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Classic Swamp Yankee Guns

  • Thread starter Deleted member 67409
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 67409

Certain regions of the US have iconic guns associated with them. Deep South? .30-30 Marlin or Winchester. Mountain West? Winchester Model 70 or Remington 700 in a super-flat shooting cartridge for elk or sheep. Texas? Whatever can harvest the maximum amount of hogs at the minimum cost. Southwest? Colt SAAs and Winchester 1873s.

Now, New England? Easy, the Remington 742 in .30-06 [laugh]

Go to KTP or any big store in New England and you'll see 742s for $400+/-. The 742 will harvest plenty of deer or moose or black bear. Max points if the 742 has express sights below a raised-up 3-9x40 Nikon or Redfield or Burris.

In addition to the 742/7400, I'd also say the Remington 7600 and 870 Wingmaster round out the Top Three Swamp Yankee guns. No classic Swamp Yankee would go without owning an 870 Wingmaster or some kind of Remington semi-auto .30-06. Guess I'll have to buy them now...

Here's the Southern version that inspired this thread:

 
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Ok , I'm in. I'll stick to New England. The Model 94 in .32 Winchester Special is about as iconic as you can get here, besides the same carbine/rifle in .30 WCF.

Sorry, but shotguns don't count, even though they should.

Excellent subject to start an opinionated argument with.
 
C. Stockwell said:
Certain regions of the US have iconic guns associated with them. Deep South? .30-30 Marlin or Winchester. Mountain West? Winchester Model 70 or Remington 700 in a super-flat shooting cartridge for elk or sheep. Texas? Whatever can harvest the maximum amount of hogs at the minimum cost. Southwest? Colt SAAs and Winchester 1873s.

Now, New England? Easy, the Remington 742 in .30-06 [laugh]

Go to KTP or any big store in New England and you'll see 742s for $400+/-. The 742 will harvest plenty of deer or moose or black bear. Max points if the 742 has express sights below a raised-up 3-9x40 Nikon or Redfield or Burris.

In addition to the 742/7400, I'd also say the Remington 7600 and 870 Wingmaster round out the Top Three Swamp Yankee guns. No classic Swamp Yankee would go without owning an 870 Wingmaster or some kind of Remington semi-auto .30-06. Guess I'll have to buy them now...

Here's the Southern version that inspired this thread:

Click to expand...



Does a 870 from before wingmasters were made count?
 
Yup, New England Native and the 30-06 7600 and 870 with a turkey barrel and a slug barrel were the first in my safe as a 'kid'... Other than .22s-
 
Never heard of a 742. Win 92 30-30 or 32special or 22-250 or 30-06 was the common calibers when I was younger.

Those southern cousin-breeders are spreading Yankee lies again


BISHOP
 
Remington single shot bolt action 22 rifle. My grandfather who lived in Saco Maine taught me how to shoot with one of these. This rifle would be used almost exclusively for the grandkids when they came to visit.
Handgun would be a Colt Police Positive that some uncle who retired from a local PD kept around the house to ward off troublemakers.
 
In Central MA, a Swamp Yankee Staple List would be incomplete without an H&R Single.shot shotgun and/or and H&R .22 of some sort, a reasonable exception would be Iver Johnson. I can't number how many I've seen come through or hear about in passing conversations.
 
Eric H said:
In Central MA, a Swamp Yankee Staple List would be incomplete without an H&R Single.shot shotgun and/or and H&R .22 of some sort, a reasonable exception would be Iver Johnson. I can't number how many I've seen come through or hear about in passing conversations.
Click to expand...

I was going to mention the NEF Handi-Rifle but that's a more modern gun than what one would associate with a traditional Swamp Yankee.
 
Winchester73 said:
Ok , I'm in. I'll stick to New England. The Model 94 in .32 Winchester Special is about as iconic as you can get here, besides the same carbine/rifle in .30 WCF.

Sorry, but shotguns don't count, even though they should.

Excellent subject to start an opinionated argument with.
Click to expand...

I got one of doze! Inherited it from my wife's granddad. I think I've got 2 boxes of 32WinSpl with 2 shots taken out of it. IF I had time to hunt deer AND MA was a rifle state, I'd use it. But it's an old iconic gun so I keep it. Connection to the past.
 
greencobra said:
jesus, at one time it seemed like everyone had an 870, didn't it? it was the 10/22 of it's day.
Click to expand...
I had a 870 super express magnum combo. Gave it Little Jack for a B'day gift just like I did the Colt Woodsman and the Thompson and the Grease Gun. Another B'day coming up in April. Maybe the suppressed shotgun this time. My safe keeps getting lighter and his heavier. But, he does a good job keeping everything clean. Jack.
 
One of my first guns in the South was a 870. I don't think it's uniquely Swamp Yankee- though it may be typical. As a transplant and 'adopted' Swamp Yankee, my thoughts are that I see Browning A5's all over the place here. Seems like any shop that carries a lot of used guns always has some A5's. Extra points for Light 12, and 'Swamp Yankee Supreme' award to anyone with a Sweet 16. Old School Swamp Yankee = Winchester Model 12.
 
Mountain said:
One of my first guns in the South was a 870. I don't think it's uniquely Swamp Yankee- though it may be typical. As a transplant and 'adopted' Swamp Yankee, my thoughts are that I see Browning A5's all over the place here. Seems like any shop that carries a lot of used guns always has some A5's. Extra points for Light 12, and 'Swamp Yankee Supreme' award to anyone with a Sweet 16. Old School Swamp Yankee = Winchester Model 12.
Click to expand...

There's different levels of Swamp Yankee shotgun. The 870 is like the entry level do-all New England shotgun. Old school New Englanders like my dad and (deceased) grandfather wouldn't buy a Mossberg 500 over an 870. Up from the regular 870 is the Wingmaster. Then the 1100. Then the A5s. Then the Model 12.

Occasionally you see a guy shooting trap with a Model 12 and everyone notices.
 
My grandfathers lone shotgun was a Browning Sweet 16 with an added Poly-Choke. He used that gun for everything from crows to squirrels to ducks just by dialing the Poly-Choke. He didn't care for deer hunting though; he was taught that it was necessary to get a deer or two every winter to help fill the larder and looked at deer hunting as a chore to be done. If there were deer hunting rules in Maine in the early 1900's he never mentioned them. His father's deer rifle was a Stevens Model 425 in .35 Rem.

Glad to see we finally got around to mentioning the Model 12, AKA "The Perfect Repeater".
 
C. Stockwell said:
There's different levels of Swamp Yankee shotgun. The 870 is like the entry level do-all New England shotgun. Old school New Englanders like my dad and (deceased) grandfather wouldn't buy a Mossberg 500 over an 870. Up from the regular 870 is the Wingmaster. Then the 1100. Then the A5s. Then the Model 12.

Occasionally you see a guy shooting trap with a Model 12 and everyone notices.
Click to expand...


The Model 12 used at a gun show won't cost you a ton more than the 870 these days. Definitely less than the A5 in recent years. I'm betting a newish-vintage 1100 costs more than all of em.


Now a guy running a 97 on Trap. THAT'S an old bugger. Better still - a Contender with a 45/.410 barrel. LOL. (Gotta remember the shot flies in a donut pattern.)
 
Dennis in MA said:
The Model 12 used at a gun show won't cost you a ton more than the 870 these days. Definitely less than the A5 in recent years. I'm betting a newish-vintage 1100 costs more than all of em.


Now a guy running a 97 on Trap. THAT'S an old bugger. Better still - a Contender with a 45/.410 barrel. LOL. (Gotta remember the shot flies in a donut pattern.)
Click to expand...

Can confirm, shopped all the old shotguns when I was looking for a 2nd one.

Model 12 and 870 (or 1100) can be found for roughly the same bracket price, and both are a serious upgrade over current production new express models. All 1/3 of the price of a new 1100.

(Don't have a current listing for a model 12, but shopped them a few years ago)
 
Dennis in MA said:
The Model 12 used at a gun show won't cost you a ton more than the 870 these days. Definitely less than the A5 in recent years. I'm betting a newish-vintage 1100 costs more than all of em.

Now a guy running a 97 on Trap. THAT'S an old bugger. Better still - a Contender with a 45/.410 barrel. LOL. (Gotta remember the shot flies in a donut pattern.)
Click to expand...

What grade of Model 12? A Model 12 Trap isn't going to be $500-750. You also have to ignore quite a few modern guns to actually go and buy a Model 12 for trap or skeet these days. Most of the guys running Model 12s have had the guns for years or inherited them.
 

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