TMAC

Ooops! me bad. Turkey is out of season here so not thinking about it.

I shoot only steel shot. IC choke with Winchester Experts #2 shot - 3"magnums, seem to work well all around for pass or decoying birds. If the price is right Remington Sportsmans in the same load. Dicks ran a special recently on Xperts, 4 box case with a $15 rebate = $6.25 per box after rebate. I bought 2 four box cases. Late in the season we get a lot of Mallards coming down and then we have even gone to BB on decoying Mallards, that really puts then in their place.

I have and Illusions mini mag, a timber wench, and an Illinois river. Each has their place but I really favor the timber wench as its the easiest for me to use.

Three grouse would be a great day in Norther WI, congrats. I just cant imagine grouse hunting in 80+ degree heat, not to mention the underbrush is pretty heavy. Your a brave man.

Whether the barrel can handle it or not is one thing, but shooting steel shot through a full choke will be. Most gun manufacturers do not reccomend shooting steel through anything tighter than mod, and believe me mod will shoot a very tight pattern with steel shot. Steel shot typically shoots at least one pattern tighter than lead. If your barrel is a fixed full choke you could probably get it reamed to a mod or IC, around here you typically pay about $40 to have this done - way cheaper than a new barrel. A call to CS would be a good choice to see exactly what your options are.

Also lets not forget: 7075, 2024, 5005, 5052, 5086, 5083, and even 1100 which is almost pure AL. I use most of this stuff everyday and just glanced at my catalog. Who knows what particular alloy is used but guarantee its one of these we just mentioned.

I third the motion, no M2000 - keep shopping and stay away from the off brands. Do you want or need an Auto? If not the Nova pump or some others will get you where you want to be without breaking the bank.

Just got one here done to 80 for a high today and dropping, guess its gonna freeze soon.

At the end of the day a miss is a miss and and hit is a dead bird, I am way too cheap to pay $20 a box for shells unless it comes with a free case of beer.

102 degrees, what are you standing at the gates of ****

Interesting life history of Mr. Williams, I dont know in todays society if he would have ever been so fortuante to turn his life around the way he did.

Good luck on his patent. Having gone down that road before he will end up spending a lot of time and money on somthing not really worth persuing. My name is on a few corporate patents and have nothing to show for them but some pride.

From a recoil standpoint the M4 should serve you well, please bear in mind these are not inexpensive shotguns but worth the money if you shoot a lot. There are lots others here more experienced than I in regard to the M4. From what I have seen in this forum there are also lots of Nova's set up for personal defense, based on the pump action versus gas I am sure the M4 would be lighter on the recoil.

If your just getting into it on a low budget any pump should work, lots of smaller clubs I have been to you will see quite a few Rem 870's and the like around. The 870 or a Nova should work for a while plus you can take them hunting, so very versatile. Otherwise if you really get into it an over/under is the best way to go, they seem to take the constant shooting and lighter loads a lot better than most auto's. I wont try to sway you on which o/u to buy just find one that fits well, these typically cost more unless you look at the off brands like a Stoeger or Spartan or somthing like that. So to answer you question "Yes" the super nova should work just fine for trap, change your chokes depending on which yard line you will shoot from - as a beginner I would say Mod should be a good start.

Fix it now and keep your butt dry later.

Ok, now I am hungry. Thanks much!

Your Nova pump should cycle all shells equally well, I dont personally own this gun but like all pump shotguns the feed is performed manually so it does not relay on gas or interia to cycle the action. It could be operator error or a problem with the gun, have the friend you bought it from shoot and see if the problems are repeating. 12 ga = Gage of shotgun shell the gun is designed to fire. Other gages would be 20ga, 28ga, 16ga, and 10ga. 2 3/4"-3"-3 1/2" = These are the shell lengths the gun was designed to chamber, the longer the shell typically means the higher the payload (more power). So 2 3/4" are typically for target use and the others are geard toward hunting, this is just a very basic explanation. The troubles you are having are not likely due to the shell length, my guess would be a mechanical problem or user problem. Or even if the gun was never cleaned or hardley ever cleaned a good cleaning might remedy the problem, since you are so new to guns may be a friend or gunsmith should show you how the first time. Some others in here who know more about this model may have more advice to give.

Practice trap and skeet doubles, that will teach you how to make those doubles happen. When I shot my 870 pump alot the process of pumping in a new round become an almost unconsious reaction and remember keep swinging.

If you have a good no nonsense receipe that isnt too involved for duck I am all ears, cant get the wife and kids near the dinner table when I make duck or goose. Last year I saved everthing and had 20lbs of duck/goose meat converted into sausage, seemed much more popular with the family.

The weather here has a lot to do with our success also, those nice sunny windless days do nothing for our duck hunting. Personally I like the windy drizzly crap that keeps everyone inside, then me and the boys have a little fun. However we have typical conservative Wisconsin bag limits, so we save a few for you guys down South

I feel fortunate that I dont have to deal with any of that at this time, a good friend owns 40 acres of water front on the West shore of Green Bay. Its all cat tail and fragmitte right up to the water, great duck hunting with lots of local ducks early and Canadian migrators later in November. There is no decent public access to the water, so its our own little piece of paradise - invites only.

As long as you dont sink, it would be nice if you posted the final blue prints for all to copy

Excellent idea Tucker, like you said its worth asking especially considering the circumstances.

Looks good so far, keep us posted. I bought an old wooden duck skiff at a garage sale for like $15.00, it was getting rotten so asked a friend to glass/epoxy it and wow turned out nice. Only problem was the weight, so heavy but boyant and stable on the water. Sold it some years later to a guy who adapted a motor to it, plus made a trailer. When your finished show us the final product. Good start.

I will tell you there are issues with both the Stoeger and Franchi I-12, probably fewer with the Franchi but lots of issures with the Stoeger. Check the past posts on the M2000. I have one and dont shoot it much anymore mostly because of reliability problems I had with it. Others have said if your reason to buy to the M2000 was because you think its an inexpensive copy cat of the SBEII then your buying for all the wrong reasons. Its not a good copy, but has some similarities with the inertia system. Personally if you hunt a lot and value your time off buy somthing you can rely on long term, I personally dont think these two are the ones you want. Beretta 3901 makes an entry level auto worth considering for a few hundred more than either of these two, and much better gun fo ryou long term. In the end buy what fits you the best, there are others out there to consider.