Good Deal on a Shotgun

[Little Loudmouth]

My family and I were in Marquette, Michigan a few days ago. Dad and I noticed a used J.C. Higgins Model 20 (Mossberg 500 made for Sears) sitting in the Used Firearms rack at Gander Mountain. The price: $89.99. I looked at it, said, "Hey! I could use this!" and two days later, it's mine.

The details:

The buttstock has been cut down to 11 inches, which fits me just about perfectly since I happen to be small. It's a 12-gauge pump gun, 2 3/4 inch chamber, Pachmayr recoil pad, large J.C. Higgins compensator on the barrel. We estimate it weighs about 8 pounds.

So, how did I do? How much increase in noise will the compensator make?

 

[Parke1]

I have this very gun (my dad gave it to me, an old lady gave it to him for free when he was a patrolman).

It's always been a reliable gun. I'd say that you did well for $90. I'm not sure of the actual worth of these guns, although it's probably rather low.

Ahh, the "compensator" is actually a poly-choke (or at least mine is). If you take a look at it, you'll see that you can twist the end of it to change the barrel choke.


Hey, it might be a beater gun, but it always served me well for trap.

Happy shooting!
-Parke1

 

[Dave McCracken]

You did well. I'd call that about $150 FMV. Enjoy....

 

[ACP230]

Dave:
A couple of things Little Loudmouth forgot to mention.
There's a vent rib on the gun. It had a white bead in the middle once, but it was broken off flush with the rib.
There's a yellow brass? shield in the stock just forward of the recoil pad.
The comp, which I thought was a Cutts at first, is large with ports all around it. Barrel is 26 inches with the comp.
The safety is a push button on the front of the trigger guard instead of a oblong tang safety on the top of the receiver.

Would this have been a production J.C. Higgins gun?
I remember reading the Sears catalog with some concentration when they sold guns, but must have missed this J.C. Higgins if it was a production gun.

What light 12 gauge shells do you recommend?

Thanks.

 

[Dave McCracken]

The earliest 500s,IIRC, had the safety where you describe. Higgins guns are quite complicated, makers included all the US makers there were, including High Standard, Springfield, and Noble.

The Winchester Superlights are good. So are the Fiocchi 7/8 oz loads and those Vintagers from Polywad. The last are a bit pricey.

Some Polychokes had a compensator built in. Does this have an adjustable choke?

I do think this will serve nicely as a basic all arounder for a young shooter.

 

[00-Guy]

I will attempt to avoid the "me too" post, but....

My father also gave me my JC Higgins Model 20 12 GA. (Still have it and just lubed it the other night with my son>) All are correct. The Cutts looking device on the end is indeed a polychoke. Mine works from cylinder to full in about 3 clicks. Look carefully for the dashes or stars to figure out which setting you are on. (hint: down tight is full.) To continue a thought from another thread, the polychoke did make this appear to be a crew-served weapon. (Alas no bayonet lug.)

The hunting trips and their stories are worth more to me than the gun's current resale value. (Although I would like to forget THE turkey hunting trip.)

Try any of the light or low-recoil loads. Another suggestion, although sold to you by Gander Mountain, it might be to your advantage to have your local gunsmith look at it. It could be money well spent.

As often stated --- BA/UU/R

 

[ACP230]

The compensator/choke thing on the J.C. Higgins 20 (High Standard 200) doesn't work like the Poly Choke on my old Model 12 Winchester. Instead it has a choke tube that screws in. The one we got in the gun says Long Range on it. A Sears archive search shows that the gun came with three, Short Range, Medium Range and Long Range. The Long Range one is the longer of the three. The Short Range one looks like it would be about an inch and a quarter long.

This has been a fun exercise in researching a gun. Not quite worth the $90, but the gun looks like it'll shoot for a while yet too.

 

[mnrivrat]

As ACP refered to , the JC Higgins model 20 was made by Hi-Standard and was the same as their model 200.

I great shotgun and one of the smoothest actions you will find. I have owned several in both standard field guns and in the riot versions with extended mag tubes. Their actions were solid and reliable - particularly if you are lucky enough to find one with the steel trigger housing. The alloy housings at times suffered the same fate as the Mossberg 500 plastic housings with the breaking of the front mounting ears with rough use.

I've always thought that this Hi-Standard gun was the influence behind much of the Mossberg 500 internal design features.

 

[Little Loudmouth]

We shot the shotgun today. I love it already....

Before I forget during my "love the shotgun" spiel, we found out the other day that this gun is the "Deluxe" version that came from the factory with the rib, compensator and choke system.

Anyway, this gun is sweet! The recoil isn't bad at all, the noise isn't as much as I thought it would be, it shoots a nice tight pattern with the Full choke tube in the gun, it fits me, and it goes bang when you pull the trigger.

I haven't had a chance to shoot it on clays yet. My friend Ryan, who came to the range with us today, and I perforated a silhouette. I used my shotgun, and he used his New England Firearms 20-gauge. That silhouette looked like lace after we finished with it.

I have an irresistible urge to shoot clays now....

 

[ACP230]

Little Loudmouth powdered several hand thrown clays with the J. C. Higgins Model 20.
Dave M, an internet buddy, who was visiting for a day, powdered one too.
I missed one clean and broke another into two big pieces.
The old gun will shoot.
We used Remington Dove & Quail loads with an ounce of eights.

With the last few shells from the box Little Loudmouth shot three wooden tip-over targets. I cobbled them together from two by fours and small squares of scrap wood for the bases. They flipped over and flew up the dirt bank entertainingly.

I can see my bill for shotgun shells is going to go up.

 

[Dave McCracken]

LLM, thanks, you made my day.

230, sounds like time to get a MEC. Teach LLM to load shells.....

 

[ACP230]

Little Loudmouth and I were at the range again this morning.
We were mostly there to shoot rifles and the match from THR's Competition section, but did bring his J.C. Higgins M20 along.

I can't throw clay targets by hand well, (I can barely throw them at all), so LL had some trouble hitting them as they wobblled through the air. We had some used "rabbit" clays that he'd picked up on a local trap range and I started rolling them on the ground. LL blew the first one into black dust. He missed a few after that, but broke a bunch.

It was getting late so we only went through a half box of 12 gauge shells this time.

Because my son has a shotgun that's new to him, I'm going to be more prepared for grouse season this year than I have been for quite a while.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Glad to see this. Enjoy your bird season with your hunting buddy.....