Shotguns
I bought a rifled, slug barrel with a cantilever scope mount for the Mossberg 500. Kubota had been ogling them on the internet. I dangled it in front of Kubota and told him that I would go "halfsies" on it...all he had to do was earn $80. In case you have not figured it out yet, this was an attempt to prime the pump, to nudge him into the world of productive, paid labor.
However, he was just not able to get off of top-dead-center.
It would be a waste to let the barrel gather dust this deer season, so I put it on my Mossberg. That is one of the big advantages of "standardizing".
Without going into details, the barrel switch became a shaggy-dog story. I had to remove the saddle scope mount because the cantilever interfered with it. The trigger-group fell out after I pulled the screws. Assorted pieces parts rained across the living room. The functionallity of the gun suffered for the lack of one part that slid between the arm of an easy chair and the cushion. Being flat and black it not only nested deeply, it was nearly invisible.
I was finally able to get it straightened out after watching this video several times and a (several, actually) fine-tooth comb search of the living room.
Sighting-in went well. I used inexpensive Foster slugs to get centered on the paper at 25 yards. Then I switched to the Hornady's American Whitetail Interlock sabot-slug.
I must have lucked into a good lot (ending digits ...2011) because they shot beautifully.
My brothers have not been so lucky with the Hornady slugs. It may be that every shotgun is different. It may also be due to inconsistency in the sabots falling away from the slug. One shooter I know noticed that the most accurate slugs were the ones that deposited their sabots within a five yard band. The least accurate ones were the ones where he would find sabots anywhere between 15 yards and 100 yards from the firing line.
There is also the issue of expectations. I think a five shot, 3 inch group is good-to-go for a slug gun. Heck, I am using a 3MOA Red Dot scope. These guys who mount a 4-14X scope on their shotgun crack me up.
I was in-and-out at the range in 30 minutes.
More Guerrilla Gardening
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| Morris Burton. This is the heaviest crop it ever had. |
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| A better-than-average seedling. |
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| Close-up of the seedlings. Persimmons get larger down south. This is a very good sized persimmon for Michigan. |
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| Persimmons in the bottom of a black bucket. Looks like Halloween to me! You can see the range of sizes, ripeness and colors. |
I planted 150 Shumard Oak acorns and 100 persimmons. The persimmons were a duke's mixture of Morris Burton and some of my better seedlings. I plan to go back and plant about fifty Juhl. The closest pollinator for the Juhl is Szukis so some of those seedlings could be awesome.
And that, for me, is a pretty good day!
I like a slug for close range deer. My old 870 will keep three in a cloverleaf at 50 yards, and for the thickets, that's good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteI used to use a bolt action 12 ga. almost exclusively. The one year I killed a deer with a rifle was with my dad's 30-40 krag. Smoothest bolt action you ever saw. I gave it to my son who is in the Navy. He collects old military arms. He bought an M-1 Garand last spring. Took it to a WWII military re-enactment this July. What a goofball!
ReplyDeleteEvery other deer I killed has been with a shotgun. The first was with a Rem.1100 my bro in law had lent me. My first ever buck. Beautiful, huge 6 point, with one broken off. I was just a kid, about 20, shooting 00 buckshot. The box said max range 50 yards. He was almost 75 yards. I shot 5 times, hit him on the last shot, with 2 or 3 pellets. They took off both front legs at the knee.
I was sold on shotguns and buckshot, but learned to shoot better and to better judgment. In my defense, he was running like a banshee.
I have also used fostner slugs, with devastating results. Hit a deer in the neck with one at 50 yards or so, it just fell down like a rock.
Unfortunately, my eyesight has gotten almost as old as me. This year, for the first year in forever, I am hunting again. I am using a .243 with a scope that my DAUGHTER lent me. How cool is she?
Louisiana hunting along with SW Arkansas and East Texas, a shotty is better than a rifle in most cases. And you're right, ammo accuracy IS dependent on whether or not that particular gun likes it!
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ReplyDeleteAchieving the best shot is possible with skills and of course, the right gear. That's why having a top shotgun scope is necessary for a great performance. Aside from price, I look at the brand and the features that the scopes possess. One can't be too lax when it comes to reading reviews since these scopes are not cheap either. So you have to do your homework and search for the best online. So far, this amazing site has the best reviews so far. See: http://opticgearlab.com/scopes/best-shotgun-scope.html
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