.22 Caliber Shotgun!

[Lund Explorer]

Who knew.

 

Well I just got my hands on what must be the world's smallest shotgun.  A Mossberg Targo Model 42, a .22 caliber smoothbore shotgun, that also doubles as a rifle.  When I first saw this thing, I wasn't sure what I was looking at.  The front sight is located about 4" short of the barrel's end.  Why?  When I looked closer, I saw where the barrel end actually screwed off.  The main barrel is as smooth as a baby's bottom and was designed for shooting .22 shot shells.  If you decided to shoot regular ammunition, the barrel extension was threaded giving the bullet one last chance for a little spin prior to leaving the barrel.  One thing I don't have is the miniature hand held trap thrower or the little 2" diameter clay pigeons.  I understand the sport was called "Moskeet".

 

Further study showed that these guns are post-war built in the late 1940's and early 50's.  Quite a few were used out on the farm for shooting rats or snakes inside the barn or out in the field.  From the amount of pitting I assume that whoever used this one left it sitting in the barn.  Kind of ugly, but a really neat idea.  I also understand that Remington and Winchester made similar models.

 

Has anyone else run across one of these?

 

The pictures included are from a Google search as my camera is giving me issues.

 

 

 

[clayton86]

That's pretty neat I've never seen that before

[slonezp]

Neat find

[Scott F]

I've got a 22 rifle that looks exactly like yours except it's a model 46D and  doesn't have the barrel that unscrews. Years ago, we ran quite a few shot shells through it. 

[Catt]

Yelp!

They also made a .410 on the same frame, I got one when I was a kid.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Very cool. Never seen one of those.

[RoLo]

Wow...never knew there was such an animal.

The smallest shotgun I'm familiar with is the 410, which of course is a 41 caliber shotgun (nearly twice the bore)

 

Roger

[Jerry in SC]

Mo-skeet-o was the name. There was also a Winchester Model 36 that chambered a 9 mm shotgun shell.

[RoLo]

Mo-skeet-o was the name. There was also a Winchester Model 36 that chambered a 9 mm shotgun shell.

 

Yeah...the way I got it, the Mo-skeet-o (Mosquito) was designed for plinking rats.

Hmmm, I'll bet the 22-cal shotgun and a rat terrier make a dynamic duo 

 

Roger

[Jerry in SC]

Marlin made a Garden Gun a few years ago. A bolt action box magazine fed .22 Magnum smooth bore, no rear sight with a hi viz front.

[Ratherbfishing]

Interesting twist (literally and figuratively) but what's the downside to just shooting bird shot through a "regular" .22?  We did it regularly and as long as we kept the barrel clean, it seemed to do no harm.

[Jeff H]

Wow...never knew there was such an animal.

The smallest shotgun I'm familiar with is the 410, which of course is a 41 caliber shotgun (nearly twice the bore)

 

Roger

.410 is bore diameter, it's actually a 36 caliber.

[RoLo]

.410 is bore diameter, it's actually a 36 caliber.

 

That's incorrect.

 

The bore diameter of rifles is normally designated in "caliber", which represents 1000ths of an inch. 

For instance, a 243 Win has a bore diameter of 243/1000 inch, just 0.007" less than 1/2".

Caliber may be rounded off to 100ths as in 22 caliber, or expressed in 1000ths as in 220 Swift

 

Shotguns are normally designated in "gauge", which expresses the number of lead balls needed

to equal one pound. For instance, the diameter of 12 lead balls that weigh a total of one pound

equals the bore diameter of a 12 gauge shotgun

 

The 410 shotgun is the exception, which is expressed in caliber like a rifle, rather than gauge.

Therefore, the bore diameter of a 410 shotgun is 410/1000", which equates to 41 caliber. 

Just for the fun of it: 28 gauge = 55 caliber and 10 gauge = 775 caliber

 

Roger

[Jeff H]

Yeah, sorry.  I meant 36 gauge.  It is known here by it's bore size but in Europe I think it's known as 36 gauge.

[RoLo]

Yeah, sorry.  I meant 36 gauge.  It is known here by it's bore size but in Europe I think it's known as 36 gauge.

 

I didn't realize that Jeff.

Therefore, 36 lead balls with a .410" diameter equal one pound in weight.

Also in Europe, caliber is often designated in MM (millimeter). Unfortunately the U.S. blew its chance to switch to the metric system.

 

Roger

[Mccallister25]

Never seen one. Its different!

[Lund Explorer]

Mo-skeet-o was the name. There was also a Winchester Model 36 that chambered a 9 mm shotgun shell.

 

From what I've learned, I thought the Mo-skeet-o name was based on the game of trying to hit those tiny little clay pigeons.

[(='_'=)]

I didn't realize that Jeff.

Therefore, 36 lead balls with a .410" diameter equal one pound in weight.

Also in Europe, caliber is often designated in MM (millimeter). Unfortunately the U.S. blew its chance to switch to the metric system.

 

Roger

 

totally off topic here, but, thats also incorrect.

 

a .410 bore would be a 67-68 gauge, meaning you could take a pound of lead, make 67 lead balls with a .410 diameter, and still have some lead remaining, but not enough for another ball. do the math, its simple.

[RoLo]

totally off topic here, but, thats also incorrect.

 

a .410 bore would be a 67-68 gauge, meaning you could take a pound of lead, make 67 lead balls with a .410 diameter, and still have some lead remaining, but not enough for another ball. do the math, its simple.

 

You're correct, it takes about 67 lead balls with a .410" diameter to equal one pound.

Oddly enough, Remington made shotshells for the 410 shotgun that they labeled 36 Gauge.

In fact, there are some 410 shotguns that have "36 GA" engraved on the breech.

There's a few different opinions out there, but as you indicated, it is not 36 Ga.

This blog discusses the same thing (kind of funny): http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=192696

 

Roger