Mr Ed

Get yourself an over/under and start reloading. Find a recipe for 1oz loads that have lighter recoil and your shoulder will be much happier. I like over/under guns for sport mostly because they will cycle just about anything (some autos can be picky depending on how they're cared for). Over/unders are also much easier to clean. You'll also notice that you're adding weight to your gun to reduce recoil....there's a reason sporting shotguns are heavier than field guns Another plus is that a heavier gun is going to be easier to follow through with. You may find yourself hitting more targets because you'll be doing what you're supposed to do. You mention chokes....I shoot with a friend that was taught on a modified choke. That's ALL she shoots with and she'll shoot circles around most people I know. Smokes every bird. Dove hunting with her last weekend was disgusting!

First day of the season yesterday - September 1. Here in Colorado, you can take 15 morning doves (30 in posession) and there is no limit on Eurasian doves - they are considered an "invasive species". To me, they taste just as good. I hunted with a few folks on some private land with permission of the farmer. We were in an area between two feed lots that had a field of rotting cantelope and some tomatoes with a couple strips of okra and corn fields on each side. We nailed the snot out of them in the morning. The doves were flying from one feed lot to another and stopping on the way in the cantelope and tomato field to feed on the produce. There were about 8 of us in the group but I hunted mostly with two others (the others in the group don't like the Eurasians as much so they concentrated on a brushy area that held more morning doves). We finished up about 5:00 or so and went over to the farmer's vegetable stand and thanked him a ton. Bought a bunch of really good fresh produce from him and made our way back home. Between me and the other two in the group I hunted with, we shot well over a hundred birds. About 28 of them were morning doves and the rest were Eurasians. Not sure how the other folks in the group did - they're camping on the farmer's land down there the whole week. It was an awesome day. Didn't finish cleaning birds until 10:30 last night. All the birds I cleaned had corn feed or mellon seeds in them. Good thing I took the day off today!

This is a tough one...one gun being more of a sporting gun and another being more for hunting. What's even tougher is you mention a "birding" gun as opposed to specifying what kind of birds. Generally speaking, sporting clay guns are a bit heavier. A heavier gun will help you to swing and follow through a bit more - that's what a gun designed for shooting sporting clays is about. On the other hand, a "birding" gun should be a little more specific to the type of hunting you want to do. For upland game, a lighter gun is more desirable because you're going to be walking quite a bit with a gun in your arms. For duck hunting, a heavier gun is more desirable because you're probably going to be making longer shots that require more velocity (longer barrel), will help you with your follow through, and that will dampen some of the heavier recoil loads. It depends a lot on what you want to do with it. If you're primarily a hunter, then shooting clays with a hunting gun will only benefit you in the field. If you're primarily shooting clays, then get a target gun. It all depends on what you want to do.

Very cool to know! Thanks!

I'm no expert but my experience tells me that the amount of oil required is directly related to the type of gun you are shooting. As an example, AR-15 type rifles like to run wet. The more oil (in the right places) the better believe it or not. A bolt action rifle - I like some moly on trigger group and some grease on the rails. - not much lube required at all. Keep in mind that your gun runs with metal friction on metal. Your car won't run if it doesn't have oil in it and if it doesn't have the recommended oil in it, it won't last as long. If you don't feel comfortable with "wet" lubricants, try a dry lube with moly in it. The moly will continue to lube the moving parts after the fluid that carries it has long evaporated away. For wet lubes, CLP (Break Free) is pretty popular. I like TW-25B grease on all my guns where the bolt carrier rides on a rail and the spray in other areas that don't require grease. Mil-Comm Products manufactures the grease and it's used by the military around the world. If I need a dry lube the I use something with molybdenum in it similar to what Sentry Solutions sells. Believe it or not, the best bore cleaner out there (even better than Hoppes - especially on a rifle) is a light lubricant called Kroil. Bench rest shooters have been using it for years and I swear by it. It's manufactured by Kano labs. Midway carries it. Happy Lubing!

Was wondering if anyone else has had any issues with crio chokes on their SBE II? Bought my gun last March and got it out dove hunting on Monday. Went to clean it today and it appears the chrome on the inside of the choke started to peel off. At first, I thought it was just plastic fouling from wads but after a thorough cleaning, I could actually see where there was chrome missing. I was shooting with the IC tube #7 1/2 and #8 - 1 1/8 oz factory lead dove loads (both Federal and Remington). Probably put about 200 rounds through the gun (the doves were flyin' fast and there's no limit on Eurasian doves here in Colorado). I've never had this happen - very strange. No worries - I ordered another choke tube to replace it (hopefully I'll have it Friday so I can shoot more over the weekend)...was just wondering if this is a common issue and if I should carry backup choke tubes. Thanks!