timb99

Amen brother. timb99 - NRA Life Member

The Remington 1100/1187 has a pretty narrow grip.

Mr. Mac, I know there are pheasants in Oregon. I saw them in the pear orchards around Medford, Talent, and Phoenix (anyways about 20 years ago.) Do you have a pheasant hunting season there? A bit of history, I believe wild Chinese pheasants were first introduced in the USA in Oregon in the late 1800's. Tim

The limit in Kansas is 4 roosters per day (so no, they weren't all mine...there were 7 of us hunting that day.) Possession limit is 16.

I shoot all three, and have even tried international (Olympic) trap (now that's a challenging game, I'll tell you.) They're all fun, and challenging in their own way. Want to become a good wingshooter? Shoot them all.

Mr Slugo brings up a good perspective. If you want to get good at trap shooting, shoot like a trap shooter. If you want to get better at starting low gun and getting your gun shouldered and on target, practice that way. A better venue, in this regard, might be a 5-stand or a sporting clays course if you have them available.

Define "out west." Like Matt said, South Dakota is very hunter friendly, and is, in my opinion, the pheasant capitol of the world. But Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, North Dakota, and even Minnesota all have fair populations of pheasants. All have varying amounts of "open to the public" land. Kansas has a program called "Walk-In-Hunting-Areas." Go to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks website and look for the WIHA Atlas. One of the keys to public land, regardless of what state, is to get away from the populated cities. Public lands within a 100 mile radius of large populations tend to get hammered pretty hard.

Nice! Hope you had a great time.

Some trap shooters will be annoyed by it. If you want to shoot that way, there's no rule that says you can't. But you will be at a disadvantage as Novaking said.

leftie, That pretty much sums it up. Tim

Difference between gas and inertia, see this thread: http://www.benelliusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16509

Dummy me. Read North, but my brain registered South. My bad.

Neat story. Except one minor problem with your story. You do not need a plug to hunt pheasants in South Dakota.

DAMN it was cold. About 38°F and 35 mph winds on Friday, from 12°F to 25°F and light wind on Saturday. Didn't see anything to shoot on Sunday, but it was cold too. 15°F and a little breezy. BITTER!

Mossberg 500 Stoeger Condor Ithaca Model 37 (16 gauge) Savage/Stevens Model 311B (20 gauge) Stoeger Uplander Youth (20 gauge) Tri-Star Viper (OK, I won it at a Pheasants Forever banquet..but I kinda like it now) Remington 1100 Trap LH (daughter's gun, so its kinda hers really) Antonio Zoli Ritmo O/U (32" barrels) Antonio Zoli Ritmo O/U (30" barrels)

That's never a good thing. Hope it is a small, contained fire and they put it out quickly!

Pen raised birds at a pay-to-hunt farm, or wild birds? Over dogs or no? If pen-raised, over dogs, just about any plain old target load 3 dram (1200 fps) with 7-1/2 will work. If wild birds, I like 5 shot at about 1330 fps. Several manufacturers make nice pheasant loads. Search/look through old threads on this upland game forum for recommendations. This has been covered before. If you reload (which for hunting is probably not that cost effective) I have a good pheasant load I'll share with you. Good luck. Pheasants are wayyy too much fun!

Call (don't e-mail) Benelli customer service and ask them to send you a new one. If you don't want to do that, get a pencil or similarly sized dowel, and (this may require trial & error) put it in the mag tube and cut it to such a length that you cannot physically insert more than two of the longest shells your gun will chamber into the magazine (that is, if your gun takes 3-1/2" shells, use them to test. You should still be OK with 2-3/4" shells.

The real answer is, whichever one you like better. The prevailing wisdom in both trap and skeet is longer is better. BUT, most people who shoot trap and skeet shoot break action guns, not semi-autos. A longer barrel puts more weight out in front of you which (can) smooth out your swing and will give you a long sight plane. I use a 32" O/U for trap and a 30" O/U for skeet and sporting clays. But, if you watched the video, you know, a semi-auto like a Superport is going to be a longer gun simply because of the receiver length. My hunting semi-auto with a 26" barrel is the same overall length as my 30" over/under. My daughter's Remington 1100 with a 30" trap barrel is longer overall length than my 32" over/under. Some people don't like the added weight out front that a longer barrel gives you, others say it makes their swing smoother and less jerky. There's no "right" answer. The answer is whatever you feel most comfortable with. Go to your nearest store that has that gun with both barrel lengths and shoulder it. See if they'll let you try it out (some will but most won't.) Ballistically and pattern-wise, there's virtually no difference.

You sure your hunting buddy wasn't annoyed that you were shooting all his ducks and pulled a fast one on you? Never, ever, heard of a choke tube coming out that easily...

Couple of thoughts. Get a full size stock and a 26" vent rib, choke tubed barrel for that 870 and you'll have a very nice 20 gauge pump gun. Try e-gunparts.com Keeping a Winchester 1300 "in good shape?" Unless it has some sentimental value for you, this model gun is not normally considered highly sought after or real high value. Also, guns are made to be used. That's a working man's gun, and they work fine. I'd just use it. For turkey, definitely use a 12 gauge.

Factory guns fit anyone OK, but fit nobody very well. And gun fit is probably one of the most important, yet underrated keys to shotgun shooting success.

"Does the faster ammo simply use more powder for speed?" Sometimes. But usually, its a different powder altogether. "If so, do I ever have to consider the 26" barrel vs. the 28" I've shot previously to maximize those speeds?" For shotguns, barrel length has very little to do with muzzle velocity. Not enough to worry about. Barrel length is more of a personal preference thing. Target shooters like a long barrel that allows them a longer sight plane. Turkey hunters tend to like short barrels for ease of carry through the woods. For upland hunting, there's not all that much difference between 26" and 28", though I think 26" barrels on break action guns seem too short to me. Again, a personal preference thing. "I've always heard that speed comes from the burn rate, and that you need a longer barrel to maximize the full potential." Sort of. Yes, generally to get higher muzzle velocity you want a slower burning powder. The shell manufacturers use different powders and different quantities of those powders with different combinations of shot weight to get the desired speed, while not getting excessive pressure. But again, length of the barrel is not a major deciding factor. Most shotgun powders are fast burning enough that they are nearly completely burned in the first 20 inches of the barrel. As far as patterning, you first need to know your intended use for the gun. Pattern it at the distance you plan to be making shots. Two things to consider, does the pattern shoot where you're looking? Does the shotshell/shot count/pattern density give you good coverage over a 20" or 30" circle to assure you'll hit what you're pointing at? Don't pattern off-hand. Use a bench rest, and try to get the same sight picture you get when you mount the gun.

24" barrel is a good size for someone of small stature. I'd only use a shorter barrel for home defense. I suspect the only place to get one is directly from Benelli, but I'm not sure. The skeet field is a good place to get some confidence. Skeet station 8 offers two great targets that give new shooters an opportunity to learn the basics and see some success, which builds confidence. It will be important for you to establish which is your dominant eye, and try to shoot with that eye lined up with the barrel. That is, if you are right eye dominant, shoot right handed. If you are left eye dominant, shoot left-handed. It has nothing to do with whether you're left or right handed (my daughter is right-handed, but also very left eye dominant, so I taught her to shoot left-handed from day one, and she now shoots for the Kansas State University trap shooting club.) Also, it may seem unnatural at first, but try to keep both eyes open when you shoot a shotgun. That doesn't mean you CAN'T shoot one-eyed, but its better, I believe, if you shoot with both eyes open. The clerk you talked to either didn't know, or he just doesn't sell them, but there are low recoil shells available. Look for Fiocchi brand low recoil training shells, Remington brand managed recoil shells, or Winchester WinLite low noise, low recoil shells. These work great for target shooting, and very easy on your shoulder. If your local retailer does not sell them, try outlets like cheaperthandirt.com (there are others.) Good luck!

Absolutely, positively, find a reputable NSCA certified instructor and take som lessons. Men won't think twice about taking lessons to improve their golf game, but somehow believe they should naturally be able to shoot a gun proficiently, just by shooting enough. Probably the other biggest thing has been mentioned. Get a gun that fits you and shoots where you are looking. A good fitting gun is essential.