How do semi auto shotguns work

Another advantage of inertia guns is the way they handle. Although gas guns can be just as light and just as well balanced, the lack of gas-system parts under the forearm means inertia guns can have a trimmer feel in your front hand that makes them easy to point naturally.

The bolt handle of the gun I was shooting must have snagged slightly in the ghillie blanket I was hiding under, and when I came up to shoot, nothing happened. Gas guns are a better fit for the fastidious, too. My solution, and one I highly recommend, is to own several of each. If I want to shoot a sem-auto, I grab a gas gun for busting targets or hunting for doves or geese in decent weather. You probably have room in your safe for another shotgun or two, right? If not, they do sell bigger safes.

From early tackdriving muzzleloaders to today's long-range game getters, these rifles have earned their reputations for hitting where hunters aim. Before far-reaching magnums, deer hunters shot whitetails up close—and they used these cartridges to do so. On a cold, late-season hunt, the author took this banded goose with an inertia-operated Benelli Montefeltro. Phil Bourjaily. How Inertia-Operated Shotguns Work. Want more of the Great Outdoors? The best advice would be to see how different cartridges spread at the same distance, aka patterning, with your shotgun.

The operation of firing a semi-auto shotgun is very straightforward. Keep in mind, not every shotgun will have the exact same positioning of the controls. How fast or slow you should shoot a semi-auto shotgun depends on your skill level, safety concerns, and comfort with the weapon. You'll know the gun is empty when the bolt locks to the rear and the inside of the chamber is visible.

At this point, you can either re-engage the safety and safely stow the shotgun or reload and continue shooting. To reload from this position, grab a shell, drop it into the chamber in the correct orientation, and depress the bolt release. This will send the shotgun into battery.

You can then load additional rounds into the magazine tube or load another shell into the chamber from an open bolt after the chambered round is fired. When shooting, make sure your stance is solid and aim the shotgun with the same precision as you would any other firearm.

Hopefully, this article helped you learn how to properly handle a semi-auto shotgun. If you want to learn more about the different types of shotgun cartridges, check out our guide on The Basics of Shotgun Ammo. Please enable JavaScript in Your Browser JavaScript is not currently enabled in your browser and due to this our site will not work as it should. While JavaScript is disabled, you will not be able to add items to your cart or browse all product options.

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Please add " opticsplanet. Shooting A Semi Auto Shotgun. Tap Tap to Zoom. About the Author. Visit Author Page. Couple that with single-digit temps, and it can cause problems. A lot of folks think inertia guns are shoulder killers. And some will give you a wallop, but I have also shot a few gauge gas guns that kicked harder than inertia 12s.

But I know many wingshooters have an aversion to it, and rightly so. There are few modern inertia-driven shotguns that have unmanageable recoil. Yes, they are going to pound you harder than most gas guns, and if you shoot a 2-ounce 3. Two to three months straight of shooting is a lot for one shoulder to bear, and a gas-operated auto will soften some of the felt recoil.

The reason I have an SX3 is almost strictly for snow goose season. When I got it, I was chasing white geese pretty steadily each spring. The A Silver Mallard is a pain in the ass to take the plug out of there are no three-shell limits for the spring conservation season.

It was likely a mix of an especially dirty SBE2 and poor shoulder mounting by me. For high-volume shooting, a clean gas gun is the way to go. This is a pretty subjective question. Buy once, cry once, as they say. Sure, there have been issues with some gas autos, but there will always be malfunctions with anything mechanical.

The fit and feel of a gun is what most shooters consider the determining factor when it comes to shotgun accuracy. I like the feel of an inertia-driven gun over a gas gun. But I shoot gas guns better. The reason?