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Old December 16, 2012, 08:39 PM   #26
PJR
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Perfect, a shotgun so beautiful and valuable that I wouldn't dare use it.

About the only thing you are allowed to do with a shotgun like that is to build a fancier display case for it.
Maybe you wouldn't but I would.
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Old December 17, 2012, 12:10 PM   #27
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That stunningly beautiful mid 70's Wingmaster with the 28" vent rib modified choke barrel and the 26" vent rib improved cylinder barrel. The one that's behind the seat of my truck. Yeah, that's the one.
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Old December 17, 2012, 01:21 PM   #28
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I'll take one of the Krieghoff K-80's ...even used - there are a couple of very nice guns here ....for around $ 60 K.....

http://halkguns.com/preowned_detail.cfm?g_ID=57#

( and yes, I'd shoot it ) ! .... in case anyone was going to ask....
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Old December 17, 2012, 05:10 PM   #29
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I have several--"dream shotguns" that I still shoot. These are not $20K plus guns, they are not Kreighoff's, Merkels, Perazzis or H&Hs but they fit me and I shoot them all well. Citori, Winchester and Weatherby do me just fine but recently my tune has changed. These guns are all 12ga. hunting shotguns and weigh in the 7-8 lbs. range.

I went hunting a few days ago with my buddies in Arkansas. We usually get together once a year to hunt quail. Long story short--my "dream" guns are too heavy for this mid-sixties body. Upland game doesn't require alot of heavy loads--something in the 7/8-1oz. range, soooo I'm now in the market for a new "dream" gun in 20 or even 28ga. OU or SA. My buddies were all carrying new 20s or 28s. A Browning Cynergy Synthetic stock in 20 gauge featherweight would be just about right for me.

Next time I won't be the old fart lagging and dragging and buying the drinks 'cause I killed the fewest birds.
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Old December 17, 2012, 06:11 PM   #30
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Hey now, we're not old Mach1....we're "seasoned" ....

There are a number of Browning Citori models in 28ga....my personal favorite is a Browning Citori XS Skeet model, 30" barrels...( they made a lot of them on the 20ga receiver...in both 28ga and .410 ) ...so there are a lot of them around...

http://thefiringline.com/forums/atta...1&d=1339792349

My Citori XS Skeet models...top to bottom 12ga, 20ga, 28ga and a .410 ...

The 28ga is a perfect Quail gun, in my opinion...( although I like all 4 of my guns at around 8.5 lbs)....the 20ga, 28ga and .410 without added weight are all about 7.5 lbs in 30" barrels... I add 8oz inside forend and 8oz in stock ...because I like the swing characteristics better at that weight...
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Old December 18, 2012, 07:25 AM   #31
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Swing

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...because I like the swing characteristics better at that weight...
I smiled at that, thinking about my own bird hunting.
Swing? Who gets to swing?
I am hunting with the setter, Belle, in the game lands up on North Mt. in PA. She is quartering and then, suddenly, stops in front of one of a gazillion huckleberry bushes that surround us. She is quivering in a classic point. I walk up to her...I know the bird is there. Makes no difference.....as I approach, a rocket clothed in feathers erupts from the other side of the bush at about a million miles an hour and accelerates. I see feathers through the branches. Somehow the gun is up at my shoulder (did I do that?) and I fire the right barrel through the bush at the ever smaller target. Sometimes I get lucky.
So....I want a gun that points fast.
Pete
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Old December 18, 2012, 03:17 PM   #32
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Quote:
...because I like the swing characteristics better at that weight...

I smiled at that, thinking about my own bird hunting.
Swing? Who gets to swing?
I am hunting with the setter, Belle, in the game lands up on North Mt. in PA. She is quartering and then, suddenly, stops in front of one of a gazillion huckleberry bushes that surround us. She is quivering in a classic point. I walk up to her...I know the bird is there. Makes no difference.....as I approach, a rocket clothed in feathers erupts from the other side of the bush at about a million miles an hour and accelerates. I see feathers through the branches. Somehow the gun is up at my shoulder (did I do that?) and I fire the right barrel through the bush at the ever smaller target. Sometimes I get lucky.
So....I want a gun that points fast.
I had to smile too and for the same reasons you did, darkgael. Most of my grouse/woodcock hunting happens in the same kind of cover you referenced and to actually swing my gun is a luxury that happens once or twice a season and, when it does, it invariably occurs on the proverbial "meatball" shots-which I routinely miss; a miss that haunts me for the rest of the year...

The other "myth" I read from time to time comes from outdoor writers who admonish their readers for "hurrying" their shots when shooting at grouse; advising that grouse hunters "have more time than you think. Slow your shot down and kill more birds". Seriously? Of course, I don't hunt the New Hampshire coverts, divided with stone fences that separate apple orchards from grape vines, that you see pictured on those classic oil paintings depicting staunch setters pointing a bird with an azure sky as a backdrop. No, my hunting is usually in a Michigan cedar swamp and occurs mostly in the early fall when the bright-colored foilage makes spotting an already hard to see grouse even tougher. And when you do finally pick it up with your eyes, your trigger finger had best not be dwaddling.

I confess that my grouse/woodcock hunting shooting skills are such that I'm sure to bring along some hotdogs if I plan on having meat for supper.

Pete-it's interesting that your setter's name is Belle. It's the same name my hunting partner's setter has. Sadly, my great, old setter Kate died last year. I'm finally on the lookout for a "replacement" (that will never replace her); probably an older, "started" dog. I'm a little long in the tooth to be fussing with a pup-as much as I love puppies.
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Old December 18, 2012, 03:51 PM   #33
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I'd also take a new Remington 1100 Classic Trap with Grade 3 wood and a 30" barrel
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Old December 18, 2012, 07:26 PM   #34
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I'm not as quick as you young studs....I still swing mine ...
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Old December 18, 2012, 07:32 PM   #35
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Yute

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I'm not as quick as you young studs....I still swing mine ...
Thanks for the young comment....if I was included. I turned 66 two weeks ago.
Alas...Those were the days.
Pete
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Old December 19, 2012, 11:53 AM   #36
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I dream of finding a Western Field Model 30 (Stevens 520-30) shotgun for under $200, in good condition...
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Old December 19, 2012, 02:58 PM   #37
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I turned 66 two weeks ago.
Pete, my friend, you're still young -- you haven't been pharting dust, yet. (I've got almost 2-years on you)

For dream guns, I'll stick with my P-guns. There's one disadvantage to shooting guns with gold and engraving: Some people expect you to hit every target when you're shooting a $20K gun. You miss a target and someone will taunt with something like, "Hey, my Mossberg can do that!"
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Old December 19, 2012, 05:45 PM   #38
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I'm not as quick as you young studs....I still swing mine ...
Well, thanks BigJimP! At the age of seventy (well, in a couple of months), it makes my day to know that I'm still regarded as a "young stud".
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Old December 19, 2012, 08:58 PM   #39
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For dream guns, I'll stick with my P-guns. There's one disadvantage to shooting guns with gold and engraving: Some people expect you to hit every target when you're shooting a $20K gun. You miss a target and someone will taunt with something like, "Hey, my Mossberg can do that!"
+1

Thinking a $20K shotgun will make you hit every bird is a little like thinking a Stradivarius violin will make you the featured soloist for the New York Symphony.
That $20K would have been better spent on a good shooting coach and practice ammo.
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Old December 20, 2012, 02:27 AM   #40
340 Weatherby
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I pretty much have my dream gun in my Perrazzi Mirage, but since we're dreaming here, how about a 410 Perazzi high grade w/ Titties!
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Old December 20, 2012, 06:45 AM   #41
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I pretty much have my dream gun in my Perrazzi Mirage, but since we're dreaming here, how about a 410 Perazzi high grade w/ Titties!
If it comes with titties, you probably can't afford it.
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Old December 20, 2012, 11:38 AM   #42
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how about a 410 Perazzi high grade w/ Titties!
Humm... 340W, your Perazzi catalog must be different from mine.
Like you, my Mirage (Briley tubes and JS stock) is the P-gun I shoot most.
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Old December 20, 2012, 08:16 PM   #43
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Having some Scot in me, I'll take a David McKay Brown round action



7#8oz in 12 gauge
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Old December 21, 2012, 01:49 AM   #44
340 Weatherby
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That's a nice gun Big D and I hope I get to shoot one some day.
Even if it has no Titties.
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Old December 21, 2012, 03:18 PM   #45
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I realized I am sorry here- What I meant to say was *I* Can't have such a simple thing as an autoloader with a pistol grip because of NJ Laws, not that you or you or you can't lol.

Total mistake.
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Old December 21, 2012, 10:01 PM   #46
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An Ithaca 37 16 gauge with serial nbr around 855,001 for the next 1000 or so. 855,000 is where they changed to the new barrel thread style and the new barrels Ithaca makes will fit them with no gunsmithing.

The action will still be largely handfitted and runs smooth and the foreend will fit me. Then I could get a vent rib barrel with choke tubes.

However I am building one. I just put a deposit down on a 1952 vintage Ithaca 37 16 gauge that has a Simmons vent rib already installed on it. The wood is pretty dang good. I will get choke tubes put in it and the correct period recoil pad and eventually reblue and restore the whole gun.

It actually will be almost better than a new one, the difference is that the new barrels are 4140 steel for steel shot and are a little heavier, but I have a newer 12 gauge Ithaca that will handle that chore.

It will be a sweet gun to hunt pheasants and longer range bunnies with. I have another 1956 built Ithaca 37 16 gauge that is an absolute joy to hunt rabbits in the brush with
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Old December 24, 2012, 11:24 PM   #47
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Even though I don't need another tactical 12 gauge (already have a 590A1 that does its job very well) I gotta say the VEPR 12 is at the top of my want list now. The big money trap guns are cool, don't get me wrong, they're beautiful but my guns get used... and my 870 supermag goes clay for clay with every one I've been beside when it comes time to bust birds.
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Old December 25, 2012, 08:41 AM   #48
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I am happy with my little SKB and don't really have any desire for a best quality gun that costs more than a house. Rather than a new shotgun, I would love a lifetime supply of .410 shells to make the most out of what I have now.
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Old December 25, 2012, 07:05 PM   #49
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Even though I don't need another tactical 12 gauge (already have a 590A1 that does its job very well) I gotta say the VEPR 12 is at the top of my want list now. The big money trap guns are cool, don't get me wrong, they're beautiful but my guns get used... and my 870 supermag goes clay for clay with every one I've been beside when it comes time to bust birds.
I hear ya, I have a M930SPX and then got an 870 Tactical as a backup/pump project (I've done quite a bit of hooking it up).

I wanted a Vepr 12 but in NJ you can't have an autoloading shotgun w/ a pistol grip, the Vepr 12 comes only pistol gripped, so I bought the old man a Saiga 12 for Christmas... A regular old Saiga 12 comes OTB with a conventional stock.


If I ever need it I can get (and plan to get really) a 24" barrel for the 930 w/ nice fiber optic type bead sights, and any manner or fashion of 870 barrel if the time comes.
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Old December 25, 2012, 08:40 PM   #50
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I can think of no less than 20 individual specimens i would call "Dream" guns and none were what I would call a "Gentleman's arm" like a P or K gun meant for the sporting line of a field...

One was a lowly M-500 pump gun with custom... did i mention CUSTOM BURL walnut root? (I think it was called root)... That mutha looked far better than any "custom burl wood" smoking pipe i got to look at as dad bought tobacco for his "field grade" smokin' pipes...

IT WAS RICH... as in RICHHHH... Oh so sweet with the black wide grains so sweetly curved... And she wore a custom Blue job on the ferrous metal and a highly polished receiver with a special looking anodized finish...

But some of the routine singles, doulbles and O/Us in gun shops really tickled my dreamy fancy as a young boy... Some I actually said to myself... "Lord, if you bless me with this gun, i would only fire it to feed my family if I am starving..." and from me, that says i think it was truly pretty...

Brent
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