doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Theoretical, and the gun in hand

I think there's something to this "Excalibur" theory--particularly the part where it's an inexpensive old pump. Happened to me with m12 12 gauge, overbore aftermarket barrel 26"), skeet forend, 30$ Sile Monte Carlo with cast-off which I added. Only gun I can hit both rabbits and pheasants with. Took AyA #2 and m12 for farm pheasant in PA last year. Missed big cock bird with fancy game gun; got rooster and two hens later w/ model 12. Been good to me at skeet and amazingly, 16 yd trap. 275$ off the consignment rack. I have the same waking dream that Ted does.

jack

An observation of mine is that what I think is a really sweet weight/balance for a field gun is not what I necessarily shoot best. But, thinking a gun is really sweet seems to makes me shoot a little, or a bit more, better...most of the time.

Chunck makes an interesting point. Some of the shooter-gun performance must depend on the shooter's mental position. I think many shooters will put in a bit of extra effort when using a gun they see as "worthy" of their best effort. Of course, confidence in yourself and your gun is a good thing, too.

Part of it for me is I simply don't like ugly guns, don't care how great they shoot. I can't imagine reclining on a hillside in some cool upland game country enjoying a break to admire the scenery, all the little wonders of nature, the song birds, whitefooted deer mice scurrying about, changing leaves on the trees, maybe a beautiful Ruffed Grouse in hand - only to look down and see that ugly black painted Mossberg Ted was talking about. Any reasonable gun can be made to shoot for you with a few adjustments and a little practice. But UGLY can't be adjusted. Do I need a British best to fill the role - absolutely not and I don't have one. If someone wants to view hunting as a job for which he uses tools I guess the ugly fit their needs. But hunting is not a job for me and I want nice dogs, guns and good companions to contribute to the esthetics.

OK, Jerry, lets get one thing straight-I have never shot a ruffed grouse with this gun. I have shot several pheasants with it in South Dakota, but, that was with temps hovering about -10 degrees, and the typical, South Dakota 15-20 mph wind coming out of the northwest. It was brutal, and I had already exposed my 100 year old Tobin to the wrath that came on the front end of the storm-freezing rain, followed by white-out conditions that evening. Enough was enough for the old Tobin 16.

Yes, I like beautiful double guns for hunting. Sometimes, I even shoot them well. But, if it was my money being wagered on league night, I'd think long and hard about one of the pumps that hang about my place, and that Mossberg helps me to win my fair shair of $1 wagers and free beers in hot pursuit of clay birds. To be perfectly honest, it is my rainy-day-must-win-trap-shooting-or-nasty-weather-big bird-killing gun. Makes a fair loaner, too.
Do I like the fact that guys snicker when it gets uncased at the club? No. I really don't like shooting it as well as I do, either. But, not enough to sell it, give it away, or, leave it at home, either.
Best,
Ted

Chuck, Jerry, and Ted have very nicely outlined a major shooter's dilima; the gun you shoot best may not be the gun you most enjoy shooting. I'm very sure that stock dimensions, griping area size and texture, and handling parameters can be duplicated from one gun to another. However, the trust and confidence one gets from repeated success can't. Even though two guns can't be sorted in a blindfolded handling test, they can be with the blindfold off. From a practical sense, Ted is a lucky man to have found and recognized his magic gun when it came along. From an aesthetics sense, too bad it wasn't something prettier.

...but Maloney, what about those days of trappings - Jags 'n tweed. Have they gone by the wayside - is there a place for them in the "December Grouse" theory?
You make fine gun buying, sound so foolish...what happened ol'boy?

Nothing wrong with using good stuff - I just don't care for gusty winds fanned by the vigorous flapping of price tags.

Image is everything to some and nothing to others. Years ago I met a Doctor who had a "major interest" in Ward Brother decoys. Told me he had more of them than I would ever see in one place in his den. Mentioned that he was a duck hunter and became a "serious collector" as a result. Decent fellow but rather impressed with himself as many collectors can be.

I invited him duck hunting that Fall. He wanted to drove his Mercedes S/W. This was back in the days that the car was a special import item, not seen in every showroom. This fellow bought a Mercedes S/W just to go duck hunting. No ordinary pickup for him.

We went to the river and to the blind in my boat. He got the guns in the blind with our small bags. His gun was a Wnchester 21, mine a lesser double. I set out the decoys. You guessed it, all Ward Brother decoys. Just before first light I did mention to him that we never shot low or into the decoys. Still did not tell him what he was shooting over. Just after first light and the second chance at a single, he noticed the decoys. Said they were a fair imitation of his Ward Brothers decoys. Half an hour later he figured out the "imitation" was real.

He could not believe anyone would hunt over such "rare" decoys, wanted to buy them on the spot. Offered me his car, money you name it. They became a major obsession for him over the next few months. He could not stand the fact that I had more of his beloved Ward Brothers decoys than he did and that I had the nuts to hunt over them. I ruined his image of himself as a major collector. He had a few and I had a few more than he did.

Never did tell him I found them at the dump and paid nothing for them. I did have the Ward Brothers repaint a few of them and sign them for me. Back in those days they would repaint one of their old decoys for $20.00 and sign one for just about nothing. They even could tell me that my decoys were almost all made in a two year span. They changed the shape of the tail for two years and then went back to their normal shape. They were nice men, who were glad that their decoys were still being used as decoys. They had the right image, not some stuffed shirt with a desire to be the best or make others think that he is the best.

Getting back to what and how things work, I must point out that "off the rack" wasn't going to work for me with said Mossberg (actually New Haven AT 600, an even cheaper model, if that's possible) gun. It had a blunderbuss like protusion of an adjustable choke on it from the factory, and a plastic safety slide that hurt my little thumb. A Mossberg should have a recoil pad, if it is a 12, also, if you are interested in shooting comfort. A Wolf Creek powdered metal safety, a fixed modified choke 28" ribbed barrel, sling swivels, and a no-nonsense black Pachmayer pad later, it is "fitted". 'Sorta.
I think it could be repeatably duplicated, but, then again, you get into those nuance issues like wood weight-wood, even cheap wood, will weigh differently from piece to piece.
Besides, once is truly enough with one of these....
Best,
Ted