Dave McC
September 25, 2001, 09:31 AM
The Invitation said it was a Redneck Jamboree, but a gathering of friends, family and huntin' buddies would better describe it. The idea was to get together, do some shooting, eat various game and side dishes, and rid ourselves of cabin fever.
It was held at a hunting lease deep in Md's Eastern Shore, in March following a cold and nasty winter.
After some fun offhand shooting at a 110 yd gong target with everything from Muzzleloaders to sidearms, we broke out the shotguns and an ancient Outer's trap.As I uncased Frankenstein, the banter commenced....
"Dave, what happened to the rest of the bbl?" said a friend.
Another asked with a grin if it fit into a violin case.
In my best Sicilian accent,"Fuggedaboudit" quoth I as I dropped a trap load into my little 870 and readied myself for the first bird. The shotgun was held, "Low Gun", and as the bird sprang from the trap, I swung,mounted and shot. The bird exploded, and the banter resumed.
After a while, we took a break and shot the bull.
When asked why I had pruned the bbl down, I let them swing Frank until they realized how much differently it handled than their own, 28" bbled pump guns.
I told them something like this....
" Not all field shooting requires 3 inch mags and heavy shotguns. This piece runs less than 7 lbs, and is balanced 3" in front of the trigger. Besides the bbl, some other metal was removed from the front, and some wood under the pad was hogged out to keep it from being too muzzle light. It's now just muzzle heavy enough to keep a swing going and light enough to tote all day following a big running bird dog. Yep, recoil's heavy with goose and turkey loads, but few shots of those are fired in a typical day.I've good recoil tolerance, so YMMV.
With 1 to 1 1/4oz loads, it's a joy to shoot. While not ideal for pass shooting, it works fine if I keep it moving".
At that point in time, Frankenstein had been changing my ideas about shotguns for a coupla years. The nice thing about a parts built, el cheapo 870 like this is one can take a risk and experiment a bit w/o breaking the budget.So, I got to play with the balance, fit, effectiveness and POI/POA.Some trips to a Sporting range showed me that it was quite capable at taking Sporting Clay targets, if I did my job.
Right now, the fashion in all the clay games is to long bbls. New metallurgy and techniques mean one can get an O/U with 32" bbls that weigh the same as 28" bbls of equal quality did a few years ago.
So why am I advocating a short bbl on a repeater?
That long receiver evens it up some.
Frankenstein, with its ostensibly 21" bbl was similiar in O/A length to a 27" bbled,delightful little French SXS I had. My 870 TB trap gun has a 30" bbl, and is longer than 32" bbled O/Us and 34" bbled trap SBTs.
And while some folks rave about the superior handling of a SXS or O/U over,say an 1100 of the same weight, pruning the bbl and getting it balanced to what works for you means more of the weight lies between the hands, and the handling is sweet indeed.That's what counts, not action type.
Downside?
Blast is increased, and muzzle flash in low light.This may contribute to flinching, so watch it.
With less inertia, it take some concentration to keep the piece moving smoothly. If I shoot this regularly, no prob.Switching betwen this and the TB means a period of adjustment.
So, I've convinced you to try this idea out, but you've no short bbls handy. What now?
Beater police turnins make a good starting point. So does buying another bbl for your pet 870, M-37, 1100, 500 etc. Choke tubes greatly add to the versatility, but a standard fixed Police Cylinder, Cylinder or IC choke are fine. Take a bit of weight off the hind end to bring the balance forward, and shoot it. A few more cut and tries, and you have a fine sporting repeater, terrific for upland work, and good enough for waterfowl.
Hope this helps explain everything, sing out if not...
It was held at a hunting lease deep in Md's Eastern Shore, in March following a cold and nasty winter.
After some fun offhand shooting at a 110 yd gong target with everything from Muzzleloaders to sidearms, we broke out the shotguns and an ancient Outer's trap.As I uncased Frankenstein, the banter commenced....
"Dave, what happened to the rest of the bbl?" said a friend.
Another asked with a grin if it fit into a violin case.
In my best Sicilian accent,"Fuggedaboudit" quoth I as I dropped a trap load into my little 870 and readied myself for the first bird. The shotgun was held, "Low Gun", and as the bird sprang from the trap, I swung,mounted and shot. The bird exploded, and the banter resumed.
After a while, we took a break and shot the bull.
When asked why I had pruned the bbl down, I let them swing Frank until they realized how much differently it handled than their own, 28" bbled pump guns.
I told them something like this....
" Not all field shooting requires 3 inch mags and heavy shotguns. This piece runs less than 7 lbs, and is balanced 3" in front of the trigger. Besides the bbl, some other metal was removed from the front, and some wood under the pad was hogged out to keep it from being too muzzle light. It's now just muzzle heavy enough to keep a swing going and light enough to tote all day following a big running bird dog. Yep, recoil's heavy with goose and turkey loads, but few shots of those are fired in a typical day.I've good recoil tolerance, so YMMV.
With 1 to 1 1/4oz loads, it's a joy to shoot. While not ideal for pass shooting, it works fine if I keep it moving".
At that point in time, Frankenstein had been changing my ideas about shotguns for a coupla years. The nice thing about a parts built, el cheapo 870 like this is one can take a risk and experiment a bit w/o breaking the budget.So, I got to play with the balance, fit, effectiveness and POI/POA.Some trips to a Sporting range showed me that it was quite capable at taking Sporting Clay targets, if I did my job.
Right now, the fashion in all the clay games is to long bbls. New metallurgy and techniques mean one can get an O/U with 32" bbls that weigh the same as 28" bbls of equal quality did a few years ago.
So why am I advocating a short bbl on a repeater?
That long receiver evens it up some.
Frankenstein, with its ostensibly 21" bbl was similiar in O/A length to a 27" bbled,delightful little French SXS I had. My 870 TB trap gun has a 30" bbl, and is longer than 32" bbled O/Us and 34" bbled trap SBTs.
And while some folks rave about the superior handling of a SXS or O/U over,say an 1100 of the same weight, pruning the bbl and getting it balanced to what works for you means more of the weight lies between the hands, and the handling is sweet indeed.That's what counts, not action type.
Downside?
Blast is increased, and muzzle flash in low light.This may contribute to flinching, so watch it.
With less inertia, it take some concentration to keep the piece moving smoothly. If I shoot this regularly, no prob.Switching betwen this and the TB means a period of adjustment.
So, I've convinced you to try this idea out, but you've no short bbls handy. What now?
Beater police turnins make a good starting point. So does buying another bbl for your pet 870, M-37, 1100, 500 etc. Choke tubes greatly add to the versatility, but a standard fixed Police Cylinder, Cylinder or IC choke are fine. Take a bit of weight off the hind end to bring the balance forward, and shoot it. A few more cut and tries, and you have a fine sporting repeater, terrific for upland work, and good enough for waterfowl.
Hope this helps explain everything, sing out if not...