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Old June 19, 2011, 08:50 PM   #1
TheKlawMan
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Mission Accompished

For once this ol jar head did good. For Father's Day I asked for the family to all go to the target range and surprisingly the women, my wife and 26 year old daughter, seemed interested even though ever since I even talked about getting a shotgun back last December they have ridiculed it and all but banished my 870 from sight.

I invested $20 in renting a beat up 20 gauge Beretta semi and bought a box of shells at range prices, but paid off! The wife fired 3 or 4, which surprised me as it had a standard 14 inch length of pull, and my girl emptied the rest of the box into the sky. She was thrilled when she killed one.

Now my daughter wants to load her own "lilttle bullets" and my wife wants to shoot a rifle and a pistol. Perhaps I will have a new gun (or two if I need to get a semi 20 for the ladies) sooner than later.
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Old June 19, 2011, 08:57 PM   #2
pabuckslayer08
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Semi auto 20 ga youth in rem 1100 is the best little gun for young boys and the women. They shoot great and last forever and work for anything. I got one for my 8th birthday and used it till I was 16 or so and now its in my house for HD
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Old June 19, 2011, 09:06 PM   #3
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Thanks!! I was having a good day but it just got better.
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Old June 19, 2011, 09:11 PM   #4
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I left off the part about shooting my personal best for two sequential rounds with reloads. (My scores are omitted as most of you would open a vein if you hit so few targets as I.)

Pabuckslayer. I was a little POed by the rental, which was supposed to be a junior, meaning a short stock. Instead, it was full stock with a moderately short barrel. Anyway, it did the trick. Actually, before I rented it a guy suggested my daughter try his very young son's single shot 20 gauge. I think it may be a Harrington & Richardson. Once my girl tried that she was ready for me to rent the Beretta.

Last edited by TheKlawMan; June 19, 2011 at 09:20 PM.
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Old June 19, 2011, 10:00 PM   #5
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TKM - GOOD for you getting the rest of your family involved - you're gonna need a new job to pay for it all, but that is OK.

Secondly, stop keeping score and just focus on hitting the birds - one at a time (or in my case with sporting, two at a time). IF you EVER get into competition, THEN worry about your score; otherwise, learn, have some fun, and.....

"Eye on the rock, head on the stock"

Last edited by oneounceload; June 20, 2011 at 09:24 AM.
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Old June 19, 2011, 10:14 PM   #6
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Congratulations on getting what you wanted on your day...

lpl
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Mindset - Skillset - Toolset. In that order!

Attitude and skill will get you through times of no gear, better than gear will get you through times of no attitude and no skill.
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Old June 19, 2011, 11:19 PM   #7
shortwave
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Congrats TKM,

Just can't think of a better way to spend Fathers Day.... or a better family activity than shooting.

Enjoy!
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Old June 20, 2011, 06:27 AM   #8
pabuckslayer08
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O yea, single shot shotguns for youngsters is a big no no. They kick like a 3.5" mag 12 gauge. I have one laying around and its like a big 12 or 300 mag. A semi auto 20 though with good pad on it is the way to go
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Old June 20, 2011, 09:21 AM   #9
shortwave
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Quote:
O yea, single shot shotguns for youngsters is a big no no
pa,

They didn't say that when we were kids

Course, with 5 boys all shooting/hunting, dad didn't always have the funds to buy ammo let alone auto's for us. Also, when on a hunt, you learned to make your shots count as you only had a certain amount of ammo. Once yours was used up, it was doggin time for the remainder of the day.

Also, there were advantages to a single shot out in the field. Different from shooting skeet/trap I know but if your planning on a day of covering alot of ground hunting, an auto can get heavy for a youngster. The excitement of when that rabbit took off or that pheasnt flushed took all our minds off any recoil.

Again, big difference in a day hunting versus a day skeet/trap shooting...but maybe thoughs single shots,limited supply of ammo and knowing when we ran out of ammo it was in the briars made us a bit better shots.
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Old June 20, 2011, 12:03 PM   #10
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I didn't shoot the Topper Jr. (I figured out that was what it was), but explained to my girl that the semi would shoot softer and it did. Her shoulder was barely sore last night and she hasn't mentioned it this morning.
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Old June 20, 2011, 12:21 PM   #11
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Congratulations...well done...
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Old June 20, 2011, 02:21 PM   #12
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Congratulations, you're a lucky man. My daughter went with me to the range only once and pronounced that it was way too noisy for her (it saved me many thousands of dollars).

As far as a 20-ga is concerned, do you really want to get another loader? Why not make up some light 12s for your ladies, isn't custom loads one reason you just got the 12-ga loader?
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Old June 20, 2011, 03:22 PM   #13
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I thought of that, Zippy. I want my kids to like shooting, but not so much that they eat into my shooting budget, which has a way of steadily increasing.

Re getting another autoloader, I never had one. I have an 870 Express pump, that I thought would be too much for her to try the first day, but she may be able to handle the extra soft loads lilke some that I made up to shoot that day. (They were 1200 FPS 7/8 7 loads and I imagine I can find a recipe for some as soft as 1120 FPS.) You may recall the first thing I did after getting it was, as you suggested, replacing the stock pad with a Remington SuperCell.

Of couse the boss is big on Dad doing things with the kids (ages 22 and 26), which might force me into picking up a second gun even if turns out to be a 12 gauge O/U.

Last edited by TheKlawMan; June 20, 2011 at 03:27 PM.
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Old June 20, 2011, 03:28 PM   #14
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Or a pair of Benelli Super Sports --- one in 12ga and one in 20ga ...

Or even better a couple of Browning Citori XS Skeet O/U's ...one in 12ga and one in 20ga ....

"just trying to help" ....???
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Old June 20, 2011, 03:57 PM   #15
hogdogs
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Light loads cost less to make, correct?
another reason for more 12ga. guns...

Brent
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Old June 20, 2011, 04:03 PM   #16
TheKlawMan
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I almost said something about you to help solve my dillema over an auto loader for my daughter and wife to shoot, Brent. I will just wait for you to get your new Mossberg and when you are bored with it inn a couple of months you can sell it to me for about $125. Of course, it would help if you forget about a 12 and got a 20 gauge.
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Old June 20, 2011, 04:07 PM   #17
TheKlawMan
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Actually. If my daughter wants to shoot much she can buy her own 20 gauge shells at WalMart. After putting her through college, she has a job and can pay for her own ammo (but she won't and I know it. She knows how to work Dad.)

The good thing about taking her shooting is for some reason everyone wants to offer us their guns to try. I can't figure out why.
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Old June 20, 2011, 04:10 PM   #18
TheKlawMan
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You keep helping me like that BigJim and I may just find my way up there, with the help from this new Garmin, and have to relieve you of those pesky Super Sports and XS Skeets after accidentally hitting you on the head. You know they just tak up too much space in your gun safe.
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Old June 20, 2011, 04:29 PM   #19
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Brent: Light loads cost less to make, correct?
You betcha! The powder, wads, and primers are the about same; but, shot is the most expensive component, and that's where you save with lighter loads. It's a major rip-off when factory "Lite" shells cost more than standard ones.
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Old June 20, 2011, 07:28 PM   #20
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It's a major rip-off when factory "Lite" shells cost more than standard ones.
Now, now, Zippy..........it's all about volume production, and heavier loads are still wanted by trap and skeet shooters, so they are made by the billions, whereas the light loads are made in the thousands. Fixed costs being what they are, smaller production runs means higher costs

NOW, if we could all of the trap and skeet shooters to shoot International-sized 7/8oz loads, they would come down dramatically in price.........
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Old June 20, 2011, 07:40 PM   #21
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...all of the trap and skeet shooters to shoot International-sized 7/8oz loads…
Skeet shooters have been doing that for years, it's called the 20-ga event.
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