Any shotgunners here?

[Jeremiah/Az]

Are there any shotgun shooters here? I shoot sporting clays 2 or 3 times a week & hunt doves in season.

[Bawanna]

I used to be a rabid shotgunner, shot trap and duck tower (I think they call it 5 stand now.) What a blast that was. The range got closed down and sadly I haven't been at it for many years. Used to be an all day Sat or Sun. Load all week on a single stage Pawnsness (know I'm not spelling that right) Warren Loader. Got a progressive Pawnsness Warren about 2 months before the range close. Timing.
I keep thinking when the weather gets a little better I'll check out some other ranges. Time, money, time, money distance.

Should be a law that theres a decent do everything range, reasonably priced in every single town in america. Driving for an hour to shoot is not right. It curbs my shooting agenda. And its bad for the environment when I burn all that gas to get where I can burn powder.

[cgo99]

I'm starting to be one, just got my LC Smith by Marlin (just felt in love with it) and I'm planning to start clays whenever time permits.

[mr surveyor]

For the last five years, I have lived for dove season. I hunt a lease in West Texas about 350 miles away with a close knit group of my running buddies. We never come home without a full legal possession limit. We then cook doves 3-4 times each year until the next dove season. As for sporting clays, I did shoot five stand once or twice a week and occassionally used our manual throwers 2-3 times per week until my best shooting buddy moved away:(. Many a night we would grab a box of clays and a few boxes of shells and run out to the club range, light it up, and spend a very enjoyable couple of hours. I really miss those days. I may get back into the organized club shoots again this year.

Shotgunning can be very addictive:D


surv

[johnh]

You know I have a love/hate relationship with shotguns. I want to warm up to them for home defense use, but even at close range I like the precision of a carbine. That and ease of use. I keep a couple around though. I have a CZ 712 Utility that I really like due to its low weight and soft recoil. The second is a Saiga 12 conversion. More of an investment really in case they are banned again (starting to sound likely). Kind of a Quigley thing for me, "never had much use for one" but.... did not say I could not use it. ;)

John

[jlottmc]

Last time I went out we were hand throwing clays, cold as all hell, and wet too, and I was sicker than a dog. We had a blast. I wish I had more time to take my bird gun out, but right now that's just not going to happen. BTW, my uncle is big into the Buck Skinner/ Mountain Man bit, and what I've learned from him and his doings with that has saved my butt more than once. I like doing it, but the time and money bit just don't happen right now. I'll also say this, if you are good with a flintlock, then you can shoot anything 10x-100x better then you could before the flintlock.
FYI, (Wynn thinks I'm a masochist, but I have fun) my bird gun is a single shot breach loading Baikal in 12ga. I did have to put a recoil pad on it though. I had one just like the one I currently have, and did well with it, but then I sold it to get my Charles Daly room broom. I missed it, so I bought another Baikal. Light and easy to point, with the recoil pad is fun to shoot too.

[johnatw]

I've been shooting skeet for a while, and must admit I'm not very good at it. I can't seem to get the lead right on stations 3, 4, and 5.
Retarded, I suppose. Still a lot of fun and the old guys don't make fun of me.

[Kingcreek]

Casual shotgunner nowadays. Used to be a pretty serious skeet, sporting clays, and bird hunter. Now I shoot skeet a couple times a month and sporting clays 3-4 times a year. I've shot a Beretta 390 Sport almost exclusively past 12 or more years but I still have some other shotguns that I'm fond of. My old Ithaca mod 37 20g and a pair of Browning SBS in 12 and 20g. I had 2 beautiful belgian Browning Auto 5s in 20 and a "Sweet 16" but I sold them because they didn't fit me right and I just couldn't shoot them well. I still have the little .410 that I got for christmas over 40 years ago. for home defense there is a Rem 870 with 7 rounds of 00 in a nearby convenient location.

[Dietrich]

I fell in love with shotguns at a very early age.I remember reading "The Old Man and the Boy" by Robert Ruark when I was a kid and wanting to go quail hunting because of it.I hunt upland birds to this day when my knees will allow it.The rest of the time I shoot skeet,trap and sporting clays.Clays are a humbling experience which is a good thing because every once in a while I start to think I`m a good shot.Right now my shotgun arsenal consists of a Browning Auto 5,a Browning Gold Hunter,A Remington Sportsman 12,a Remington 1100,an old Fox SxS my grandaddy had,and of course a Remington 870 pump. All are 12 gauge.Jeez,seven long months until dove season.I think I`ll take a couple out to the shed for a light cleaning and lube job just in case September sneaks up on me.Which one will I carry to the field on opening day?

[Ljutic]

In the late 90's, I was addicted to trap shooting. I would sit at my desk during the week just dreaming about getting out and busting clays on Wednesdays after work and all day on Saturday with a trip to a registered shoot on Sunday. I was shooting 20,000 clays a year in practice and 10,000 + registered competition targets. Even though shot was just $10 a bag, powder $10 a pound, and primers $90 a lug (5000) it got expensive with travel to the shoots and target fees. I was making a good living and was single at the time so I didn't think much about it and looked forward to participating in the AR state trapshoot as well as the yearly state shoots in MO, OK, and PA. My Dad was a competitive trap shooter in the 60's, but gave it up when he realized he had two boys to put through college at some point in the future. When I started shooting, it gave us something we could do together and we shot in NJ, PA, AR, and even down in Florida. I also enjoyed full course sporting clays, 5 stand sporting, and skeet.

Everything changed for me when the dreaded Y2K came along. I was a computer systems guy and due to work obligations I missed the 1999 AR State Shoot. That pretty much turned me off shooting for a year and then I went over to England to work for a couple years, came back and got married, built a house, started a family and just don't have the time to practice and competitively shoot like I did in the 90's. I still shoot from time to time with guys in the neighborhood, but maybe once or twice a year. I considered breaking out the MECs and getting back into it slowly, but it seems that lead has turned into gold over the last decade and shot's up to $40 a bag?????? Primers and powder are also insane. I'm hanging onto my Perazzi, but doubt shooting trap will ever be more than an occasional hobby going forward.

[Kingcreek]

johnatw, those back stations can be decieving. They require more lead than you think. If you can keep shooting the same station until you are breaking targets, you will probably find that its either not enough lead or stopping your swing. Its hard to troubleshoot and fix those faults during regular rounds but if you can get the range to yourself and an observer/coach, you can really boost the skill level quickly.

[jlottmc]

Forgot to mention, when I get the funding opened back up, I still want a Rabbit Eared Coach Gun, I like the hammers that actually drive firing pins. I went out with my uncle a while back, and we took his smooth rifle, loaded it with shot and I actually did about 45% with it. That smooth rifle thing is a flintlock, smooth bore and in .62 cal, which I believe is right at 20ga. What makes it a smooth rifle is a little tighter bore than a straight bored rifle (yes those were called rifles too), and the stock is different from that of a shot gun. Very fun to load it and hammer the clays we had. We also had my uncle's 12ga. sbs black powder shot gun, did pretty well with it too. Black powder is a blast to play with.

[Jeremiah/Az]

cgo99, I bought an L C Smith by Marlin in 28 gauge a couple of years ago. What a fun little gun it is!

Ljutic, that is an interesting name for a man that shoots a Perazzi. LOL

johnatw, the skeet leads that work for me are 3' on 3 &5, & 4' on 4. I'm not a serious skeet shooter however.

Thanks all for the responses.

[Bawanna]

A man once let me hold his Perazzi. Didn't even charge me. What a shotgun it was too.

[Ljutic]

Ljutic, that is an interesting name for a man that shoots a Perazzi. LOL


I couldn't reload my mono gun fast enough to shoot doubles. :D No way was I spending $18,000 for a Selka O/U. It was time to go Italian.

[Alfonse]

I'm starting to be one, just got my LC Smith by Marlin (just felt in love with it) and I'm planning to start clays whenever time permits.

That's a nice looking shotgun!

[johnatw]

Kingcreek,
Thanks for the advice, will try to do that when the weather breaks.
John