The 2” 12 Gauge

[Matt Buckley]

I’m curious to see if any of you own and have shot the light weight 2” chambered 12 gauge. I’ve been interested in these for a long time and thought I would get some opinions on them. Most of these seemed to have been built by English gun makers in the 30’s but Arrieta also released a series of these in the late 90’s.

[Jim Beilke]

What would be wrong with carrying a 51/4 lb 12ga. 15/16 load thru a 12 ga seems like a very balanced load, the patterns should be perfect. Seems very pleasant to shoot and handle.

[Arthur Shaffer]

I have looked at them but never shot one. They are rare, pricey and shoot well on upland game. I have never been driven to consider buying or using one. A stated, they are mostly English and as such are not that much lighter than many of the 2-1/2" English game guns I have bought over the years. They were developed to shoot a short load for even patterning when bore scrubbing was an issue. However, in our world I simply don't believe there is enough difference in patterning between a 5-1/2 lb 20 ga or 12 ga with 3/4 to 7/8 oz loads and modern wads and powders. The kicker to me is that the 20 is much physically smaller than the 12 and more compact.

They are cool, neat, sexy or whatever adjective you want to use, along with being rare and a good conversation piece, but I think it is an idea that has been negated by time.

Great buy from a collector point and fun to play with but I wouldn't trade in my favorite 16or 20 upland gun expecting something to change.

[Ken Hill]

I use a 2” twelve in the beginning of the season. It weighs 5 lbs 8 3/4 oz. A great gun to carry and for me the 12 gauge gun works better than a 20 gauge. I hunt over setters so I’m not taking very long shots. The only issue with the gun is finding cartridges. RST is making them again they had a long hiatus when they couldn’t find components. The British 2” cartridges are little punchy shooting them through a light gun. Also, check barrel wall thickness as some were made extremely thin. The Arrieta 2” guns were made close to 6 lbs so you might want to find a Brit light 2 1/2” gun.

An H&H 2” gun with a limit of KS roosters. Of course the setters helped quite a bit.
Ken

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

[Drew Hause]

Have you seen this thread?
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=654782

[Matt Buckley]

I have read through that thread Drew. Do you know if there was ever an American ammunition company that sold a 2" load or did they all come from England?

[Ken Hill]

Matt,

Remington made a 2” Shur shot load. I don’t know of any 2” twelve gauge guns made in the US.

Ken

[Ken Hill]

Matt,

This is an old link on the Remington 2” shells

https://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=31943

Ken

[Kevin McCormack]

Skimin and Wood made some lovely 12 ga. 2" guns; you see them from time to time on GI.

[Jeff langbehn]

I have two of them now, one a 26”gun the other a 28” gun both are well under 6 lbs they are a treat to shoot and Cary. I shoot only upland birds with them, quail, grouse and close pheasants. I also owned the Arrieta it was a club and nothing like the English guns. I get all of my shells from RST and they do a splendid job. Many of the English companies made them and the bbl thickness is typically thinner but shop until you find one with thicker bbls. Enjoy Jeff langbehn



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