My Serbu has arrived.

My condolences. An anti-inflammatory is in order.

Winchester valu packs do that, Shun them. Shoot brass base loads.

Looks like you have the classic "white knuckle" grip on that thing

The Serbu looks way too painful to shoot! I have a hard enough time shooting my pistol gripped 1300.

Just as an answer to 19-3ben's question

Feb 2008 issue of Small Arms review ran an article where the authors started with a 32-in bbl H&R 12ga single shot and cut the barrel down 1 inch at a time and measured velocity with slugs, and pattern/spread with buckshot. I will scan an post the graphic results here.

But BLUF is: when cut to 6.75" barrel length, the shortest the article posted, the velocity with slugs dropped from a high of 1605 fps (at 26-in bbl length) to 1117 fps, and at 6.75" bbl length the 9-pellet 00B load produced a 17" max spread, with 8 hitting an "Economy B-27 Silhouette" (*) target at 15 yds, with 4 pellets hit in a "vital" area.

fwiw, and hth; and abc xyz, etc.
C-

(*): The target http://www.targets.net/html/b-27_b-29_b-34.html is a 25"x35" piece of paper, with the silhouette taking up most of the area, and comprised of in part what looks to be a 11.5"x20" vital zone center.

that's interesting; I wonder what the deal is with the 20" velocity reading.

yeah

I dunno. But in the article they mentioned it and it was a repeatable occurrence. They too wondered how to explain it!
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Really cool. Thanks for the range report.

That looks like it hurts.

I wonder how it would feel firing it with slugs?? It'd be a killer bear defence gun....

How's the recoil?

Ever try skeet with it? Yeeahaw

Lightsped wrote,

I am not sure why that would happen, but what I tried a few times later was to apply moderate forward pressure to the foregrip during the shot. This seems to have helped a bit.

Anyone had any similar experience such as this with an 870 locking up such as this??

Click to expand...

Don't compare your gun to a regular 870 with a shoulder stock, long barrel, etc. The 870 simply wasn't intended to operate in the configuration you have this gun.

By the way, I have to be honest with you. I think most people on this thread are secretly laughing at you. That gun is just a bad idea and a waste. Yes, it's novel, and that's about the only thing it has going for it. For a concealed piece, a Glock 23 is 5 times better. For a shotgun, an old school 870 is 5 times better. It's too bad you wasted your money, but if you're wealthy, it doesn’t matter I guess.

I have to be the dick when nobody else is honest enough to step up, nothing personal.

Do you have the Knoxx grip on it , from what I have heard they help tremendously with the recoil.

Although the Serbu isn't my cup of tea I'm not laughing at Lightsped. He's doing something that's a bit daring and I'm living it vicariously as he relates his experiences. I especially like that he's sharing the bumps in the road he encounters. I hope he continues to keep us posted.

I'm niot laughing either. I know from experience just how ineffective this would be, but some folks have to learn on their own.

As a toy, nice. As a tool, nope.

No laughter here

I don't care how impractical or even downright painful that thing might be, I still want one. I can certainly see the appeal of owning such a device. Nobody buys a Viper for the economical gas mileage and spacious trunk

Interesting to see that there's nothing gained with a shotgun barrel more than 22 inches. I'd heard this previously, and that bird guns primarily have longer barrels to enhance point and swing.

I'm partial to SBS myself, and not to steal lightsped's thunder, his is my contribution

I think most people on this thread are secretly laughing at you. That gun is just a bad idea and a waste. Yes, it's novel, and that's about the only thing it has going for it. For a concealed piece, a Glock 23 is 5 times better. For a shotgun, an old school 870 is 5 times better. It's too bad you wasted your money, but if you're wealthy, it doesn’t matter I guess.

I have to be the dick when nobody else is honest enough to step up, nothing personal.

Click to expand...

It's only honest if it's accurate. I don't know about most people and won't presume to speak for them. Personally, I find nothing to laugh at. This is a niche weapon but there are some people who use these same weapons for serious social purposes within that niche. And even if Lightsped doesn't fall within that group, he does fall within that far larger group of free individuals who has the right to purchase whatever he chooses, regardless of it's "effectiveness" in the eyes of others, and to have a polite discussion about it without disparagement.

i'm not laughing at lightsped...just incredibly envious, because here in california, i will never be able to own one...


by the way, here is my SBS:



not quite as short, but here in california, the best i could do...

When just out for fun, use birdshot. Slugs/buck hurt like heck, but birdshot is downright pleasant. Just something about the impulse curve...

I hear guns like this just take some getting used to.

I'd think that a "sawed off stock" pistol grip might be of more utility - then it'd be easier to manage while holding straight out forward, with both hands (recoil would go up). At least, that's what I experienced when I've shot short shotguns like this - one, a double-barrel 12 the other an 870 pump w/ a pistol grip/no stock. The pump kicked a hell of a lot more (in terms of pain), whereas the double barrel had more a jolting upward recoil.

Now, the kick while firing both tubes of the SxS at once, that's another story entirely. Goddaaammmnn. Never will I do that again, nevermind with slugs...

I sure want one.

By the way, I have to be honest with you. I think most people on this thread are secretly laughing at you. That gun is just a bad idea and a waste. Yes, it's novel, and that's about the only thing it has going for it. For a concealed piece, a Glock 23 is 5 times better. For a shotgun, an old school 870 is 5 times better. It's too bad you wasted your money, but if you're wealthy, it doesn’t matter I guess.

I have to be the dick when nobody else is honest enough to step up, nothing personal.

Click to expand...

Meh, most people are most likely jealous. I own a G23, and am still in the process of getting a Serbu anyway. Just waiting to go home for spring break, so I can complete the form 4 requirements.

Screw practical, I've got enough practical firearms to last me the rest of my life. The Serbu is a fun piece.

And in terms of practicality, it actually isn't all that bad at all, anyway. I previously calculated ~1100 fps on a 1 ounce slug from a Serbu. From the Small Arms Test article, looks like I was spot on. Using the same calculator, I get 1,000 fps for a 1-3/8 ounce (600 grain) Rem Buckhammer. Those rounds have almost exactly the same momentum as .454 Casull loads from a 7.5" barrel; 300 gr at 1600 fps and 400 gr at 1400 fps.

Fewer shots and a bit heftier than a .454 revolver (though the weight should help with the recoil), but you gain the ability to use buckshot and birdshot pretty effectively out to about 25 yards. Much like the comparison between a revolver and an auto, you trade capacity for versatility.

I could definitely see someone using a Serbu for a hiking/camping gun. Keep a round of birdshot in the chamber in case of snakes, and slugs in the tube in case of bear, feral dogs, or goblins. And have a bunch of 12 gauge flares in your pack in case you fall down and break a leg. Definitely easier to carry around all day than a full size shotty.

There are certainly less practical guns out there.

I'm not laughing. The man wanted one, so he got one. That's what "shall not be infringed" is all about, if you ask me.

I kind of want one, just because it's pretty cool looking! people own guns that they will never fire, so why can't he have one? just because it's not covered in gold plating and hand-engraving? I say he's one ahead for actually firing it.

I'd want a Hogue tamer grip, and probably something a little more ergonomic on the forend, but I definitely want a Serbu!