[chris in va]

I probably won't get much for my beater 20ga, so why not do something cool to it? :evil:

Let's hear it.

[ArmedBear]

How about an NEF M4?:D

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jsp?id=0031399&navCount=2&parentId=cat20813&masterpathid=&navAction=push&cmCat=MainCatcat602007-cat20813&parentType=index&indexId=cat20813&rid=
http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Item/22/73/74/i227374sn02.jpg

[sm]

My "shotgun" is a Youth NEF 20 ga single shot, with fixed mod barrel.

I run this gun bone stock. I have not even put sling swivels on it.

Lots of folks have bought one like mine, and left them stock - why?

-Pattern Board has reveled some of the best patterns with pellet loads, buckshot loads and slugs.

-Easy to tote, fits smaller sized folks, and I have used mine, or others like mine while I assist in instructing, and folks doing repetition to instill correct basic fundamentals of mounting gun to face.

-Some are using these for Truck Guns, Tractor Guns, Barn guns and whatever.

It is already small, it is bone stock and it has Choke unlike those guns folks cut off the barrels to make shorter. About as simple and PC as one can get...

Some travel with these...hotel, motels, and not as big a deal with out of state jurisdictions...

-Let me see, felled deer, ducks, geese taken limits of doves [15 birds with 13 shells incidentally], alls sorts of small game like rabbit , squirrel, predator control from rabid raccoons to dogs...

-Skeet. Oh yeah I have run numerous 25/25 with this gun, or one like it.
Not Ladies Skeet [ tossing only singles] I mean running a regular round with doubles being thrown.
:)

I had great Mentors, one big thing was learning the gun. I call single shot shotguns my "Half Double Gun" or "Half DG" - you know like folks take on Safari's to shoot dangerous game.

Oh yeah - just like real double guns shooting big ctgs for big dangerous game, one keeps a shell(s)/ctg(s) in weak hand, fire, eject, shove another shell(s) / ctg(s) and fire again if need.

Now this is fun practice and lots of fun shooting...doing doubles with a single.


Just wanted to remind folks I run mine stock, these guns are proven, have a place still in today's firearm needs/ uses, lots of fun, affordable , and ...one can still learn a lot of correct basic fundamentals with one.

[theCZ]

I'd love to see a video of you reloading inbetween doubles. I have wondered if it could be done, and kinda thought it would be possible.

[MCgunner]

Dang, I sold the one I got for the kid to a guy with a kid. I guess it went to a good cause, though. I still have an old single barrel 30" 16 Gauge I got when I was a kid from my Uncle. It says "Hercules" on it and I found out it was made by Iver Johnson back in the day and was discontinued in 1947. It had no ejector in it (broken), but a local smith machined me a new part and installed for under 30 bucks! That was in 1967 dollars, though, but still, hard to find a smith that could even DO that now days locally and they'd charge an arm and a leg. This thing is choked full and it was the shotgun I took my first geese with.

-Let me see, felled deer, ducks, geese taken limits of doves [15 birds with 13 shells incidentally],

:what: Christ, I'd have to be shootin' 'em off the road and out of trees to get that sort of percentage! ROFL I once got 9 out of 11 tries (ten bird limit then) and boy I still brag about that. Well, I guess it ain't THAT good. :D

But, now, there was a 3 bird duck limit for a while back 10 or 12 years ago here, ducks had a hard time, drought or something. Anyway, I went out one morning, 3 minutes after shooting time on my watch, a bunch of blue wing teal set in and one shot dropped 2 birds. Then, I hit a high flying Wigeon on the next shot and I was picking up deeks 10 minutes after shooting time having shot a limit with 2 rounds. ROFLMAO. I guess that there is my best percentage. :D

That doubles with a single trick has to look something like Jerry Miculek doing his revolver speedload thing.:D

[Zero_DgZ]

I've done it. It ain't easy, but it's fun.

And I'm still not very good at it.

[sm]

No trick, just practice. Pretty straightforward.

H&R have the release sorta handy , though the lever like a O/U or SxS is what I learned on. Gun just needs to open easy, RIG+P , or STOS grease on hinge helps.

Deal is, one should know the gun without having to look at it to operate it. Just like folks stand over a bed a do nothing but practice dropping magazine and slapping another one in.

Skeet Targets are ~ 55 mph. To new shooters, or those that have not shot skeet in awhile, they "look fast". Again, Training the brain and the human computer is part of correct basic fundamentals.

I have folks I assist with, just watch the clay targets and not shoot. One can just watch others shooting and get the brain "programmed" to the speed and angle of flight of clays and the clays "slow down".

This gets into the human computer and one is not feeling "rushed". Same thing on Doves, any game bird.

Take dove hunting again, something my Mentors & Elders did with me, and I do to folks I assist with. Just watch the doves.
Do not even load the gun and just watch, and swing through and whisper "bang" - seriously!

This bunch I hang with - single ladies, single mom's , kids, and some other folks, I have assisted with shotguns.
Dove season of 2006 was the first time some had ever hunted - period.

Now some of the kids are not big enough really for a shotgun, still in the .22 single shot rifle stage, still they practice correct basic fundamentals with a stock only from a gun [Marlin 60, 10/22 , whatever] , they practice with a kids sized .410, and I am very up front about how in-effective that pattern is for a new shooter and they know, the 28 gauge is a better first shotgun for a kid, because I made sure WE did Pattern Board work.

Being up front with the kids, kids deserve this respect. Anywho...
Dove hunt, excited , all the Traditions and we watch the doves, not a gun in hand yet, just watching, maybe using fingers to follow.

The brains are getting programmed.

Unloaded guns, and we watch and pick one dove and follow it, and swing through and whisper "bang" [ or "I missed" or "it jumped :p ]

Kids are going to shoot first, it is all about the kids and new shooters, still the kids go first.
I , we assist with the correct basic fundamentals, Safety of course because unlike the Private Spot we shoot, - there is a new element - this excitment of hunting. WE talked about all this, kids were great!

Pick incomers or outgoers, part of the lessons were watching birds and flight path and where to get...we checked this out before season.

One shot - one kill, no skybusting , just correct hunting ethics and all - with Safety.

Now I don't care if the kid misses and the kid knows what we want to do is wait, pick our one shot for one dove, be safe, and do correct mounting of gun to face, correct basic fundamentals.

I am Mentoring and the kid is the student.

Loads are light, they have been patterned, guns fit the kids and if that means a light load of chilled #12 for the littlest one - so be it. I will not hurt any student - and I have earned this respect.
Load might be chilled #9 , # 8.5, #8. Depending on .410 or 28 gauge.

Adults are backing us up in the event of a cripple and spotting the downed bird.

Now a kid can be patient, and will wait for the last moment to mount gun and take an incomer. A kid will be ready , "mount the gun, got some coming over us from behind, (like high 1 or low 7) out goers, and the kid will fell the dove.

Now , the gun gets opened, shell pops out, and "here" as they hand you a gun and a kid will try to outrun a dog to get that dove! :D

"Got It! biggest damn smile you ever did see. :cool:

Cheers, applause, and we just act up something fierce. Other kids all excited for the other kids felling a dove.

The ladies turn...kids are watching, and learning, and having a great time.
Best line of the day...a lady using a 28 gauge made a great shot on a twisting, juking and diving dove.

"How far did you lead 'em ?" - ask other ladies.
"About 3 ex husbands" replied the lady that made the great shot. :D

I mean we cracked up, even the dawgs were laughing...

--

So knowing the single shot, it being easy to open, knowing the gun by practicing (dummy shells help) , letting the human computer get programmed , and pretty straight forward shooting High 1 and having all that time for Low 1 to come to you on doubles.

At station 7, doubles, Low bird is often shot really fast anyway, and again, all that time to take the high bird , coming to you. Even with a repeater I let the
High bird "come to me" before I slap trigger.

I shoot low gun, so with a repeater [pump, semi, O/U, SXS] I drop the gun a bit before second shot anyway.

With a single barrel gun, I just need to practice smooth in operating the gun, the less wasted motion the better, and the speed comes.
Just like we are supposed to do in correct basic fundamentals of shooting anyway, no matter what firearm we are shooting.

I have shared about doing repetitions before, Correct Mounting of Gun to face to instill not only correct basic fundamentals - also to build up stamina.

My Mentors had me do this, they did it, Brister, Misseldine, others, and I still pass this forward.

Depending on person and size, for instance a kid may start out with 5 each night and use the Stock only of a Marlin 60, others start at 10, others 25 each - correct basic fundamentals of mounting gun to face.

Add picking a spot in the garage ( for instance) and pass thru shooting, left, and right, incomers, out goers. Usually only one of these, until correct basics and doing this is correct and instilled for say incomers first whisper "bang"

I know how valuable These nightly receptions are , in serious competition days I was doing 200 a day, and have been known to do 500 in a day.

I shot all 4 gauges, plus any side event like doubles only and Pump gun events, so no surprise to shoot at least 2 events -200 birds add Doubles 300 and fun pump gun shoot that is 400 rounds in day. Stamina got to and gets to a lot of folks, they get fatigued, get sloppy on gun mount, get whacked, get a flinch, miss birds...

No surprise to me , as I did it, for these folks I assist with to use a pump gun and cycle a "round" / 25 birds / times, doing correct fundamentals and dryfiring, shucking and pumping...no live shells mind you..
Using dummy shells and limited to 2 shells [ skeet one can only load two, and bird hunting only shoot twice, don't need a third shell anyway...] practice running the gun and keeping it feed.

Single shots too, we had/ have about 200 dummy .410 shells for instance, we have other shotgun gauges too...
WE just stand there and one right after the other, load , correct mount, dryfire, eject, load - repeat.

Beats TV, quality time with others, quality time spent.

Live fire is fine, LOTs of quality practice does not require live ammo.

Got an old cracked , broken stock? How about a kid sized one? Yep these are great, tape a pc of PVC, get the stock to fit and have a practice gun .

Little kids with kid sized stocks, not heavy, with PVC for a barrel, painted whatever color they want, are putting feet on a mat with foot prints in correct foot positioning , and practicing correct basic fundamentals.

Safe Rules apply always, still these kids can do this, and the adults are right there with them assisting.
Oh the kids can assist the adults when the adults do this.

"Mom, you need to crack your weak knee more" ;)

Shotgunners are made - not born. - Misseldine

[VA27]

I took an old 20ga youth model and had the barrel cut to 18.5" and choke tubes installed and had the forcing cone reamed. Then I had Remington rifle sights installed and put on sling swivels with an M1 Carbine sling. It's a doozie!

[MCgunner]

I took an old 20ga youth model and had the barrel cut to 18.5" and choke tubes installed and had the forcing cone reamed. Then I had Remington rifle sights installed and put on sling swivels with an M1 Carbine sling. It's a doozie!

Sounds interesting. I'm wondering how much the smithin' cost ya for the chokes, though. That'd run the bill up some, but then, you don't need a NEW gun to build the project with, so I guess a used gun could get it back to reasonable. Sounds very portable and would be a great trail gun for back packin' or just general bumming around.

I don't care for the rifle sight conversion, but would like to put sling studs on the new Remington side by side Spartan coach gun I just bought. It's quite light and about as handy as a short barreled NEF with an extra shot and a little more versatility. I can load one barrel with a slug, other with a 7 1/2 and choke appropriately, for instance. I gave $299 for it new, not a bad deal, really, though a new NEF is about 1/3 that. LOL

the appeal of the NEF would be it's inexpensive, light, handy, and I wouldn't really need to worry about bangin' it around and getting nicks on it in the outback. It'd be a nice, light, handly little always gun for the hiker.:D The single barrel with the rifle sights would make a superior slug gun for hunting deer where you can't use a rifle. Might be a decent turkey gun, too. :D I think if money wasn't an object, I'd have it camo finished. I don't know how much they charge for that, but it would be a neat touch. Well, I guess I have the camo genes. Some people think camo guns are an abomination.

Wish I'd thought all this over before I sold the kid's NEF....:banghead:

[Bud Tugly]

The trick to quick second shots with a break-open is to make sure the hinge is well-oiled. Carry the second shell in the palm of your left hand when firing off the first.

Let go of the forestock with your left hand, press the release lever with your right thumb, and give the gun a quick downward snap with your right wrist. The barrel pops open, the spent shell ejects, and you pop in the new round. Another quick snap of the right wrist and the barrel snap back shut and you re-shoulder and are ready to fire again.

With practice, you can get off a second shot quickly enough to get another try at the grouse that you missed on the first one. I've done it many times in a hunting situation, and I'm sure it could easily be applied to shooting skeet.

[dance varmint]

I have a Choate 2-shell holder mounted on the side of my NEF 12ga, at an angle a little off horizontal, so it is right next to the chamber when open and parallel to it, for quick reloading. To hold it on, I drilled and tapped the receiver for a couple of headless hex-drive screws driven from the inside. It was a tricky project. I don't know if Choate makes a 20ga holder.

[Bud Tugly]

My first shotgun was a brand new H&R topper 12-gauge that I bought with paper-route money when I was about 14. They sold them at our local hardware store way back then to anyone big enough to see over the counter, no questions asked. I plunked down my $25 and walked home with it.

Incredibly fast-pointing, but it just about knocked me on my butt and anticipation of the recoil made me flinch so bad I couldn't hit a grouse sitting on a stump 10 yards away.

I swapped it with a buddy for a well-used .410 and that's the gun that taught me to shoot.