Watch: The Ljutic Spacegun

On the Rock Island Auction page, this weird gun is listed as a “Ljutic Industries Space Gun Bolt Action Single Shot Trap Shotgun.” Now that’s a mouthful!

Here’s the description:

Designed by shotgun pioneer Al Ljutic as a simplified, inline, recoil-less trap shotgun. The Space Gun keeps the barrel and buttstock all in one line, channeling any felt recoil directly to the shoulder, and utilizes a high vent rib to allow the shooter to maintain a heads-up position. The bottom bolt design allows for easy collection of spent hulls as well as easy loading. 2 3/4 inch chamber and a choke tube system (modified installed). Fitted with a half-length checkered forearm, checkered pistol grip, and cylinder buttstock with a thick vented recoil pad.

Judging by the lack of bluing on the bolt handle, I would surmise that this particular gun has been fired quite a bit, probably by a competitive trap shooter.

Ian tells us there were only about 200 of these guns made, which ain’t much.

Felt recoil is reduced in this cleverly-designed gun by the mass of the huge firing pin/striker, which helps offset the rearward force of recoil even before it begins.

Even the trigger is weird; it’s a round button.

It surely looks odd, but it’s actually well-designed and practical. And I kinda want one.

But it’s unlikely I’ll ever pony up for a Ljutic Spacegun, since this one sold at auction for $5,462.50.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.