Senior Editor
Some damned fools in Congress back in 1934 thought it would be just peachy to outlaw short-barreled, so-called sawed-off shotguns with barrels less than 18 inches in length, and in the process, this pack of miscreants brought an end to one of the best little grouse-killers on the planet, the Harrington & Richardson Handy-Gun.Now, for the record, one can still legally own such a gun provided it is properly registered and the tax stamp paid.
One can only hope that the authors of that scurvy legislation are now roasting in the infernal regions, where they can’t hunt.
Leap ahead more than 70 years, and up comes Rossi (16175 NW 49th Ave., Dept. GWK, Miami, FL 33014; phone: 305-474-0401; online: rossiusa.com) with a dandy little .410-bore shotgun that can be converted over to a smallbore rifle. This dandy little combo is called the Matched Pair. The upsides are plentiful. The downside is that it is built for a youngster, but that small obstacle can be easily overcome, and what you end up with is a shotgun with an 18.5-inch barrel, a butt stock and a solid action that is miles ahead of the old H&R specimen.
Length of pull on the Rossi is 12.5 inches, the hardwood stock has a walnut finish with white line spacer between the wood and butt plate, and this little gun hits the scale at just over 5.5 pounds. It’s a single-shot, break-action model with a transfer bar firing pin system, exposed hammer, thumb release on the right rear next to the hammer, and an ejector that kicks out the empties.
In addition to the transfer bar mechanism, the Rossi Matched Pair receiver is fitted on the left side with a manual hammer-block safety that is engaged simply by rotating a lever forward or backward. When it is engaged, the hammer cannot fall far enough to contact the transfer bar. The barrel has a fixed choke, but hey, we’re talking about a .410 here. That’s a shell responsible for putting more fool hens in the cook pot than I can imagine.
Finished in a deep blue, my particular Matched Pair (there are several variations) has a second barrel with adjustable metallic sights that is chambered for the sizzling .17 HMR cartridge. The gun, disassembled, fits in a handy carrying case made from tough nylon with a soft interior that features pockets for each barrel and the receiver with the stock attached. This case has a shoulder strap that can be switched to swivels on the gun for carrying. It is a rather clever package.
For a guy like myself who likes to get out in the high country and hike around, this lightweight little .410 seems a rather intelligent choice. Because the shells will slide easily into the cartridge loops on either my gunbelt for a .45 Colt-caliber Ruger single action, or my gunbelt for the .41 Magnum Ruger Blackhawk, I can pack either handgun and a few extra shells for the shotgun and hunt up a dinner or two while camping in the fall.
A look back in history is in order to explain just why yours truly believes this little “kid’s gun” is about as close to the best possible setup one can imagine. (There is also room in here for the current Tamer series from H&R, now owned by Marlin, which is now owned by Remington).The barrel is 20 inches, it has a 3-inch chamber, and it is just a little dandy.
Compared to the original Handy-Gun, it certainly isn’t quite the same thing, but it will have to do until Congress comes to its senses and repeals the law. I saw one of those once, now long gone I am certain, along with its owner, who was a pal of my long-deceased grandfather. It was a great little gun, solid and tight with a barrel that was probably 12 inches, and I doubt the old gent who owned it ever bothered to register the thing, figuring “t’hell with Congress!” I was told at the time that he kept the gun on the seat of his old Ford during the grouse season to pop the birds when he encountered them along the back country gravel logging roads he used to cruise near his ranch up in the Central Cascades.
Ah, those were the days!
The Handy-Gun had a comfortable grip with a beavertail, the gun as I recall was very well balanced and easy to operate, and if memory serves, the owner of the specimen I saw even had a holster for it. Thousands of these guns were made, and presumably quite a few of them are still out there somewhere.
The inspiration for this little gun was sheer genius, and it certainly met the demand for which it was designed. Specifically, this little gun was aimed at a market of another era, when it was hardly unusual to see someone pull up to a stop on a rural road and shoot a rabbit or other small game for dinner. It’s my guess that the twerps on Capitol Hill who black-balled this gun never enjoyed an early morning drive down a back road in the fall.So, what makes this Rossi combo gun such a peach other than nostalgia and the features already discussed? As noted earlier, I like to hike out in the hills, often beyond the trails, during late summer and early autumn, which puts me in grouse country. The .410 shot charge does not fill a bird full of lead pellets, but it does put them down for the count. There is only modest recoil, which does make this a perfect gun for a kid or smaller adult.
As a hiking gun, it seems to me very practical. Beyond the issue of weight, and carrying shells, let us be honest here, you’re not going to be terribly concerned about scratching the stock, or wearing the blue. This is a very modestly-priced working shotgun/rifle combo. If it takes a bit of a beating, nobody will shed crocodile tears. A few scratches will only add character.
Ammunition for the .410-bore shotgun (this is not a “.410-gauge”) is easily found, and with the right shot size, say a good 7˚ or 6, you’ve got the horsepower to clobber even the biggest blue grouse. Rabbits, being rather thin-skinned, are no match for the .410, either. It would be a humble guess, but one suspects the number of bunnies and birds that have been taken with the .410 simply cannot be calculated.What can be stated with considerable accuracy is that Rossi’s Matched Pair is a perfect platform for the .410, and anyone who gets their hands on one of these shotgun/rimfire combos is going to have plenty of fun, and some good table fare to boot!