M220 Found at Hoover Alabama Gun Show

[Garnett]

I purchased an excellent condition M220A this past weekend at the Alabama Gun Collectors Assn. show.  It is a 12 gauge with a 30 inch barrel, made at Chicopee Falls.  The barrel is near perfect, with vivid case colors on the frame.  There is no number or letter inside the forearm.  The worst wear is the stock with some chips on the black painted trigger guard.  All in all, a very nice striker fired early gun. 

[Mike Armstrong]

Nice gun in actual "collector's" condition.  Especially like the walnut stock!  I'm not a fan of single barrel 12s because of the recoil but for a collector, they're fine.

I have a 28" full choke 12 guage as an extra barrel for my 219B, with matching shotgun forend, so I'll have a chance to see what that recoil is like when we get some rain and the public ranges open again.  I have some very light-loaded skeet shells for this "experiment," and my rebuilt right shoulder seems to handle recoil bettter than when it was a wreck, so I may have to revise my prejudice against single 12s!

[Garnett]

Mike, have you considered removing the hard composite factory butt plate and replacing it (without cutting the stock) with an Old English style solid recoil pad?  This will lengthen the LOP about 3/4 inch and maybe help with the recoil.  Also, I prefer a longer LOP for my personal use. 

[Mike Armstrong]

Garnett, I also need a longer-than-average stock--my gunsmith says I have "ape-hanger arms."  But I usually just put a Pachmayr or Limbsaver pullover pad on shotguns.  Easy to apply, ugly-but-removable, and very effective in recoil reduction. 

My hunting buddies tend to be purists and hate these "butt condoms" but they do admit that they help keep the gun from falling over when set against a tree, fence, or pickup, and they do avoid some scratching from brush and "bobwire," which a permanent pad won't do.  I call 'em "butt body armor." 

The one negative of this solution for me is that you have to remove the pad and dry off the stock wood after any dew or rain contact (not presently a big problem out here, unfortunately....).    But that takes all of ten seconds.

Mike Armstrong