Hello to all. Cousin gave me his father's enders royal western 12 ga single shot, smooth bore. I think it at least 100yr old.

Question is can a shoot a 12 ga slug out of it. It's probably not to accurate. just don't want to blow it up or me up. Thanks

My guess is "probably"

My model 12 is 110 years old and I wouldn't hesitate to put a slug through it.

Is the gun tight ? Is there a proof mark on the barrel/action ?

Foster type slugs can be fired from any mechanically sound firearm, contrary to common belief. Will it be a good choice? Poor accuracy and lots of recoil. There are better choices.

Oh yeah that thing should shoot slugs no prob

I guess I wouldn't be bold enough to make that statement before looking at it and seeing how the lock up is. If you have ever had one open up under recoil, it isn't something you would soon forget.





I feel this is about as good of an answer as you can get. Can you? Probably but why? If you just want to shoot it to say you did, I would suggest a light trap load.

Chokes back then were usually full or at least modified. Both are accuracy killers.

Assuming you're talking about rifled slugs.

Cool looking old gun. Why not take it to a gunsmith for inspection? Might shoot slugs just fine. Especially out to 50-60 yards.

Thanks for the answers. the gun is sound, not loose anywhere I guess in my eyes the word would be tight.
So, I called a gunsmith, and he said Absolutely just make sure you use rifled slugs.
So, I guess I will put one in and see what happens.
If it has any accuracy to it, I just thought it would be nice to take it deer hunting this year.

Cool post pics on how it does shooting

every gun is different , you sorta got to see what it does
I have a Mod choke gun that stacks slugs one on top of each other at 100 yards making a 5-6 inch vertical line as the barrel heated up over 5 rounds.

unless it is a windy day , then 75 yards is the max , darn drag stabilized projectiles.

a 12 ga 2 3/4 inch slug if the gun is built for that shouldn't blow it up , the pressure can't exceed normal but it is sure a magnum round and thin weak tight barrel chokes may be an issue

it's likely going to recoil quite hard , that action will loosen up sooner and you might crack the wrist of the stock

if it is tight , in good shape , and all the wood is sound , shooting a few shouldn't cause any injury to anything other than your shoulder from the recoil but that is what it is.

we know break actions over time wear and the lockup lever moves and you have to reset the lockup in time there is another term for it that slips me right now.


so if it is a family heirloom , keep shooting non magnum standard pressure loads and enjoy it a little at a time

if it happens to be a the gun you got and you need to hunt with slugs go for it

I would be more worried about cracking wood or the choke than any catastrophic failure , but it wouldn't be my first choice in slug gun.

Can you legally use Buckshot?

rifled slugs make sense. no matter the choke there is room for them to squash down a bit without over pressuring.

I had an old H&R topper single shot with a full choke back in the day. I used to shoot rifled slugs out of it all the time.

One day while shooting at a buddies house the front site popped off during a shot. We heard it hit the tin roof of the building we were shooting beside and bounc down into the gutter.

Why were you shooting at your buddy's house ? Kinda dangerous !

Why wouldn't you mic a slug, and then your barrel?

Do you want to run a .735 slug through a .695 choke?

Kilt my first Deer with my Model 12 and everything else you could imagine.Got it used when I was ten years old.My first shotgun and I used it till my mid 20s.My oldest son has it now but doesnt use it.

I needed a big target!

Did you at least hit it?

No, it wasn't the broad side!

100% chance of hitting it is you start inside with the door and windows closed.