Stevens 301 Single Shot 12 Gauge Shotgun 26 in. Black – Easy Proven Break Action

Description

The Stevens 301 single shot is the shotgun almost everyone should have handled before they bought anything more complicated. Break it open, put one shell in, close it, and that is the entire manual of arms. There is no magazine tube, no action bar, no gas system and no safety habit to unlearn later.

It is also light. At 5.85 pounds a Stevens 22557 carries like a walking stick next to a pump gun, which matters more on a long day in a field than any feature on a spec sheet. The trade is that recoil has less mass to work against, so full-power 3 inch loads are brisk. The soft recoil pad on the synthetic stock is not decoration.

One round is a real constraint and we would rather say so plainly than dress it up. What you get in return is a break action 12 gauge shotgun that costs very little, weighs very little, and is almost impossible to leave in an unsafe condition by accident, because you can see straight through the chamber the moment it is open.

Why a single shot still makes sense

• Safety is visible. An open break action is unmistakably empty from across a field, which is why these are still the standard first shotgun.
• One round enforces the habit of making the first shot count, which is the single most useful thing a new shooter can learn.
• At 5.85 lb it is genuinely comfortable to carry all day, and a 5.85 pound single shot shotgun is far easier to lend to a smaller shooter than a full-weight pump.
• The forearm releases for takedown without tools, so it stores and travels in two short pieces.
• There is almost nothing in it to break, and what there is costs very little to fix.

What Savage put on this one

• 26 in. barrel with a 3 in. chamber, so it will handle field loads and heavy magnum shells alike.
• A removable modified Win Choke tube, which is the right general-purpose constriction and is the most common thread pattern on the market.
• Bead front sight, matte finish on the barrel and the carbon steel receiver.
• Manual hammer blocking safety with a two-position switch, independent of the trigger.
• Synthetic stock with a soft recoil pad and a 13.75 in. length of pull.
• Forearm release for tool-free disassembly.

Stevens 301 single shot specifications

• Model: Stevens 22557
• Gauge: 12
• Chamber: 3 in.
• Barrel: 26 in., matte black
• Choke: removable modified Win Choke tube
• Capacity: 1 round, break action
• Sights: bead front
• Receiver: carbon steel, black matte
• Stock: synthetic, soft recoil pad
• Length of pull: 13.75 in.
• Overall length: 41 in.
• Weight: 5.85 lb.
• Safety: manual hammer blocking safety, two-position
• UPC: 011356225573

The recoil conversation, honestly

A 5.85 pound 12 gauge firing a 3 inch magnum is not a gentle experience, and anyone telling a new shooter otherwise is setting them up to flinch. Physics does not care about enthusiasm: less gun weight means more of the recoil reaches the shoulder.

The fix is simple and costs nothing. Start on light 1 ounce target loads at around 1,180 feet per second. They pattern perfectly well through a modified choke at clay range, they cost a fraction of what magnum shells cost, and they let a beginner build a mount and a swing before they ever meet a heavy load. ATI 12 gauge 1 oz target loads are exactly that. Move up to heavier shells once the technique is there, not before.

For anything beyond birds, Barnes Defense number 4 buck turns the same gun into a serious short-range proposition. One round is a genuine limitation in that role and we will not pretend otherwise, but a single shot loaded with buckshot behind a locked door has been doing that job for a very long time.

Teaching on one

If you are buying this to put a young or new shooter behind, the sequence that works is boring and effective. Dry practice the mount until the stock comes to the same place on the cheek every time. Then one shell, one clay, from a thrower on a straight-away line. A Stevens 301 single shot forces a pause between shots that a pump gun does not, and that pause is where the coaching happens.

Length of pull is 13.75 inches, which is a full-size stock. A shooter under about five foot four will be reaching for it, and a stock that is too long is the most common reason beginners shoot badly and blame themselves. The 22 inch compact in 20 gauge exists for exactly that reason and is linked below.

Choke, pattern and what modified actually means

The tube that comes fitted is a modified constriction, which is the sensible default: tight enough to hold a pattern at 35 yards, open enough not to blow a close-range target apart. Because it is a Win Choke thread, replacement tubes in improved cylinder, full or extra full are available everywhere and cost very little.

Pattern the gun before you hunt with it. A sheet of paper at 30 yards will tell you more about where this shotgun shoots than any amount of reading, and a single shot with a bead sight rewards knowing exactly where it puts the middle of its pattern.

Why the Stevens 301 single shot earns its place

• It is the cheapest safe way to put a capable 12 gauge in a truck, a barn or a first-time shooter hands.
• Break actions are the easiest guns in the world to prove safe, which is why they are still the standard for teaching.
• 5.85 lb and 41 in. overall means it fits in places a pump gun does not.
• A removable modified Win Choke means it can be re-tuned for turkey, clays or rabbits for the cost of a tube.
• Nothing on it is proprietary, unusual, or expensive to replace.

Recoil the deciding factor? The same gun in 20 gauge is noticeably softer and still takes everything a beginner will shoot at, and the 410 version is softer again and is the traditional first shotgun for a young shooter. A compact 20 gauge with a 22 in. barrel fits a shorter shooter properly, which matters more than gauge.

Going the other way, the Stevens 560 Field is a semi-automatic with the same barrel length and five more rounds, and a gas gun soaks up a great deal of the recoil that a light break action passes straight through. For turkey specifically, the 301 Turkey in 12 gauge is this action with a tighter choke and a camouflage finish.

Browse the rest of our shotguns category or the wider firearms range, and see the factory sheet at Savage Arms. Every transfer goes through a licensed dealer.