Beavertail forends

[Stan Hillis]

I am not a fan of beavertail forends, but do own a few. One is on a B-SS 12 ga. 30" gun. One other is on a restocked 32" A grade AH Fox, with 3" chambers. I don't shoot either gun any better than I do my more numerous splinter forend doubles. Another thread here got me thinking it might be interesting to picture some beavertails that are not egregious in their size or shape. Different camera angles might help get an idea of what you have. Any gauge or make is fine. Just would like to get a sampling of some nicer looking bt forends..

I'll go first with a couple pics of the A grade Fox. It has a fairly slender beavertail, or maybe it should be called a semi-beavertail .............whatever that is. :whistle: I bought it some 15 years ago, or more, from Jay Schacter. Sure wish I knew who did the restocking.

https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/70607_800x600.jpg (https://www.jpgbox.com/page/70607_800x600/)

https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/70608_800x600.jpg (https://www.jpgbox.com/page/70608_800x600/)

https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/70610_800x600.jpg (https://www.jpgbox.com/page/70610_800x600/)

[charlie cleveland]

great looking beaver tails and guns...really like 3 inch guns......charlie

[Phil Yearout]

Must admit I've never owned or even shot a shotgun with a beavertail but I've never cared for the way they look, especially some of the really large ones. And some others...here's one I saw on a Trojan 20ga once...

https://i.imgur.com/mE9SMw4l.jpg

[Garry L Gordon]

Stan, there are none in a safe of mine.

[Joseph Sheerin]

My only beavertail is a BSS, and I am going to sell that one.....

Not really a fan at all.

[CraigThompson]

Must admit I've never owned or even shot a shotgun with a beavertail but I've never cared for the way they look, especially some of the really large ones. And some others...here's one I saw on a Trojan 20ga once...

https://i.imgur.com/mE9SMw4l.jpg

I thought the same way as you , that is until I got the two Parker skeet guns and the VHE trap gun . I shoot all three very well at the risk of sounding like a braggart . I never thought they’d feel right in my hands but once I started crushing clay birds and flattening feathered birds I was okay with them .

[Reggie Bishop]

Paging Randy Roberts…..

[CraigThompson]

My VHE Trap and VHE 16 skeet happen to be at the front door for this weekends activities . They actually are no wider than one of those slip on forend extension deals a lot of folks like .

[Phil Yearout]

Craig, those and the one on Stan's gun look nice. I imagine I could live with those :). Actually the forends on my Utica Foxes (which a lot of guys seem to hate) are almost slim beavertails, and I rather like them.

https://i.imgur.com/l4nSumLl.jpg

[Randy G Roberts]

Paging Randy Roberts…..

10-4 Reggie. I'll post some tomorrow. Phone is taking forever to load pics and the wife has the computer tied up preparing some kind of work report, I think she's shopping personally :)

[CraigThompson]

Craig, those and the one on Stan's gun look nice. I imagine I could live with those :). Actually the forends on my Utica Foxes (which a lot of guys seem to hate) are almost slim beavertails, and I rather like them.

https://i.imgur.com/l4nSumLl.jpg

Phil I was kinda against BT’s and single triggers until I started shooting that VHE trap in the pigeon ring . After that my outlook changed a good bit .

[CraigThompson]

10-4 Reggie. I'll post some tomorrow. Phone is taking forever to load pics and the wife has the computer tied up preparing some kind of work report, I think she's shopping personally :)

Easy bud ! Never question the boss’s PC activities :whistle:

[Bob Jurewicz]

Since this is in the "Other Fine Doubles" section I'll add this CSMC 28 GA Special.
Bob Jurewicz

[Wayne Owens]

Pictured is a Hunter Arms 410 with a beavertail forend. The forend is very comfortable when shooting such a small gun. I also feel it compliments the look of the gun.

[Patrick Lien]

LC Smith Specialty grade 20ga Skeet forend. Hard to find and I liked it alot.

PML

[Dave Noreen]

How about this Ithaca beavertail pictured in Clyde Baker's Modern Gunsmithing --

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Here is an array of Savage era Fox beavertails, originally posted by "Marshfellow" --

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[Bill Murphy]

I have an Iver Johnson double trap with a beavertail that looks a lot like the Trojan pictured earlier. However, since it came from the factory like that, I will leave it as is. In my opinion, the nicest beavertails are Parker 28 and .410 skeet guns, .410 Skeeters, 28 gauge Parker Repros, and 20 gauge Model 21s. I have seen nice 12 gauge beavertails, but none that came from the factory.

[Randy G Roberts]

In the order as posted:
1 & 2 L to R are Parker G, B, and V grades, all 12 ga.
3 & 4 L to R are Parker D and G grades, both 20's.
5 & 6 L to R are Parker A1S Washburn Upgrade and B grades, 12 ga.
7 & 8 Rem era Parker DH 16 gauge.
9 & 10 are Winchester 21's, 12 & 20 gauges.
11 & 12 are Ithaca SBT and NID's, 12 and 20 gauges.
13 & 14 L to R are LC Smith, 2 Specialties and a Crown, all 20's.

Hopefully I got all that correctly listed. I really have no preference to BTFE vs SFE when it comes to shooting and really do not notice much if any difference. The BTFE is nice in hot weather in a 5 stand or trap situation but gloves can fix that. I do favor the appearance of the SFE. The short stubby Ithaca NID BTFE has always appealed to me for some reason, I am probably the odd man out on that one.

[Robert Brooks]

28 gauge Parker factory beavertails look and feel just right to me. Bobby

[Dave Noreen]

Those Ithaca NID beavertails Randy shows are the early style they produced from 1926 to about 1934. By 1935 Ithaca introduced a much nicer looking, to my eyes, beavertail, more Winchester Model 21-like. Here are my No. 4E beavertails from a 1933 20-gauge and a 1936 12-gauge --

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[Dave Noreen]

Similar case for the beavertails Ithaca provided on their Lefever Model 4 Vent Rib Double Trap offered from 1930 to 1934 and then the later Lefever A-Grades Model 5 & 6 offered from 1935 to 1939 --

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[Dan Steingraber]

I never cared for the look of them and have never owned one but since my accident I have wondered if it would fit my "new" hand and thumb position better.

[Dean Romig]

My IJ SKEETER .410 with two sets of barrels and forends.


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[Bill Murphy]

Dean, how long were the barrels on your .410 Skeeter?

[Dean Romig]

Both were 26" Bill.





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[Bill Murphy]

Thanks, that was a great gun.

[Stan Hillis]

Thanks to all for the pics and narratives.

[Mike Koneski]

I personally prefer a beaver tail on target guns and a splinter on hunting guns.

[John Davis]

Like everything else in life, tastes change. There was a time when I wouldn’t give a second look for a beaver tail, vent rib gun. Now, that’s all I’m looking for.

[Dean Romig]

I personally prefer a beaver tail on target guns and a splinter on hunting guns.


As a rule me too but on 20 and 28 gauge guns I much prefer a beavertail.





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[Bill Murphy]

My Skeeter .410 has 30" barrels. Should I cut 4 inches off the end to make it handier in the field?

[todd allen]

I've got a beavertail FE on my Ithaca Lefever .410
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[Stan Hillis]

My Skeeter .410 has 30" barrels. Should I cut 4 inches off the end to make it handier in the field?

Perish the thought!!! Nooooo!!!!!!

[Stan Hoover]

I like most beaver tail fore ends, the ones I can’t see as beautiful are ones with a schnabel tip or if they’re just very thick and look like a club.
On Ithaca SXS’s I prefer the earlier shorter version, although the later longer ones are fine also. With the shorter forend, I will often place my pointer finger at the front of the forend just as a way of repeating my hold.
I also think a longer forend makes the barrels appear to be shorter, which is not good.:)

First picture is a few Ithaca’s with earlier and later style forearms. From left to right.
2E 28” 410
2E 26” 20 gauge, my favorite grouse/woodcock gun
5E 30” 20 gauge
4E 32” 16 gauge
3E 30” 12 gauge
5E 32” 12 gauge Magnum
4E 32” 10 gauge Magnum

Pictures 2 & 3 are of 2 similarly stocked Ithaca’s, I don’t believe the stocks are original but why they wear the Sunburst with aluminum spacers has me wondering if they did maybe go back to Ithaca.
I purchased these two a few years apart, not close in serial #, but there’s so many similarities between the stocks of both, they had to have been done by the same person.
Anyone remember seeing similar stocked guns, cheek piece, grips through wrist are narrow but tall, big wide flat beaver tail forends??

[Phil Yearout]

Can someone explain why beavertails exist in the first place?

[John Davis]

Can someone explain why beavertails exist in the first place?

They are mighty handy when shooting 50 pairs of doubles trap or a round of singles/handicap. Also very nice on a “hot” dove field. Sometimes a glove just ain’t good enough.

[Mike Koneski]

Can someone explain why beavertails exist in the first place?

So they can slap the water as a warning to the rest of the beavers when danger is detected. :corn:

[allen newell]

Beavertails are not my thing

[Dean Romig]

I like 'em... a lot!





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[Stan Hillis]

They can be useful in the situations John described which get barrels really hot but, the truth is, I cannot say I've ever missed a dove, or a clay, because of the barrels getting too hot for my fingers. As I said in my initial post, I'm not a fan of them, mostly because I just think a splinter f/e looks so much more elegant. They exist for those who are convinced that they shoot better using them. My 63 years on dove fields haven't convinced me they are worth the ugly.

[John Davis]

Beauty/ugly is in the eyes of the beholder.

[Stan Hillis]

Beauty/ugly is in the eyes of the beholder.

Absolutely. No argument on that.

Best to ya', SRH

[Dean Romig]

To each his own - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

For me a BTFE serves a few different purposes…

1. It keeps my fingertips away from hot barrels in a fast-paced round of trap or skeet or even 5-stand.
2. While hunting in the cooler months with the smaller gauges a BTFE will help to keep the fingertips of my gloves from interrupting my line of vision along the rib to the quarry.
3. A BTFE gives me something more positive to grasp for better control (for my own style of shooting) for better control of where my shot will be directed.

Yes a SFE is far more classy/classic looking for a SXS but the BTFE or “trap” forend was designed/invented for a specific purpose and for me they fulfill that purpose quite handily.





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[Dean Romig]

From the Forum long, long ago...


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[Dean Romig]

And this from article authored by Ron Kirby in Vol. 10, Iss. 1

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[bob lyons]

Finally got to take a photo of my beaver tail fore end from vhe skeet gun compared to a DHE on a 1-1/2 frame. The skeet fore end seemed to be oversized and based on some of the previous photos looks like they varied quite a bit
The skeet fore end looked very odd at first but after shooting I really like it for skeet and sporting clays, but I would not carry it all day hunting partridge.

[Dean Romig]

Nothing odd about that BTFE (beavertail forend) at all. That’s what most of the VHE Skeet forends look like.
Earlier “trap” forends are somewhat different in shape and contour from the later Skeet BTFE’s.





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