doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com America's Fantasy with Magnums

Truer words have never been spoken.

SRH

I'd rather shoot ducks and geese with their feet down but killing a long one or a high one is something I can do if I'm "on" that day. To me 50 yards isn't a mile, it's reasonable if the gun and the loads are right. Give me an ounce and a half of 4's out of a heavy 12 gauge any day compared to a one ounce load no matter what kind of duck shooting I'm doing. I'm no long range expert but I'm not afraid to shoot at them a little longer than some because I know I can do that sort of work successfully.


Destry

Speaking of #4's and magnums, I gave a friend a couple boxes of Federal 3" #4 and #5 .410s a week or so ago. He shot them out of his long coned, .020 choked CSM 21 yesterday and I was really impressed. At 40 yrds, it had a definite killing pattern for chukar and pheasant. No question. He's going to use them on these birds next week. It'll be interesting to hear the field results. He said the #5s were good, but the 4s were better. I didn't see patterns from the 5s.

After reading all of these posts I'll weigh in. The last shotgun I purchased is chambered for 3" 12 bore. I thought oh boy now I have a 12 bore that will carry the same payload as my old Remington 10 bore 2 7/8. That is until I priced a box of 3" shells. At 9 to 10 bucks a box more than 2 3/4 I'll be shooting the short ones out of it. I come from a family of cheap SOB's.

This topic would be a lot more interesting if it were not for its underlying theme of snobbery. Light loads and/or small gauges are no more "sporting" or "sophisticated" than their larger counterparts. Bad shooting and bad sportsmanship are equally possible with both large and small gauges and loads. So are good shooting and good sportsmanship.

Everyone knows that magnums are just for guys that don't know anything.

For you recoil shy purists may I suggest the single shot BB gun.

My shooting/hunting perceptions and skills have changed dramatically over the years. When I started hunting at age 12 and up to about age 35 (It's embarrassing to write this), I was mostly an unsuccessful sky blaster for waterfowl and a 3 shot no matter what for upland game. Friends an mentors took me under their wings and changed my whole hunting/shooting perspective. One guy took me skeet shooting and after a while had me shooting low gun to simulate hunting conditions. Another friend taught me to call ducks and geese to within easy shooting range and as as result of what those two guy taught me I became a successful hunter and not just a bad shot and bird crippler. They also taught me that 1 1/4 oz. of lead, when lead was legal is more than enough for both ducks and geese. I shoot pheasant, Huns, sharp tail and blue and ruff grouse with 3/4 oz. loads. I spend a lot of time on my pattern board when I'm attempting to evaluate a new load or perfecting an old one. A person can use as much shot and gun that they feel is necessary, but crippling birds at extreme ranges makes no sense to me and in the case of waterfowl, when you learn to call close shots are the norm.

Ooops! Make that 1 oz. for pheasant.

Seem like great points to me wyo. I can't help but think, the steel equivalent of 1 1/4oz of lead is generally labeled 'magnum' at the bargain stores. Last week I was plenty satisfied with 1 1/8 steel loads and the dram equivalent on the box put them well in the 'magnum' range.

Waterfowl, from what I've seen, don't always cooperate. The scrawny ones don't make the trip south and hard flyers are part of the picture. I can't stand skybusting and don't even understand what extreme ranges mean to different folks, but I do know I'm not packing up and leaving if they don't cup wings inside twenty yards. Crumby conditions are part of the deal.

Homeless, I'm recoil shy in the sense I intuitively shoot better with guns of less recoil. The conscious and subconscious of the consequences of firing don't enter it. With the right gun and load, I don't want excessive recoil.

Destry has it right about loads from all accounts I've read and heard from him, particularly with efficacy of No. 4s. Where I grew up it was always No. 4 for all ducks including scoters and whitewings.