Henry Rifle Forums

yesterday I was given a Cavalry Sport 12 ga O/U ===> https://www.americantactical.us/5483/detail.html .... I know nothing about them, this is the first time I've ever seen one .... per the link given, "American Tactical is a worldwide importer and US based manufacturer of firearms, ammunition, and accessories. " .... their Cavalry O/U is made in Turkey .... first impression is she's a well balanced, light weight (just over 6 lbs) .... wood looks good .... cleanly engraved receiver .... 28" barrels .... single trigger, manipulation of the safety controls which barrel fires first .... uses Beretta Benelli Mobil Choke Tubes .... recoil pad looks OK but I do plan to have it checked by a gunsmith .... no clue how she'll perform but my hunch is she comes with a pretty good kick .... don't know that how much I'll use it but since its a gift, it will be kept and passed on down the line

this will be my second O/U .... the other is an early generation Ruger Red Label .... its an extremely solid, good looking shotgun .... it stays in the bottom of the gun chest .... its one kicking machine, it'll thump you when you dry fire it .. .. I don't remember the last time I fired it .... I really ought to have it worked on to lessen recoil but I haven't been able to justify the expense .... now that I'm thinking about it, I guess I ought to get it out tomorrow (supposed to rain all day) and give it its annual cleaning ....

Nice gift, that's for sure! Seems pretty well detailed and finished. Beauty!

Never heard of that brand but it sure is pretty and looks very well made! Great pics!

kind comments appreciated .... from their website (link in post 1) they seem to be heavy into AR type rifles .... I've pretty well decided to take it with us to Texas where I'll try to fire it on a Trap Range .... if it kicks like I anticipate, it may well not be fired but a few times and I'll turn it over to a gunsmith north of Houston who I've come to trust to work on our firearms .... at a minimum I anticipate him upgrading the recoil pad and installing a Mercury Recoil Suppressor .... we will discuss if there are any additional upgrades available .... having the barrels ported isn't out of the question but I reserve as a last resort .... I tend to favor mods/upgrades that do not change a firearm's basic look .... I'd very much like being able to enjoy firing it but experience with pump, bolt action, single shot, standard double barrel and over/under 12 gauges hasn't been pleasant .... my shotgun of choice is a modified Remington 11-87 and I don't anticipate that changing

I do understand about the benefits shooting a gas operated semi-auto for being easy on the shoulder. Shot pumps and doubles for many years, then got my first Remington 1100 and really didn't want to shoot anything else.

North Country Gal wrote:I do understand about the benefits shooting a gas operated semi-auto for being easy on the shoulder. Shot pumps and doubles for many years, then got my first Remington 1100 and really didn't want to shoot anything else.

exactly .... I've owned several big boomers with a strong bark at the business end and a correspondingly large thump at the stock end .... the hardest kicker was an Ithaca Model 37 (6 lb) pump slug gun .... with a 1 oz rifled slug it was the most accurate slug gun I've ever fired; as well as, having the hardest kick from recoil

yesterday we picked up our still unfired Cavalry O/U 12 ga from a long time friend/gunsmith in Texas .... the pictures below show an upgrade to a KICK-EEZ recoil pad (contrast with picture above) .... he did a very nice job fitting the pad to the stock .... other upgrades that can't be easily photographed are honing the forcing cone in each barrel and installing a heavy duty mercury recoil suppressor in the stock .... I'm still trying to decide if I am going to send it to Mag-Na-Port and have them Pigeon Port the barrels ===> http://magnaport.com/sgun.html

NCG's comment appreciated. I may change my dream to a semi auto.

Cofisher wrote:NCG's comment appreciated. I may change my dream to a semi auto.

she's absolutely correct .... the Cavalry O/U shown in this thread was a gift .... one that I don't foresee selling .... I want to be able to use it but don't foresee doing so often .... when I go to the vault to get a shotgun for serious hunting or serious fun, I grab our Remington 11-87 12 ga the vast majority of the time .... saying a shotgun is fun to shoot doesn't happen often but ours is .... when I go to a trap range, I usually fire 100 to 150 rounds .... that is something I can't do with most other shotguns