There, I said it.
Not only that, I went out and bought a 20 ga semi with a black plastic stock. This from a died in the wool bluing and walnut guy. And i dont care what anyone thinks or says.
A little backstory.
I was having the common cycling troubles with the model 12s and the lower cost shells. Exact same issues others discuss in the related thread. (I don't load 12 or 20 ga ; instead, I buy the cheapy 20 ga loads for skeet. I'm cheap.). The empties sticking in the chamber was unacceptable, and I wanted to buy a lower cost 20 ga pump as a shooter/loaner/dog training gun.
Did my research. Went to my local dealer. Asked 'Could i look at that semi auto with the black plastic stock?'. (Just verbalizing this made me a little woozy.). I ordered one with a longer barrel. I purchased a few bolt on mods from the interwebs for fit and ease of operation.
Result and reason for this post:
Totally impressed. Precision engineering. Extremely reliable function. Excellent tight fit of barrel to receiver and all available add-ons. Positive safety, trigger, bolt release, bolt lock, bolt closure, ejection. Just an amazing piece of modern cnc machining. Does it have tons of character? Negative. Is it an amazing tool attractive in its own way? Absolutely. (I will be shooting it a lot this winter and am considering a low maintenance high volume reliability stress test.)
Moral of the story; old guys like me can appreciate the new stuff. (The latest date-of-manufacture of my other guns is 1933.) Probably isn't news to many of you so I guess I'm just late to the party. But an interesting revelation i thought you might enjoy.
Not only that, I went out and bought a 20 ga semi with a black plastic stock. This from a died in the wool bluing and walnut guy. And i dont care what anyone thinks or says.
A little backstory.
I was having the common cycling troubles with the model 12s and the lower cost shells. Exact same issues others discuss in the related thread. (I don't load 12 or 20 ga ; instead, I buy the cheapy 20 ga loads for skeet. I'm cheap.). The empties sticking in the chamber was unacceptable, and I wanted to buy a lower cost 20 ga pump as a shooter/loaner/dog training gun.
Did my research. Went to my local dealer. Asked 'Could i look at that semi auto with the black plastic stock?'. (Just verbalizing this made me a little woozy.). I ordered one with a longer barrel. I purchased a few bolt on mods from the interwebs for fit and ease of operation.
Result and reason for this post:
Totally impressed. Precision engineering. Extremely reliable function. Excellent tight fit of barrel to receiver and all available add-ons. Positive safety, trigger, bolt release, bolt lock, bolt closure, ejection. Just an amazing piece of modern cnc machining. Does it have tons of character? Negative. Is it an amazing tool attractive in its own way? Absolutely. (I will be shooting it a lot this winter and am considering a low maintenance high volume reliability stress test.)
Moral of the story; old guys like me can appreciate the new stuff. (The latest date-of-manufacture of my other guns is 1933.) Probably isn't news to many of you so I guess I'm just late to the party. But an interesting revelation i thought you might enjoy.