Why Were Bolt-Action Shotguns A Thing?
I see them fairly often, all things considered, at garage and estate sales (my grandfather bought a Sears-Roebuck model several years back). Almost without exception, they are smoothbores. And if I'm not mistaken, a good number are single-shots. While he was growing up in Nebraska, my uncle used to hunt pheasant with one in the early 1980s.
Does anyone recall how these used to be marketed back when they were still produced and prominent? What did you like about them, if anything? Is there some odd story as to why they were developed?
Were one to force modern companies to come up with a marketing strategy for such an odd product, I expect they'd probably struggle mightily.
The only real advantage over pump-actions I can imagine is for hunters using rifled slugs, since the forearm is more stable, it may help the operator to shoot more accurately.