Fudd Friday: Make Combination Guns Great Again!

Of all the news that came out of SHOT Show this year, I was very stoked to see that European American Armory is bringing back affordable combination guns. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see a renaissance in this underappreciated corner of Fudd world.

Combination Guns @ TFB:

• The Rimfire Report: The Discontinued (again) Springfield M6 Scout
• The Rimfire Report: The Savage Model 24 Combination Gun
• [SHOT 2024] Balikli Arms Combination Guns
• [SHOT 2026] EAA Brings Back Affordable Combo Guns

Why buy a combination gun? (and what is it?)

Combination guns have been around for a very long time, but they have never been super-popular in North America. Built on a break-action design, combining a rifle and shotgun barrel, they offer practical, real-world hunters the chance to blast away at birds in the air, or take longer shots at farther-away targets. You would think that’s a very desirable feature, but they are tricky to manufacture, and therefore expensive and built with some compromises as a result; some combination guns are pretty ugly, too. Expensive guns with performance compromises and bad looks to boot have never done particularly well with Average Joe hunters in North America.

That’s really too bad, because in certain hunting situations, a combination gun makes a lot of sense. For instance, if you’re still-hunting deer, a combination gives you the ability to carry a buckshot load for a moving deer at close range (or birdshot, in case you see a partridge) as well as a rifle barrel for when the woods open up and you can take a longer shot at an eight-pointer across a clearing or in a forestry cut. In my favorite hunting grounds on the northeast coast, this capability makes a lot of sense.

Rabbit hunters also like to have a gun that allows them to shoot a moving target with a shotgun, then switch to a rifle round if they have a chance at a stationary animal.

Having both a rifle and shotgun barrels also makes sense when predator calling. If a coyote is hanging around far out, you can blast him with the rifle. If he sneaks in close, give him a taste of #4 buck from the shotgun barrel.

Buying a combination gun

Combination guns tend to be expensive, but there are exceptions to the rule. The only modern production combination gun I’m aware of in North America is the Savage Model 42, combining a rimfire barrel with a .410 barrel. I would prefer different chamberings, but this configuration is probably what most modern small game hunters would want. Chiappa also sells combo guns in a similar configuration, and sometimes you can also find centerfire combination guns with the Chiappa Double Badger, although I’ve personally never seen one in a gun store.

Historically, Savage was the greatest manufacturer of combination guns in North America, with the Model 24 holding a spot in their lineup for decades. This was built on a different action than the Model 42; the rifle barrel was on the top slot in the O/U arrangement, and the shotgun barrel on the bottom. You could buy a Savage 24 with either a rimfire or a centerfire rifle barrel and the shotgun barrel could be in 20 gauge, 12 gauge or .410. Most Savage Model 24 combination guns that I have seen were in a .22LR/.410 configuration, or maybe .222/12 gauge. But I know they made .30-30/12 gauge guns and several other configurations. I think a .30-30/12 gauge combo might be the perfect gun for deer hunting in the deep woods.

European combination guns have a better reputation, although they’re harder to find in the U.S.; today, Sabatti combo guns are probably the easiest to find if you want new, now that Baikal’s crude-looking over-unders are impossible to locate. The Baikal guns, usually in .223/12 gauge but also in other variations, were incredibly janky-looking, but often shot well.

But if I were buying a combination gun, I would buy either a Tikka or a Brno. Due to Scandinavians wanting to clean out their gun closets of older stuff (remember, they had laws about the number of firearms allowed on their license?), you can find Tikka M07 combination guns for very low prices if you know where to look. The only reason I’d not buy one is that the rifle barrels tend to be chambered in lower-powered centerfire rounds like .222 or .22 Hi Power.

A lot of Brno combination guns also come with .22 Hi Power chambering, but it’s easier to find them in 7x57mm or some other caliber that’s better-suited for big game. And as an added bonus, many Brno combination guns were made to easily switch over to a shotgun over/under configuration if you had a spare barrel set. The old Brno break-actions of the Communist years might look ugly, but they were well-engineered and I’ve never seen any bad comments on their workmanship.

Other Euro gunmakers are still making high-quality combos today, but they tend to be a lot of money for a gun; some would say it’s too much for what they consider a novelty.