69beers

camo or blued?

I'm leaving tomorrow for a self-guided black bear hunt in southeast AK. I'll let you know how it went and hopefully have some pics to post.

Yeah, I have to retract that statement about not personally knowing anyone who has killed one at less than 200 yards. Some of the airport rescue and firefighting guys get to drive around at night and shoot coyotes off the runways at Louisville International Airport. It's not that they will damage the landing gear of a UPS cargo jet so much, it's what happens when they get scuked into the engine on takeoff. They get hit all the time!

I was turkey hunting with two Delta rubber decoys 15 yards in front of me when, completely out of nowhere, this coyote came running full speed and attacked my hen decoy! It ran up faster than I've ever seen a dog run before, jumped through the air, made a snarling sound, and nailed the hen. It ripped out of the ground and knocked it about ten feet. Right about then I touched off a Winchester HV 3 1/2" mag #5 to its face and neck. End of show. This was not expected at all and seemed somewhat unusual, to say the least. It is now at the taxidermist for a full body mount. I had to do it just for future conversation sake. I've also never killed one before, never seen one this big, and don't personally know anyone who has killed one at less than 200 yards, however, I'm sure it has happened. Note that although the picture doesn't really show it, it is longer than my tailgate and longer than my Benelli! Has anybody ever heard of this happening while turkey hunting?

I was turkey hunting with two Delta rubber decoys 15 yards in front of me when, completely out of nowhere, this coyote came running full speed and attacked my hen decoy! It ran up faster than I've ever seen a dog run before, jumped through the air, made a snarling sound, and nailed the hen. It ripped out of the ground and knocked it about ten feet. Right about then I touched off a Winchester HV 3 1/2" mag #5 to its face and neck. End of show. This was not expected at all and seemed somewhat unusual, to say the least. It is now at the taxidermist for a full body mount. I had to do it just for future conversation sake. I've also never killed one before, never seen one this big, and don't personally know anyone who has killed one at less than 200 yards, however, I'm sure it has happened. Note that although the picture doesn't really show it, it is longer than my tailgate and longer than my Benelli! Has anybody ever heard of this happening while turkey hunting? [ 04-18-2004, 10:40 AM: Message edited by: 69beers ]

Nick, I think it is 15 3/4" spread, but I can't remember exactly. Nothing for the books, however, it was my first buck. Not to mention my first kill with the SBE. Fishmax2 and all, I just smoked a coyote with my SBE yesterday while turkey hunting. I will post the photo soon with the story. It was totally insane what happened! Ken

Medically speaking, the recoil reducer combined with a limb saver recoil pad really helped me. I have three screws in my right shoulder from dislocations/surgery. The 3 1/2" turkey loads and sabot slugs would pretty much make my hand go partially numb (3" tore me up as well). After installing this combination it doesn't go numb anymore and I really have no limitations at all!. I noticed at least a 30% decrease in felt recoil. The biggest difference was the sharp slap went away and seems to be replaced by more of a dull shove. I could only make it through about 5-10 slugs or 3 1/2" mags off the bench before. Last fall I shot over slugs 80 in one day, then shot another 150 medium loads at clays. It balances especially well with the slug barrel.

Not the biggest buck in the woods, but not bad either. This is the first kill logged with my SBE in the slug configuration. It was taken from Hocking County, Ohio, at 30 yards with a Winchester Partition Gold slug. One shot, one kill.

Not the biggest buck in the woods, but not bad either. This is the first kill logged with my SBE in the slug configuration. It was taken from Hocking County, Ohio, at 30 yards with a Winchester Partition Gold slug. One shot, one kill. [ 04-09-2004, 04:42 PM: Message edited by: 69beers ]

I honestly don't even know if mine had them or not. When it came in I had the gunsmith mount a scope to it that day.

Nick, Save your money, buy the SBE, and never look back! There is no reason to spend $400 on a lesser gun (or two) now to only buy a SBE later. And if you don't buy one you'll regret it forever, because you could have bought the last shotgun you would ever need to own. It is, in my opinion, the most versatile and reliable gun on the market; 2 3/4", 3", 3 1/2", slugs, simplicity, accuracy, reliability... I hunt everything from deer, to bear, to doves with mine. Some day when I'm rich and have nothing better to spend my money on I might buy some expensive European over/under for clays and birds, but until then my SBE kills everything with fur and feathers on this continent!

I think the only difference would be the interchangability of the SBE. The SBE slug can accept a field barrell for 3 1/2" mags. Also, the SBE barrell is the top half of the receiver. When you change out barrells your scope will stay attatched to the slug barrell and not require to be re-sighted in, where as the M1 would require the scope to be removed from the receiver when the field barrell is used.

I sent my SBE trigger to Alan Timney and was very satisfied with the results. He took it down to a little under three pounds and removed the creep. http://www.timneygunsmith.com/

I don't have a Nova, but a SBE instead. I installed the recoil reducer and Limb Saver recoil pad the same day. This combo seemed to reduce recoil by about 30%. Most noticable was the elimination of the sharp "slap" with slugs and 3 1/2" turkey loads. The recoil reducer balances the gun nicely with a heavy slug barrel. I also have the Kick's Gobblin Thunder choke. The ported design maybe reduces muzzle rise my an inch or two, maybe. Hope this helps. I would expect very similar results from a Nova.

Has anyone installed the SRM Sure Cycle recoil spring housing, and/or the magazine spring kit, in a SBE? If so, how is it?

It definately kills deer! I took a 7-pointer in OH this year and will hunt black bear with it in southeast Alaska this spring. The accuracy depends on the slug. I've found it to shoot the Lightfield Hybred EXP, Brenneke SuperSabot, and Winchester Partition Gold groupings of 1.5 - 3" at 100 yards. Others say the Federal Barnes Expander 2 3/4" 3/4 oz is the way to go. I haven't been able to find these to try out yet. I am very satisfied with its performance and love the fact that barrels can be switched without having to resight in the scope.

I used the HS Strut Undertaker and had excellent patterns with it. Unfortunately mine seized up in my barrell after shooting 3.5" mags. It was well oiled and clean. I guess it was built on a Friday, because when we FINALLY got it out of the barrell after a week it was ballooned out in the middle. I took it back to the store instead of going through HS Strut. Again, outstanding patterns and this was most likely an isolated incident.

I've had great results with RemOil and terrible results with Shooters Choice FP-10. The FP-10 turned into basically honey after a year on the metal of my guns and knives. I was having jamming problems with my SBE and HK USP 40 (both very reliable firearms). Once I switched to RemOil all the jamming went away. The coldest temperature I've used the RemOil was 15 degrees F. I second TJ's advice of cleaning the packing grease out of the rails and also highly suggest cleaning out, or at least spraying some oil into, the recoil spring assembly.

Kick's Gobblin' Thunder with #5s 3' or 3 1/2'.

Did you lube inside the recoil spring guide that runs through your stock? What type of oil are you using? I used Shooter's Choice FP-10 and it basically turned into the consistency of honey after a year. I've since then switched to Remoil and have had zero problems. I was having the same problem as you, minus the extended mag, and the Remoil in the recoil spring assembly did the trick. They recommend totally disassembling the whole thing and cleaning it once a year since it can corrode. Also, SRM Products offers a stainless steel after market recoil spring assembly for the SBE.

How do you post a picture on here?

I've had great results with the Brenneke 2 3/4" 1 oz. out of my smooth bore Ithaca 37. I get a 3 inch group at 75 yards. Activ used to make a great rifled slug if you can find them. They quit but there are still some out there on the shelves.

Winchester Gold Partition sabots fired out of a SBE officially kill whitetails! I bagged a 7 pointer on Monday in SE Ohio. I was really surprised that it didn't knock him down at only 30 yards! I put behind a 50 cal hole behind the left shoulder, vaporized a lung, cut the heart in half, and put another 50 cal hole out the other side with little or no expansion. I may be switching to the Lightfield EXP, Brenneke Supersabot, or the Federal Barnes Expander 3/4 oz.

I like the Hi Viz, even though I wasn't in the market for a new sight. I had a little cleaning accident...gun fell over on to a leatherman, thus requiring a new sight.

I bought Hi Viz front sight for my SBE and the gunsmith installed it for no extra charge.