Where are the shotgun shooters?

[popplecop]

Come on some of you have to scatter gunners. I hear different reasons for lack of participation on Hunt Chat. Some say well it's summer, been a summer every year since I joined some years back and never been like this. I for one think it is too good of a sight to go down. Got to run but have added some new shotguns to the flock, will post later.

[GoodOlBoy]

Probably at home crying because somebody with a $300 mossberg pump outshot their $12K over and under. . . . . . ok so that was a shot.

Seriously i don't know where anybody is. I haven't gotten to even go skeet shooting lately.

GoodOlBoy

[dovehunter]

Originally Posted by GoodOlBoy

Probably at home crying because somebody with a $300 mossberg pump outshot their $12K over and under. . . . . . ok so that was a shot...

Nawh, you don't reckon that sort of thing ever happens do you! You know the $12K O/U has got to shoot better than the $300 Mossberg pump. It has to since it cost so much more. A friend of mine once told me "I always buy Mercedes-Benzs. They have to better don't they? Otherwise why would I pay twice as much (or more) for them?"

Seriously though I too have wondered why there isn't more posting activity among the shotgunners. I consider myself primarily a shotgunner (hence my forum name dovehunter) first and foremost. I only concern myself with rifles and/or handguns when I can't be hunting with one of my scatterguns.

[skeet]

Well to be honest I have a couple of those 12K (or more) shotguns Do they shoot better than a Mossyberg?? Actually ..yes they do. Over the course of time. Have a Krieghoff that has in the neighborhood of 3/4 of a million shells through it. It is now worth 4 times what I paid and still good for another 3/4 million shells. Do that with your mossyberg! I really don't think so. Love to shoot shotguns..mainly doves and ducks..but clay birds will do in the off seasons. We have a BUNCH of those Collared doves here. No seasons no limits they stay all year and you can bait 'em too. And they eat ok.. Not 'nuff shotgun shooters here though. You probably couldn't get a really good dove shoot together up here...and the doves are here..till cold weather...about August 29th But I do ok on ducks and the pheasants are ok..just too easy to hit..just a big ol chikin.

[GoodOlBoy]

no but how many mossbergs do I hafta buy to reach $12K?



GoodOlBoy

[GoodOlBoy]

oh ok I will give you break actions vs mossbergs, so how about my H&R model 88 vs your $12k?

GoodOlBoy

[skeet]

It ain't about the gun..it's about this..Keep your gun for 25 yrs..shoot it 3/4 million times and get 4 times what ya paid for it and have the satisfaction of shooting a nice pretty gun all them years. Actually I like pretty guns and all but usually shoot ugly repeaters in the field..cause I can shoot 3-5 times if necessary. Course I NEVER took a plug out while shootin ducks er nothing... I DID take the plug out fer shootin deer. Actually shot 5 running out of a woods one day. longest was the last at just over 60 yds. I shot deer on crop damage permits in Md. It was a hard job...but somebody hadda do it I guess. A friend of mine actually killed 3 deer one morning with his Savage muzzleloader in 3 minutes all within 10 ft of each other.. Lot of deer back there in Md..

[Larryjk]

Skeet, The local doves are already headed to Colorado for Dan Morris to shoot their tails off. We had two mornings of 36-39 and one that I think it actually got to the lower 30s at my house. Game warden agrees that the local doves have already jumped ship.
I will probably go get a few sage grouse if I can find someone to give them to. I tried to eat a couple in 1963 (Middle Park, CO.) and haven't tried any since. We might shoot a few ducks, but you need to go to the grain growing country if you want to eat them. We will take our usual trip to eastern Oregon to shoot quail and pheasants. I cut my teeth on shotguns and have to go after it if there is anything around to shoot with them.
I don't have those fancy P and K guns, just Beretta, Remington and Japanese Daly in OUs. After that it is Winchesters in Model 12s, 42, and 50. I have any old LC in 12 gauge that is a duck killer and an old French double in 12 ga., 2 1/2 " shells that I don't shoot. I may sell that one. There is also the possibility of the annual trip to central N.D. for pheasants. Man are those tough birds.

[skeet]

[QUOTE=Larryjk;331649]Skeet, The local doves are already headed to Colorado for Dan Morris to shoot their tails off. We had two mornings of 36-39 and one that I think it actually got to the lower 30s at my house. Game warden agrees that the local doves have already jumped ship.



Yep got pretty cool here a couple of mornings.. but the doves are still here. They are just cutting barley here now and the doves are chowing down on the spilled grain. If'n we're lucky we might get a shoot in here.

Larry I have a couple of K guns but the one that probably means the most to me is a nice little Ithaca NID in 28 ga grade 4 ejector gun. Nope don't shoot it very often they only made 5 of 'em and it is worth approx 25-30 K. It just means more to me because of the history. I know the guy that had it made back in 1930. Shot quail with him a few times. I was just a kid and he was an oldtimer.. but ohmigosh..could he shoot. Have had Perazzi's and they were alright..the Beretta was like shootin a fence post to me. But my all time favorite shootin in the field gun is the Model 12 followed closely by the good ol 1100....a much maligned gun. Usually when ya have an 1100 that won't work... it ain't the gun... it's the shooter. All time worst gun to shoot was an old Browning Auto 5..it worked but wow could it kick ya around. Not my idea of fun..but I shot it for 8 yrs about 30,000 rounds a year. Couldn't take the pounding..the gun I mean. Finally decided I couldn't either.. It was worse than owning the old XKE Jag I had..POS always needed workin on. both of 'em

[GoodOlBoy]

I got the satisfaction of shootin a nice gun all these years in my old H&R, Skeet. It ain't fancy but it is nice. And no I don't think I could even get the $60 or so my grandparents paid new for it. Flip side is I wouldn't sell it. That four times the price deal don't do you a bit of good if you are gonna hang onto it anyway.

GoodOlBoy

[Dan Morris]

Glad the dove are moving.......frankly, after marriage and kids, I gave up skeet n trap. I have several 870's that I make 1-2 dove trips with....that ends my shotgun for the year! While elk hunting, I generally take one for
grouse. But....dang it, I always shoot em with a 357! Been pheasant hunting ONCE since I moved here 35 years ago!
Dan

[fabsroman]

I don't know where to start. I was shooting shotguns when I was 6 and didn't shoot a centerfire rifle until I was about 20. Most of my dreams about hunting/shooting involve a shotgun.

As far as high dollar guns are concerned, I like them. The only argument for not liking them is when you cannot afford them, like me right now. With that said, my first shotgun was some beat up POS .410 single shot with a hammer, that my dad still has in his gun safe. We were actually just talking about it tonight when I was over there. I said that in 5 or 6 years my son, my dad's grandson, would be coming with us hunting. My dad said he could use the .410, to which I remarked that he would still be too young for a shotgun at 5 or 6. We'll see what his maturity level is.

I've shot skeet's K gun, and probably the exact one that he is referring to in this post. It is a nice gun, but for some reason I just really like my Berettas for clays, especially my 391 Teknys Sporting Clays gun.

I thought I would always love the o/u guns because of their "snob" factor, but after shooting them for 10 years and then picking up a Benelli SBE for hunting, I found that I did better with the SBE than the Beretta 686. Then, when the Teknys came out I bought it as soon as I saw one on the shelves, and shot a 48/50 in sporting clays the first time out with it. Never hit that many with the o/u.

As far as shooting and hunting after a wife and kids is concerned, it does put a damper on it. However, I'm going to try my hardest to get out there this year. My dad, brother, and I are supposed to go clay shooting in 2 weeks and a friend wants me to shoot with him this weekend.

GOB - you can buy 40 of the 870's for the price of the K-gun. You could also buy 3 of the 870's for what I paid for the SBE. With that said, if I had three 870's in my possession, I would gladly trade them for a SBE. I've shot a friend's 870 and absolutely hated it. In the end, if you enjoy what you are hunting with, that is all that matters.

As far as a Mercedes being twice as good as a car priced at half as much, I think that is a bunch of BS. My Taurus has 200,000 miles on it and it is 12 years old, knock on wood. It cost me $16,500. My cousin's Mercedes AMG cost him $100,000 and he has had a bunch of problems with it and it is just over a year old. Sometimes, there is the exclusivity factor. In other words, people are willing to pay a lot for something not because it is better, but because it is very exclusive. If Ferraris cost $50,000, I'm willing to bet over time more people would buy Corvettes and Vipers than Ferraris if the performance was anywhere similar.

[Larryjk]

Skeet, I grew up with a Model 12 in my hands, 12 gauge. I think I am going to like the 16 gauge better because of the balance. Actually, I feel the 28 inch barrels balance better than the 30s, and I am currently looking around for a 12 gauge with 28" modified. I think that should be a heck of a pheasant gun. You said a Beretta feels like a fence post to you and I bet you had a 30 inch gun. I shoot a 686 Perdiz with 28" barrels for hunting, skeet and sporting clays. I like the balance, and I can shoot it rather well. The 16 gauge also has 28" modified barrel. The first time I shot it was on a skeet field, and I shot a 22 international style. I felt it had potential for birds. They are all fun when we have time. Popplecop, I don't think we see as many scattergun shooters here because of the other shotgun forums. I look at Trapshooters.com every couple days, but it used to be better.

[skeet]

A Model 12 is the first gun I ever bought..and sold. Bought it a the age of 11..as new 26" IC. Paid 35 bucks..sold it a few days later for 50 bucks. Let me tell ya..15 bucks was a LOT of money then. especially for a kid. That 15 bucks bought me a Colt SAA in 38WCF which I still have. Worth a whole lot more than what I paid.

I have shot lots of Berettas. Owned quite a few and all of 'em seem to have clubs for stocks. I did have a Beretta double that I shot ok..but that thing would stomp ya. So I kept it around and was stolen out of my truck at the PG shooting place in Md. Except for the money..I never missed it.

Never had much use for the 16. Anything I can do with it I can do with a 20...and a whole lot easier finding good ammo. I did use a 16 for one season hunting waterfowl when they made us go to steel shot, which sucks. As far as M-12's I have a 12 ga skeet gun with a factory Cutts that I use ocassionally to shoot doubles at skeet with. Best I've ever done was a 99 but I shoot low gun with it. SO much fun. I also have a rem 31 with a cutts. Almost as much fun as the M-12. The one I enjoy shooting the most though is the Pigeon grade 20 ga. It just seems to fit so well. Hardly miss shootin doves with it. The 28 ga is neat for a conversation piece but doesn't operate as smoothly as the 20. Always seems to hang up at the wrong time. Had another one that was better but just too much wiggle room with 'em as they are made on a 20 ga frame. So is the 16.

As far as O/Us I used the Brownings..Belgian and Japanese..and they were ok but they stomped you in 12 ga....especially the Belgian Brownings Shot the Charles daly and Winchester 101s and really liked the 32 and 3200 Remingtons..Still have Franchi in my Live Pigeon gun. One of the only Italian O'Us that ever seemed to fit. Bought it on my way to the World Pigeon shoot in 1980 or so. It is as they say...a little tight. But it do kill a pigeon. I actually won 'nuff there to pay my way..but those people could shoot. No live pigeon shootin in Wyoming darn it. Expensive game.

But the gun I shoot the most for fun these days is the 1100 platform guns. They just fit..and for playing..work just fine for me.Also have an M1 Super 90 that feels about th same as the 1100s..SBE has a different feel to it. But it do shoot ok. And with heavy shot or it's equivalent..I really don't need a 3 1/2 inch 12 ga. gun...especially with that ol 10 ga Ithaca I have here.

[fabsroman]

Skeet,

Don't you know yet that you have to be Italian for the Italian guns to fit you. That is why they feel so good in my hands and on my shoulder. LOL