Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
I love shotguns and weird guns. If I can mix the two, I’m a happy camper. The weirdest shotgun I own is a High Standard Model 10B, but it’s far from the weirdest shotgun out there. Because I have such a love for weird shotguns, I figured I’d put together a list of the rarest and weirdest shotguns you could own. Listing weird, one-off prototypes isn’t exactly fun because you simply aren’t going to find one for sale.
For example, Browning designed some odd front lever action shotgun that never made it past the prototype stage, but as far as I know, it’s lost to time. Instead, I wanted to gather five of the rarest weird shotguns you could own with a little effort and likely a little bit of money. Of all these guns entered general production, but known were exceptionally successful.
Table of contents
Remington 105 CTi
Remington is kind of a weird company. I’ve long thought they should focus on making their core products, the 870 shotgun and 700 rifle, to a high level of quality and focus on their other projects later. Sadly, in the modern era, we have crummy 870s and 700s and weird guns like the R51, the 887, and the 105 CTi. The 105 CTi was a semi-auto shotgun aimed at the sporting market that was launched and ultimately discontinued fairly quickly.
The 105 CTi was a semi-auto shotgun that used the bottom ejecting design. Remington produced bottom ejectors before, but they were pump guns. This would be a gas-driven semi-auto that took bottom-ejecting shotguns to the next level. The 105 CTi was aimed at hunters and sport shooters and offered a lightweight, soft recoiling, bottom-ejecting gun.
It was perfect for left-handed shooters or to avoid pelting your friends with hulls in the duck blind. The gun weighed seven pounds and used an investment cast tungsten with a carbon-fiber coating. The rare and weird shotgun had serious cycling issues, and even though Remington tried with a second generation, the gun’s reliability issues plagued its design. I blame Freedom Group.
Mossberg 200K
If you go to Mossberg’s website and go to their little history section, they track the company’s progress from the creator of a four-barrel .22LR pistol to the shotgun empire they now run. Mossberg is mostly known as a pump-action shotgun company, and it’s odd that in their company timeline, they leave off their first pump-action shotgun, the 200K.
At first glance, the 200K looks like one of Mossberg’s many early bolt action shotgun designs. Instead, it’s a pump action, magazine-fed shotgun that’s a mix of their bolt action design and a pump action. The gun was introduced in 1955 and was likely the first pump action with a removable magazine.
The gun’s forend doesn’t look like your typical pump. It’s an aluminum grip with an internal action bar to work the bolt. The design features an open-top construction, much like the Mossberg bolt guns. Their rare and weird shotgun is one of the more affordable ones on the list, and they don’t seem to attract collectors.
Cobray Terminator
The Cobray Terminator has to be named after the popular film series. For one, it looks like it came out of an apocalyptic future war, and shotguns are a big part of the Terminator series. The Cobray Terminator looks like a crudely built robot. The Terminator shotgun came out in 1987, so it’s in the wake of the first Terminator movie. In reality, the Cobray Terminator is one of the worst shotguns ever designed.
Its crude construction and single-shot design hardly warrant such an aggressive name. The gun is an open bolt design, which is rare and seemingly only allowed because it’s a single-shot firearm. The Cobray Terminator has more in common with a zip gun than a robot from the future. The gun did have some flash with its ventilated handguard and collapsing stock, but it’s more all flash, no substance.
The shotgun was known for its brutal recoil and general shoddy construction. Everything about the gun is simple. From its fixed nail-like firing pen to the lack of an ejector. The Terminator is a crudely made firearm without much of a purpose. It’s a single shot, so self-defense is out of the question, and it’s certainly no sporting weapon. It’s a dumb but rare and weird shotgun.
Beretta UGB25
The Beretta UGB25 is a rare and weird shotgun that you can find for a fairly low price. Lowish, at least for a Beretta sporting gun. The UGB25 is all kinds of weird. It’s a break-action semi-auto, which already sounds bizarre. It’s aimed at trap shooters primarily. The gun was first launched in 2008 but never really took off. The design mixed a semi-auto’s benefits with a break action’s benefits.
Like a single-barrel shotgun, it was lightweight, easy to open, and clear for safety purposes. Compared to a double barrel, it had only one point of aim and impact. As a semi-auto, it had very soft recoil and automatically ejected the shells. The magazine consisted of a glorified shell tray on the side of the gun. The shell tray fed the second round automatically but remained exposed to the elements.
The UGB25 was a bottom-ejecting gun, so it was very friendly to left-handed shooters. It had all the normal Beretta sporting features. You could adjust the length of the pull, the cheek rest, the comb, and more. It was fancy, but the original price point of 6,000 Euros and odd, quirky design made it unpopular. Near the end of its life, Beretta priced them at 2,000 dollars.
Sjögren shotgun
The Sjögren shotgun is one of the earliest examples of a semi-auto shotgun. Patents were initially issued in 1900, with subsequent patents being issued in 1903 and 1905. Production didn’t begin til 1908 and ended in 1909. Roughly 5000 of these guns were made. The designer, Carl Axel Theodor Sjögren, would later help design a semi-auto rifle using the same principle, but that’s even more obscure than the shotgun.
These weird shotguns were the first to use an inertia operating system, which was quite distinct at that period. Precious semi-auto designs used long or short recoil principles. This made the shotgun lighter and more lithe than other semi-auto shotguns. The gun’s barrel didn’t move, but it featured a slide, much like a handgun, on the upper portion of the receiver. This reciprocating slide is odd and makes it a rather weird shotgun design.
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The inertia system provided a relatively reliable action. I’d imagine the slide system didn’t provide much protection for the internals, and it would be more sensitive to debris and gunk. Several existing Sjögren shotguns still function to this day. The Inertia system would be reintroduced 80 years later by Benelli with the M1, M2, and M3 shotguns and numerous sporting and hunting shotguns.
Rare and Weird Shotguns
Shotguns have always been a breeding ground for weird guns. Heck, look at some of the Turkish-made guns coming into the country. Some of those things are just bizarre. Sadly, rear shotguns are rarely successful shotguns. Even so, here are my favorite weird shotguns. Do you have any favorites? These are all on my shortlist; what’s on yours?
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Travis Pike is a dedicated firearms writer, a Second Amendment Advocate, and a subject matter enthusiast for all things firearms. He is an amateur competitor with dreams of one day not coming in 4th place at a local defensive match. If he’s not putting text to word processor, he’s likely spending time with family, enjoying Florida’s Nature Coast, or drinking hipster beer. As the resident Florida man he has a preference for obscure guns and calibers.
Experience
- Hunter – Long time deer and hog hunter in the swamps of Florida
- Instructor – Volunteers to teach basic firearm safety classes to kids, adults, and cats
- Wannabe Competitor – Has recently dipped his toes into competitive shooting and has happily discovered an expensive hobby.
- Marine – Served five years with the infantry before transferring to the First Civ Div.
All I can say is that I’m glad I bought my REM10 during the few years Remington produced them. Have the vented rib and the slug barrel. I also laid in a supply of spare parts seeing the writing on the wall. I think Remington bought the design from High Standard…think they called it the Roadblocker and was marketed to law enforcement but any law abiding citizen could buy it. Paid just over $900.00 with tax back in ’95. A premium for sure. A 10ga slug makes an awesome thru and thru wound channel on deer and puts the lights out on any size black bear. Called in coyotes at night puts the maximum payload of #4 shot on coyotes. Yes I handload for it. Also in ’96 I picked up a Remington Premier…the only over and under they built in my lifetime. Killed a lot of clays with it and I’d never sell it.
Enjoyed your article, Travis. Thanks! If you’re still in the mood to look for rare (not necessarily odd) shotguns, try finding a left-hand Remington 1100 G3. I owned one I purchased off Gunbroker several years ago (used), not really knowing what it was. Remington was still up and running at the time so about a year after I purchased it, I had occasion to call them, so I asked how many of these guns they’d actually produced. The Remington guy said he’d never seen or heard of one, but I found an old ad for them on the internet, so they were advertised. Problem with them was, they retailed out at around $900 when a regular 1100 was in the $400 range. They’re beautiful guns with all kinds of upgrades and they produced quite a few of the right-hand G-3 models but I’ve never seen another left hand one. I eventually had a weak moment and sold it to a very close friend in S. Carolina. I’ve been trying to get it back ever since but so far; he’s not parting with it. In spite of numerous attempts, I’ve never been able to find out how many of these Remington made. Very, very rare.
The Cosmi semi-automatic shotgun is pricey, but fits nicely into the category of “rare & weird”.
I just ran across one of the old Remington shot guns that was sold at Kmart and Walmart only.
It’s a project gun but for $50 I don’t think I got had by much.
Thank for all the things you come up with. I read every time I see one.
Browning also had a trio of weird shotguns though I guess not really that rare, the Double Automatic (Twelvette & Twentyweight), the B2000, and the Recoilless.