Gil, sorry you lost that bird, but hats off to you for hunting (I gather) using the method many of us abide by, taking the safety off on the mount. The fly in the Ideal ointment AKA the safety is well known: the one on my No. 5 barely works, the one on my 314 not at all. I have found that jamming my bang switch tight against the underlever as I carry is very effective in keeping that finger completely out of the trigger guard, and takes a definitive movement around and then in to reach a trigger.

I have no doubt there are those who would politely and otherwise decline to hunt with anyone who does anything other than taking the safety off on the mount, and I respect that. I treat my Ideals like pigeon guns: do my best to follow (to me) the most crucial of all gun handling safety rules (muzzle in safe direction), and rely most on the safety between my ears.

Satisfying to me to see a lovely French gun taking woodcock- most appropriate.

YMMV

Mike

Tolerance: the abolition of absolutes

Consistency is the currency of credibility