouse (see page 21 for restrictions)." The current Big Game regs read, "Rimfire rifles are not legal for big game."

Depending on the caliber combination, and if you are not in the right area, your 24V could get you in a lot of trouble. The burden of proof would lie on you to prove you were not using a restricted or illegal caliber to hunt. The best way to do that is not have any ammo. If you do that there's no sense in carrying that weapon.

unless that's the only gun you have. not everybody is going to have more than a few guns. If somebody only wanted one gun to hunt with, then the combo would be an option. if hunting game birds, don't carry rifle ammo, if hunting big game, don't carry shot shells or rimfire, if its a large cal then use that. as for proving you weren't hunting with an illegal weapon, or ammo, if the animal is down it should be easy to prove one way or another.
i never saw the need to get one, but for a survival gun, its not a bad option. I'd go 410/22 . 22 hornet isn't that easy to come by now(even harder in a survival situation). .223/20 would be cool.
in short, if you can only get one gun, that would be an option.
 
Back in the 60s when I was in the army in Germany, the "drilling" was very popular for traditional stand hunting with "beaters" flushing the game.
Since anything from pheasant to elk might be flushed, the combo was quite practical. The most common arrangement was the side-by-side double shotgun with the rifle barrel underneath, but there were many variations.
Most of the examples we saw in the big sporting goods store in Wurzburg were heavily engraved and inlaid....gorgeous guns.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...587l12640l0l15019l2l2l0l0l0l0l283l486l2-2l2l0
 
"unless that's the only gun you have."

It does not matter. By law if the gun has a rifled barrel it's a rifle; if it's a rimfire, it's a rimfire. You'll lose the gun, pay the fine, and be banned from hunting for years. Game wardens and the ATF are not inclined to be lenient, and it's stupid to take the chance over something like that.

As for survival, whatever you have handy is going to be the only choice, and then only when there's no supporting social infrastructure. Any other time, you fall under the scope of the law and have to take the chance.

Laws change. What used to be possible may not be any longer. The hunter needs to comply with the regulations; those that don't are a part of the reason the laws change.

Guns are cheap, it's stupid to argue that you can't afford one that meets the legal requirements. Someone earlier mentioned H&R, and two of those would be cheaper than a used 24V.
 
"unless that's the only gun you have."

It does not matter. By law if the gun has a rifled barrel it's a rifle; if it's a rimfire, it's a rimfire. You'll lose the gun, pay the fine, and be banned from hunting for years. Game wardens and the ATF are not inclined to be lenient, and it's stupid to take the chance over something like that.

As for survival, whatever you have handy is going to be the only choice, and then only when there's no supporting social infrastructure. Any other time, you fall under the scope of the law and have to take the chance.

Laws change. What used to be possible may not be any longer. The hunter needs to comply with the regulations; those that don't are a part of the reason the laws change.

Guns are cheap, it's stupid to argue that you can't afford one that meets the legal requirements. Someone earlier mentioned H&R, and two of those would be cheaper than a used 24V.
just got off the phone with ODNR, for deer hunting here, you are right. but for small game as in squirrel or rabbit you're good. at least here anyway.
 
I'll bet squirrel and rabbit fall under varmint. Either way, it pays to read the regs.
 
"Back then it was fine in WA state for hunting deer and grouse. I think it still would be. "

You would be wrong.

The current Upland regs read, "IT IS UNLAWFUL TO HUNT: Game birds with a rifle or pistol, except forest grouse (see page 21 for restrictions)." The current Big Game regs read, "Rimfire rifles are not legal for big game."

Depending on the caliber combination, and if you are not in the right area, your 24V could get you in a lot of trouble. The burden of proof would lie on you to prove you were not using a restricted or illegal caliber to hunt. The best way to do that is not have any ammo. If you do that there's no sense in carrying that weapon.

I had the 30-30/20 gauge. So still legal for big game and forest grouse.
 
Back
Top