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Just got done with a couple games of trap with the 870ESM…
Capsule review; very nice gun, it performed flawlessly, the shooter, OTOH…
More later, posting from the range on my iPhone and the virtual keyboard isn't conducive to verbosity, full range report when I get back home
Quick bullet… err shot points
Gun reliability; 100%
rounds fired; 50
Felt recoil (1-10); 3.5
Sore shoulder/bruising; none
Okay, back at home now, on the MacBook, I can be more verbose in my post
The first round of trap I shot with the 870 was quite dissapointing, I shot in the high single-low double digit range, even though I had patterned the gun the week before, and new roughly where I was hitting, I was still missing more than hitting on the first game, I looked at that game as mainly a function test of the 870, I tried loading port feeding, as well as shucking a single round from the tube mag, the gun ran 100%, no stoppages, no hiccups
When I did score a hit, it was clear that the 12-gauge round definitely puts more lead in the air, I was shooting the Wally World Federal value pack rounds and whenever I scored a hit on an EOF, it dissapeared in a cloud of dust, almost no chips left, the 20 gauge H&R TDC I normally shoots tends to "starburst" the EOF with a direct hit, and tends to chip pieces off with a side hit
Sinve I was dissapointed with my performance in that game, I went and got my 20G H&R TDC from the car, made DARNED sure my dump bag was completely free of any and all 12 gauge hulls, and made doubly sure that I only had fresh 20G shells in my dump bag for the next round
with the 20G TDC I did dramatically better, so it was clear that my poor score in the first game was simply unfamiliarity with the 870, one thing that kinda' caught me off guard transitioning between the 870 and TDC was how much more felt recoil the TDC had, I was shooting the 3 dram Federal loads in the 870, and the Winchester "Sporting Clays" 1300 FPS shells in the TDC, the TDC had a slightly punchier recoil, not bad, mind you, but there was a noticeable difference between the two
the second game I played took place after the range guys and I helped out a newbie trapshooter, he was having trouble getting hits with his Benelli polymer pumpgun, so we locked the trap thrower down to throw straights, and helped him get on target, like me, he is a rifle shooter, and is fighting to break the "mustaimallshots mustaimallshots" instinct, heck, I still occasionally fall back to this instinct, it's a constant battle
since the thrower was locked down straight, I used this as an opportunity to figure out my hold and aim on the 870, it turns out that just like the TDC I had trouble with a few months back, I was once again focusing on the front bead, keeping it standing on top of the vent rib, as soon as I adjusted my hold so I barely saw the top of the bead, just like with the TDC, my hit ratio jumped dramatically
I'm thinking of either painting the bead black, or just removing it off the 870, maybe I should just cover it with sharpie marker ink, if I ignore the bead and simply cover the EOF with the muzzle, I generally hit it, when I focus on the bead, I generally miss
Stupid beads, who needs 'em, not me!
The Remington Supercell recoil pad worked brilliantly well, the Federal Value Pak rounds had almost no felt recoil, I'm pretty sure that's due to the combination of the recoil pad and the fact that the gun weighs about nine pounds
I now understand why the 870 series is so popular, and I definitely plan to add a 20G Wingmaster to the collection once I find a good used one
and finally, when I compare the experience I had with my old Mossberg 500 with the experience I have with this 870, it's clear that the 870 is a far more pleasant gun for me to shoot, it fits me properly, and the weight of the all steel construction helps the gun to settle comfortably, and helps mitigate felt recoil, I don't even feel the need to build up another one of my custom "recoil reducer" devices to fit in the stock, but I probably will anyway, as I'm a tech, and invariably love tinkering with gadgets....
"If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet"
of course that mantra, my "Technician Mantra" as it is, is dimetrically opposed to my other favorite mantra;
"Simple is good"
This gun is going to stay simple, at the very most, the only "upgrades" it might see are an 18-20" barrel for HD, a dedicated slug barrel, and perhaps a 2 shot mag extension, but nothing else, no sidesaddles, AR-style adjustable stocks, lasers, holosights, kitchen sinks, or other useless extras, oh, okay, maybe I lie, perhaps I'll install a "shoulder thing that goes up", just to piss off the Brady Bunch....
Capsule review; very nice gun, it performed flawlessly, the shooter, OTOH…
More later, posting from the range on my iPhone and the virtual keyboard isn't conducive to verbosity, full range report when I get back home
Quick bullet… err shot points
Gun reliability; 100%
rounds fired; 50
Felt recoil (1-10); 3.5
Sore shoulder/bruising; none
Okay, back at home now, on the MacBook, I can be more verbose in my post
The first round of trap I shot with the 870 was quite dissapointing, I shot in the high single-low double digit range, even though I had patterned the gun the week before, and new roughly where I was hitting, I was still missing more than hitting on the first game, I looked at that game as mainly a function test of the 870, I tried loading port feeding, as well as shucking a single round from the tube mag, the gun ran 100%, no stoppages, no hiccups
When I did score a hit, it was clear that the 12-gauge round definitely puts more lead in the air, I was shooting the Wally World Federal value pack rounds and whenever I scored a hit on an EOF, it dissapeared in a cloud of dust, almost no chips left, the 20 gauge H&R TDC I normally shoots tends to "starburst" the EOF with a direct hit, and tends to chip pieces off with a side hit
Sinve I was dissapointed with my performance in that game, I went and got my 20G H&R TDC from the car, made DARNED sure my dump bag was completely free of any and all 12 gauge hulls, and made doubly sure that I only had fresh 20G shells in my dump bag for the next round
with the 20G TDC I did dramatically better, so it was clear that my poor score in the first game was simply unfamiliarity with the 870, one thing that kinda' caught me off guard transitioning between the 870 and TDC was how much more felt recoil the TDC had, I was shooting the 3 dram Federal loads in the 870, and the Winchester "Sporting Clays" 1300 FPS shells in the TDC, the TDC had a slightly punchier recoil, not bad, mind you, but there was a noticeable difference between the two
the second game I played took place after the range guys and I helped out a newbie trapshooter, he was having trouble getting hits with his Benelli polymer pumpgun, so we locked the trap thrower down to throw straights, and helped him get on target, like me, he is a rifle shooter, and is fighting to break the "mustaimallshots mustaimallshots" instinct, heck, I still occasionally fall back to this instinct, it's a constant battle
since the thrower was locked down straight, I used this as an opportunity to figure out my hold and aim on the 870, it turns out that just like the TDC I had trouble with a few months back, I was once again focusing on the front bead, keeping it standing on top of the vent rib, as soon as I adjusted my hold so I barely saw the top of the bead, just like with the TDC, my hit ratio jumped dramatically
I'm thinking of either painting the bead black, or just removing it off the 870, maybe I should just cover it with sharpie marker ink, if I ignore the bead and simply cover the EOF with the muzzle, I generally hit it, when I focus on the bead, I generally miss
Stupid beads, who needs 'em, not me!
The Remington Supercell recoil pad worked brilliantly well, the Federal Value Pak rounds had almost no felt recoil, I'm pretty sure that's due to the combination of the recoil pad and the fact that the gun weighs about nine pounds
I now understand why the 870 series is so popular, and I definitely plan to add a 20G Wingmaster to the collection once I find a good used one
and finally, when I compare the experience I had with my old Mossberg 500 with the experience I have with this 870, it's clear that the 870 is a far more pleasant gun for me to shoot, it fits me properly, and the weight of the all steel construction helps the gun to settle comfortably, and helps mitigate felt recoil, I don't even feel the need to build up another one of my custom "recoil reducer" devices to fit in the stock, but I probably will anyway, as I'm a tech, and invariably love tinkering with gadgets....
"If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet"
of course that mantra, my "Technician Mantra" as it is, is dimetrically opposed to my other favorite mantra;
"Simple is good"
This gun is going to stay simple, at the very most, the only "upgrades" it might see are an 18-20" barrel for HD, a dedicated slug barrel, and perhaps a 2 shot mag extension, but nothing else, no sidesaddles, AR-style adjustable stocks, lasers, holosights, kitchen sinks, or other useless extras, oh, okay, maybe I lie, perhaps I'll install a "shoulder thing that goes up", just to piss off the Brady Bunch
....
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