Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
Cole had been good at Corporate Law, and in turn it had been good to him. While he flyfished a bit, most of his recreation involved shotguns and things that flew. He had shot Whitewings in Mexico, Pigeons in Egypt, and driven Pheasant in England.
We had dinner at his place once, and while our spouses did after dinner things in the kitchen,he and I had a little time to look over his shotguns. There were a couple Superposeds, an Elsie or three, a nice Ithaca NID in 20 gauge and a Philadelphia Fox in 16.
Rounding out the battery were a Model 12 Heavy Duck 3" and an 870 Skeet model in 12 gauge. While we sipped some of Scotland's best liquid export, I asked The Question.
"Cole, you've some fine artillery there. Which one would you grab if you had to go get some dinner right now?
Cole swallowed a bit of restorative, then spoke....
"Lots of choices. But, if push came to shove, it'd be one of the pumps. Except for brush hunting, they work better for various shot angles and range. Much as I like the doubles, I shoot the pumps as least as well for most things".
Having seen him fill a limit of Mallards in about a minute on the Choptank with that Model 12,I tended to agree. And, I used an 870 along side him and did almost as well that day.
Pumpguns, like moonshine and NASCAR, carry overtones of rural proletarians to segments of the Shotgun Community."Meat guns", you'll hear them called. To folks who should know better, pumps are overly mechanical, cumbersome and only suitable for vermin control. Some of these folks worship at the altar of the SxS Gods.
Even the Prac/Tac crowd has moved on to autos like the Benellis and Saigas where 870s used to rule.
And, some myths, old and new continue to proliferate.
One has the premise that pumps are mechanically complicated and cranky. Oft folks who preach this worship British game guns that were made for aristocrats and after each season, went back to Purdey, H&H, Boss, Grant etc for tuneups and new parts. And the parts list for a pump pales in comparison to that of a self opening,SxS with ejectors.
I'll admit, once a good pump gets a few hundred thousand rounds through it things may need a bit of refurbishing. Doug H, one of the Geezers, had his cherished Model 12 reworked recently. He states he's put at least 230,000 rounds through his. Today, it and he shot a round of trap singles and then a round of Chinese Trap with a bad head wind. Scores were 23/25 and 23/25.
Another myth states that pumps are badly balanced and handle like post hole diggers.
I did some measuring today. The balance point on my Beretta 686 Sporter, a pure D SC gun with 32" barrels, falls 5 3/4" in front of the trigger. It's just in front of the hinge.
The balance point on Number 6, my 1955 870 WM with 30" barrel and builtup stock is just shy of 6". So's Frankenstein's, which wears a 21" barrel and a standard stock rather than my 15" LOP stocks on the other two.
Even the little 20 gauge 870 I call Jessica has the BP at 5 1/2" and turns like a cutting horse rather than a Clydesdale.
Now classic game guns have BPs more like 4.5" but while these have their strong points, one doesn't see many game guns used by top competitors in Trap, Skeet, SC, or live pigeon shooting where legal. Most Top Guns use weight forward balanced shotguns that handle like pumpguns.
Another myth says that the third shot a pump has is almost always wasted.
Maybe in very tight cover for woodcock, grouse or quail, but otherwise that third shot often is handy for finishing off a cripple, or that last bird on a covey flush that waits until the doublegunns are empty to fly.
And with steel shot, I've found that third shot is for humanely killing a bird that would suffer horribly from a bad hit and worse legislation.
Another myth is that shucking disrupts the movements needed to hit birds and distracts the shooter.
Rudy Etchen, who handled his 870 like Itzak Perlman does his Stradivarius, believed that the firing stroke and pump set up for the second shot better. His track record hints there may be something to it.
British gun maven Gough Thomas wrote of the pump that the shuck and act of manually cycling the action made felt recoil feel lighter than in a fixed breech gun of same weight and load. He coined a term, "Eumatic" to describe the action.
Finally, after a 15 month, 8K round test of my Beretta O/U in comparison to the 870s I've shot and loved for so long, the biggest advantage of shooting the O/U is that I do not have to pick up the empties when shooting doubles or just twice.
OTOH, my 870s have better triggers, with none over 5 lbs and all but one under 4. The B gun's triggers are over 5. While clean, the 870 pulls are crisper.
And while my 870s are treated tenderly, they have the family's incredible ability to handle neglect, abuse and dirt.
The B gun weighs around 8 lbs, the 870s around 7. Kick feels about the same to me with my 7/8 oz loads and 1 oz Gun Clubs.
My scores at the various games are similar with either style, though I may pick up a bird or two at SC with the O/U.
My longest straight at trap stands at 63, and I did that with an 870TB.
I'm not sneering at other action types nor those that use them, but I do want the record set straight....
The floor is open for discussion.....
We had dinner at his place once, and while our spouses did after dinner things in the kitchen,he and I had a little time to look over his shotguns. There were a couple Superposeds, an Elsie or three, a nice Ithaca NID in 20 gauge and a Philadelphia Fox in 16.
Rounding out the battery were a Model 12 Heavy Duck 3" and an 870 Skeet model in 12 gauge. While we sipped some of Scotland's best liquid export, I asked The Question.
"Cole, you've some fine artillery there. Which one would you grab if you had to go get some dinner right now?
Cole swallowed a bit of restorative, then spoke....
"Lots of choices. But, if push came to shove, it'd be one of the pumps. Except for brush hunting, they work better for various shot angles and range. Much as I like the doubles, I shoot the pumps as least as well for most things".
Having seen him fill a limit of Mallards in about a minute on the Choptank with that Model 12,I tended to agree. And, I used an 870 along side him and did almost as well that day.
Pumpguns, like moonshine and NASCAR, carry overtones of rural proletarians to segments of the Shotgun Community."Meat guns", you'll hear them called. To folks who should know better, pumps are overly mechanical, cumbersome and only suitable for vermin control. Some of these folks worship at the altar of the SxS Gods.
Even the Prac/Tac crowd has moved on to autos like the Benellis and Saigas where 870s used to rule.
And, some myths, old and new continue to proliferate.
One has the premise that pumps are mechanically complicated and cranky. Oft folks who preach this worship British game guns that were made for aristocrats and after each season, went back to Purdey, H&H, Boss, Grant etc for tuneups and new parts. And the parts list for a pump pales in comparison to that of a self opening,SxS with ejectors.
I'll admit, once a good pump gets a few hundred thousand rounds through it things may need a bit of refurbishing. Doug H, one of the Geezers, had his cherished Model 12 reworked recently. He states he's put at least 230,000 rounds through his. Today, it and he shot a round of trap singles and then a round of Chinese Trap with a bad head wind. Scores were 23/25 and 23/25.
Another myth states that pumps are badly balanced and handle like post hole diggers.
I did some measuring today. The balance point on my Beretta 686 Sporter, a pure D SC gun with 32" barrels, falls 5 3/4" in front of the trigger. It's just in front of the hinge.
The balance point on Number 6, my 1955 870 WM with 30" barrel and builtup stock is just shy of 6". So's Frankenstein's, which wears a 21" barrel and a standard stock rather than my 15" LOP stocks on the other two.
Even the little 20 gauge 870 I call Jessica has the BP at 5 1/2" and turns like a cutting horse rather than a Clydesdale.
Now classic game guns have BPs more like 4.5" but while these have their strong points, one doesn't see many game guns used by top competitors in Trap, Skeet, SC, or live pigeon shooting where legal. Most Top Guns use weight forward balanced shotguns that handle like pumpguns.
Another myth says that the third shot a pump has is almost always wasted.
Maybe in very tight cover for woodcock, grouse or quail, but otherwise that third shot often is handy for finishing off a cripple, or that last bird on a covey flush that waits until the doublegunns are empty to fly.
And with steel shot, I've found that third shot is for humanely killing a bird that would suffer horribly from a bad hit and worse legislation.
Another myth is that shucking disrupts the movements needed to hit birds and distracts the shooter.
Rudy Etchen, who handled his 870 like Itzak Perlman does his Stradivarius, believed that the firing stroke and pump set up for the second shot better. His track record hints there may be something to it.
British gun maven Gough Thomas wrote of the pump that the shuck and act of manually cycling the action made felt recoil feel lighter than in a fixed breech gun of same weight and load. He coined a term, "Eumatic" to describe the action.
Finally, after a 15 month, 8K round test of my Beretta O/U in comparison to the 870s I've shot and loved for so long, the biggest advantage of shooting the O/U is that I do not have to pick up the empties when shooting doubles or just twice.
OTOH, my 870s have better triggers, with none over 5 lbs and all but one under 4. The B gun's triggers are over 5. While clean, the 870 pulls are crisper.
And while my 870s are treated tenderly, they have the family's incredible ability to handle neglect, abuse and dirt.
The B gun weighs around 8 lbs, the 870s around 7. Kick feels about the same to me with my 7/8 oz loads and 1 oz Gun Clubs.
My scores at the various games are similar with either style, though I may pick up a bird or two at SC with the O/U.
My longest straight at trap stands at 63, and I did that with an 870TB.
I'm not sneering at other action types nor those that use them, but I do want the record set straight....
The floor is open for discussion.....
