This should be relevant to both sporting and defensive shotguns.
With nasty weather on the way, I dug out my 870, which hadn't been fired in a couple of years, to go try and shoot some ducks. Every time I shot it, I stovepiped it! This had never happened to me before, and this gun has had enough rounds through it to have the finish almost all worn off wherever my hands are when I'm shooting it -- and I bought it new.
Some experimenting showed what was happening. There was nothing wrong with the gun. I just hadn't shot 3" shells through it much. Bear in mind: I had not shot an 870, or any pump gun at all, in a good two years. Yet, my muscle memory was STILL programmed to pump it exactly far enough to eject a 2 3/4" round and chamber another one. Hence, I jammed it when I shot 3" shells.
At home, I loaded it with spent 3" hulls, and practiced pulling the trigger and shucking it. I found that, if I slammed the foreend ALL the way back, then all the way forward, it would work every time, and I could do it fairly quickly. After what I thought was enough practice to reprogram my muscle memory, I went hunting. Sure enough, I didn't have a single FTE problem.
So... Since many people have brought up the problem of short-shucking under stress, and I experienced it myself, I have a few thoughts and suggestions.
1. Remember that, under even mild stress, "muscle memory" takes over. Practice EXACTLY what you will need to do under stress, when you're not under stress. Do it often enough to program yourself -- because whether you want to or not, you WILL program your muscles when you do something repeatedly. So do it consciously.
2. ESPECIALLY if you use 3" buckshot for HD, practice firing multiple times rapidly with 3" rounds, not 2 3/4" rounds. Note that spent 3" hulls are a good deal longer than loaded ones. Save some for dry-fire practice; snap caps and loaded hulls will not work for this purpose.
3. Practice shucking ALL the way back, not just far enough to throw out 2 3/4" hulls. Even if you use 2 3/4" hulls, you won't short-shuck if your muscles are programmed to open the action all the way to the stop. Short-shucking generally can occur when you only open the action far enough to eject a round, not when you open it all the way.
Anyone else have ideas, disagreements, additions? Anything would be appreciated. This is something that can help any of us who use a pump gun for anything.
With nasty weather on the way, I dug out my 870, which hadn't been fired in a couple of years, to go try and shoot some ducks. Every time I shot it, I stovepiped it! This had never happened to me before, and this gun has had enough rounds through it to have the finish almost all worn off wherever my hands are when I'm shooting it -- and I bought it new.
Some experimenting showed what was happening. There was nothing wrong with the gun. I just hadn't shot 3" shells through it much. Bear in mind: I had not shot an 870, or any pump gun at all, in a good two years. Yet, my muscle memory was STILL programmed to pump it exactly far enough to eject a 2 3/4" round and chamber another one. Hence, I jammed it when I shot 3" shells.
At home, I loaded it with spent 3" hulls, and practiced pulling the trigger and shucking it. I found that, if I slammed the foreend ALL the way back, then all the way forward, it would work every time, and I could do it fairly quickly. After what I thought was enough practice to reprogram my muscle memory, I went hunting. Sure enough, I didn't have a single FTE problem.
So... Since many people have brought up the problem of short-shucking under stress, and I experienced it myself, I have a few thoughts and suggestions.
1. Remember that, under even mild stress, "muscle memory" takes over. Practice EXACTLY what you will need to do under stress, when you're not under stress. Do it often enough to program yourself -- because whether you want to or not, you WILL program your muscles when you do something repeatedly. So do it consciously.
2. ESPECIALLY if you use 3" buckshot for HD, practice firing multiple times rapidly with 3" rounds, not 2 3/4" rounds. Note that spent 3" hulls are a good deal longer than loaded ones. Save some for dry-fire practice; snap caps and loaded hulls will not work for this purpose.
3. Practice shucking ALL the way back, not just far enough to throw out 2 3/4" hulls. Even if you use 2 3/4" hulls, you won't short-shuck if your muscles are programmed to open the action all the way to the stop. Short-shucking generally can occur when you only open the action far enough to eject a round, not when you open it all the way.
Anyone else have ideas, disagreements, additions? Anything would be appreciated. This is something that can help any of us who use a pump gun for anything.
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