How fast can you run your pump shotgun?

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1KPerDay

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Since I bought a shot timer I've been timing all sorts of stuff.

Last night I loaded up my 20 gauge Winchester defender and timed how long it took me to get 8 shots off at a torso target at 10 yards from low ready.

Total time was 2.74, first shot .24, with mostly .32-.33 splits. I had one .53 and one .24 but mostly .33s.

With some practice I might get that down some but I thought that was pretty good for a first try. The gun also has the youth stock and friend on it so it's a little cramped for me. :D
 
And a 870 allows you to have pressure back on the forearm when pulling the trigger. I believe with the Winchester you have to have forward pressure. Of course any of them could be altered or worn to allow different ways to fire them fast. Rudy Echen, a trap shooting legend, used a 870 for doubles, and ran a 100 straight 50 years apart with the same 870. He shot the doubles very fast and claimed the reason was because he could put rearward pressure on the forearm when shooting the first bird. When shooting live birds they claimed it almost sounded like one shot instead of two. Any of the really fast shooting pumps usually have many thousands of rounds through it. I like the 870 with two action bars.
 
I shoot both trap and skeet, singles and doubles with an 870 and have no problem operating it as fast or faster than my buddies with the 1100s and o/us. My scores, on my combo league team, lead our team. Slamfiring, to me, is a waste of good ammo. Of course, I was taught to be accurate, efficient, and thrifty. (that last one doesn't really apply once you get involved in shooting and reloading...can't stop buying). I also shoot an model 12 skeet gun and can't really tell any difference in performance (speed) between it and the 870. To tell the truth, I have had more trouble switching from front to back trigger on an old side by side at doubles than I do pumping a slide action. (quarter million rounds through my 870 TB)
 
I can run a pump on skeet doubles faster than my 1100 will cycle. After shooting just pumps for a while, M1897 Win, M12 Win, Rem 870, and then switching to one of my 1100's or my 11-87 I find myself listening to the action going ch-chunk almost in slow motion on the auto's. As fast as I am I used to shoot with a gentleman that could make 2 shots sound like one b-boom.
 
As I recall the Winchester 97 and the Ithaca 37 were both John Browning designs allowing
the gun to be pump fired. Winchester followed through with the Model 12 doing the same.
Guys with the new autoloaders lost a lot of money when shooting against those pump guns.
All they did was hold the trigger back and pump the forearm, beat the automatics every time.
 
Have no interest in slam firing shotguns.
Can run a reg 870 fast enough.
Have hit multiple targets in rapid succession, or single targets multiple times.
Have to admit, when it comes to triples on geese or doves.......yeah I prefer my 1100s.
 
2.47 seconds is a little slow....but it's still impressive.

World Record by Tom Knapp on July 19, 2000, Knapp, with his pump shotgun in one hand, threw eight clay targets in the air with his other hand and broke every one of them with individual shots in an amazing 1.87 seconds. (Benelli Nova)
 
2.47 seconds is a little slow....but it's still impressive.

World Record by Tom Knapp on July 19, 2000, Knapp, with his pump shotgun in one hand, threw eight clay targets in the air with his other hand and broke every one of them with individual shots in an amazing 1.87 seconds. (Benelli Nova)
Everyone is slow compared to Mr. Knapp. I really liked watching that guy and listening to him. A class act.
 
Love. Repeat LOVE a good smooth pumpgun. 870 or 500 for me all day long. 870 is heavier and swings better, good for a day of heavy fire in a single spot (dove field, duck blind) 500 is lighter and easier to pack but thumps a tad more due to the lighter weight. Perfect for wandering the woods or fields chasing rabbits, quail, and squirrel. I also have a love for old school autos, but if I were to choose only 1 I would keep a pump. The real head scratcher is which brand and which bore. Likely a short barrel 870 with pistol grip stock in 20ga.
 
I shoot a BPS a lot for sporting clays and I also use a double trigger side by side. There is no difference in scores and no discernible advantage for the true pairs with either gun. Would my scores be different with an O/U and a single trigger? I don’t really think so. If I was a legendary clays shooter than maybe but not for this mortal.
 
Back when I only hunted with a pump gun I could shoot it as fast as any semi auto. I switched to a semi auto 20 gauge years ago and I don’t think I would be as fast with my 870 as I once was.
But give me a few hundred shells and I bet I can get the muscle memory back.
 
Fast enough to hit doubles on the skeet field with time to spare assuming I remember to cycle the gun.

I've been shooting an over/under too much these days with single, recoil reset trigger.:)
 
Learned about this quirk of the Ithaca 37 many years ago while hunting pheasants with heavy gloves on. 2 roosters got up, I got the first one a couple of times and had an empty magazine when the smoke cleared. I thought something was wrong with the gun so I did it again on purpose. Learned a fun trick (to a 14 year old boy), but kind of upped the ammo consumption for awhile until I got sick of buying shells. There really wasn't much control this way unless firing at something really close and large, but it sure was fun to run a few as fast as I could pump!
 
Well, lemme think. Wife nudges me about three times in ribs letting me know she hears something. Gotta be about two minutes between nudges. Finally hear something myself and get up. Trip over shoes looking for bathrobe in the dark. Heaven forbid I turn the light on and disturb wifes sleep any further. Disentangle myself from clothing in closet that I fell into when i tripped. Crap, woke up wife anyway, shoulda just turned light on! Quick heated discussion about how she needs her sleep. Pretty one sided. Finally get robe on. Search for pump. Find pump. Majestically rack it and make a manly sound. Poop, remember that I don't have shells in it. Fumble around in the dark looking around by feel for rounds in the night stand. Found them. Load shotgun. Hear noise that she heard and realize that it's the stupid flying squirrel that found a mystery hole into the attic. Now you know why dog isn't barking. Also realize that you have a loaded revolver in the night stand. Duh. Think to yourself that you really need to get more sleep. Finally run loaded shotgun at post shoot at club when the event comes up. Do poorly due to loading 7 1/2s instead of buck that night. Elapsed time of entire action of locating, loading and shooting is anywhere from three days to two weeks.

All in all, not bad for me. Gotta go now, need to put ice on stubbed two after setting some more !&@%$# traps in the attic!
 
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