On Armed American Radio last Sunday, Mark Walters and I joked about an Anti-Gun report that mentioned .22 Rimfire Shotguns. I was unaware of any such beast, as was Mark.
Well, Mossberg actually made one. I was looking up a source for a .22 Magazine and found reference to the 1930’s Mossberg Targo .22 Shotgun. So, I was wrong. There is a .22LR Smoothbore out there. These were produced until, believe it or not, as late as 1968 according to that link. Remington made one too. Based on their little pump action .22, it was called the MoSkeet Trap. These were primarily used in Shooting Galleries, but saw slow sales everywhere else.
So, there you go. I was wrong. I am however surprised that Listeners didn’t call this to our attention.
We used to have one of those mossberg .22 shotguns that had been handed down. It was in such horrible shape I didn’t dare fire it. I finnally sent it off to an auction with some other wall hangers.
I have a lakefield 22 smoothbore i bought brand new in the late 90’s. i am not sure if these are still produced as lakefield was bought out by savage i think? (now that i write this i ask myself why did”nt you look that up first). i have had good luck using these on some pests at close range, but ammo is hard to come by and expensive. works well for me using the all brass 22 shot shells, but i dont know what factory still makes them. also i believe marlin was making a 22 magnum shot rifle a few years ago.
I have the Lakefield, in 22 LR, and the Marlin in 22WMR. The Lakefield was made in Canada and marketed, I believe, by Savage. The Marlin is a model 25MG, Garden gun. The lakefield is a single shot. The Marlin feeds from a detachable box mag. Fun guns.
Didn’t Marlin also make a .22 smoothbore called a ‘garden gun’? Perhaps I’m wrong.
P.
They may have. I’m not familiar with any of these, actually.
Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s we shot .22 shot rounds at Scout camp. They did call it Mo-Skeet.
There were also “goose guns” that shot multiple barrels of .22 LR at the same time in rifled bores to reach out and carry more energy to geese 70 to 100 yards out.
We are clever beasts, eh?
Got two. Winchester mod62 & Winchester mod67. Grandfather actually shot skeet with them, also good for rats in barn.
Last time I checked Rem’s catalog still listed a smoothbore 572 pump .22. And I believe Marlin or Savage still makes a bolt action .22 smoothbore (or did up until recently). I can’t imagine that either is popular.
I recall having a “trap range” at scout camp with a 22 smooth bore shot gun, and a small
clay pigeon.This was in the 1966-1969 era.I spent a good bit of money there and busted
very few clay pigeons.
Believe Noble Arms also produced a smooth bore pump in .22 . The kids used to nail dragon flies near the swamps
Enter “Routledge Bore 22” into your search engine.