Combination guns, a small and niche genre of firearms, are often overlooked in the modern era. These firearms uniquely combine multiple barrels and calibers, most commonly a mix of rifle and shotgun. While primarily used for hunting, combination guns have also been used for, or experimented with, for military applications.
Types of Combination Guns
Today, we’ll explore three main types of combination guns: traditional combination guns, tactical combination guns, and combination handguns.
Traditional Combination Guns
Traditional combination guns were popular for hunting, especially in Europe, offering a “one and done” solution that reduced the amount of gear hunters needed to carry.
Cape Guns
Cape guns are side-by-side designs featuring one shotgun barrel and one rifle barrel. These were typically custom-made firearms, and it wasn’t uncommon to find variants chambered in .303 British and 12 gauge, though calibers varied based on origin.
Drillings
Drillings, a German term meaning “triplets,” are three-barreled combination guns. The most common configuration is two shotgun barrels and one rifle barrel, but examples with two rifle barrels and a shotgun barrel also exist. The Sauer M30 drilling, for instance, was even used by military forces; the Luftwaffe issued it during World War II for aircrews in Africa to defend against potential big game attacks, though it wasn’t a primary martial weapon.
Vierlings
The rarest of all traditional combination guns is the vierling. These four-barreled drillings were high-end, custom-made firearms. Common configurations included two shotgun barrels, one .22 caliber rifle barrel, and one high-caliber rifle barrel.
Tactical Combination Guns
The concept of combination guns also extended into the modern tactical world, particularly for aircrew survival.
The U.S. issued the M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon, which combined a .410 barrel with a .22 Hornet barrel, primarily designed to help downed pilots procure food. Similarly, Russia issued the TP-82 to cosmonauts for emergency use upon returning to Earth.
Many replicas of the M6 have been produced in various calibers, and other survival guns, like the Chiappa Double Badger and the Savage Model 42, have been inspired by its design.
There have also been numerous attempts to combine grenade launchers and rifles into a single platform, beyond simply attaching an M203 to an M16. An example is the XM29 OICW, which integrated a 5.56 rifle with a high-velocity 20mm grenade launcher. While several countries, including Russia, have produced such combinations, none have achieved widespread success.
The Crossfire Mk1 was a commercial product aimed at the tactical market, combining a 5.56 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, both operating with pump actions. However, the Mk1 was a significant failure and was generally considered unreliable. In the modern era, there appears to be little demand for tactical combination guns.
Handguns As Combination Guns
Combination handguns are among the rarest types of these firearms. The utility of a handgun that fires two different calibers is limited, with only a few notable examples. One such example is the LeMat revolver, which uniquely combined a handgun with a 20-gauge shotgun barrel. Despite its rarity, its distinctive design has cemented its place in gun culture.
Perhaps the most effective and interesting combination handgun was the Marble Game Getter. Legally defined as a rifle in some U.S. states but commonly understood as a stocked pistol, the Marble Game Getter was chambered in .22LR and .410 cartridge, with a .22LR and .44 Shotshell variant also available. The National Firearms Act (NFA) effectively ended the production of the pistol variants, though larger, unstocked models continued to be made.
The Life and Death of Combination Guns
Combination guns are much less common today. Only a few models, such as the Savage Model 42, TPS Arms M6, and Chiappa Double Badger, readily come to mind. Drillings and cape guns are no longer the exclusive tools of aristocrats on safari. It’s a fascinating genre, and a .223 Rem and 12-gauge or even 20-gauge combo would be an appealing hunting option.
However, the demand for such firearms remains low, making it unlikely that new models will become widely available.
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