Bettinsolli O/U range report

[Death from Afar]

Well. What a nice O/U gun.

Its a grade three with very fine striped walnut in the stock, an after market adjustable comb, and the top barrel is extra full, with the bottom full choke.

I took it out with some mates to blast a few pigeons that had been menacing a rifle range, which is taking your life into your hands.

The gun shoots like a dream. I was using Eley Paper Cartridges, fibre wads, with 32 grams of #6. The very first pigeon was a high one, flapping randomly at the top of some trees. I threw the gun to the shoulder, and let the bottom barrel go, and with a puff of feathers down she went...a great start! Another took off, and was nailed by my mates Browning Auto 5 ( at which point we quipped that the Smithsonian may not be happy with an exhibit being fired) .

By the end of the days play, I had dealt to about 35 birds, with the four of us shooting 120 odd. The best being a low flyer, which evavded the top barrel, but the bottom didnt miss, and down he went.

Lessons learnt:

1/ YOu really have to be quite selective with the shot size you use. I had a handful of #2's that I wanted to shoot off- the last 5 in a box- and they were useless, as the pattern was far too small,

2/ Autos and pumps are a hoot, but there is a lot of pride in a nice O/u for hunting. This is a rare gun that you really want to oil and polish, compared to my nasty 870P ( the "hose of death")

3/ As always, pattern your gun. I missed a lot of shots , as I wasnt too sure where each barrel was going.

4/ The entry level Bettinsolis are pretty junky, but the higher the grade the nicer the gun.