TrapperReady
Member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2003
- Messages
- 2,732
As mentioned in another thread, I cut down the stock and installed a Hi-Viz Xcoil pad on my 28ga 870 Express. This was because Mrs. Trapper had expressed a desire to try a pump for sporting clays.
First off, I ended up trimming approximately 1.5" - 2" from the stock, and in doing so I changed the pitch slightly, so that she didn't see as much of the rib. The Xcoil was something I'd gotten in a sale bin for a few bucks a while ago. It was a grind-to-fit, which I finished by wrapping the stock in two layers of masking tape and then using my belt sander to finish. It's far from perfect, but quite functional. I beveled the toe a tad and applied clear nail polish to the sides and the beveled portion. When I was done, I compared it to her professionally fittted Beretta 682, and it looked at least in the ballpark.
Today, we went out and shot a round of clays. Since she'd never shot this gun before and had relatively little experience with pumps, we picked an easier course. The weather wasn't cooperating too well and we had a mix of light rain and very heavy, gusting winds.
She was shooting a mix of Winchester AA and Remington STS factory shells, both loaded with #8 shot. For those of you unfamiliar with the 28ga Express, it has a fixed Modified choke and I believe a 26" barrel.
The first station, which is a couple of quartering away report pairs, she not only ran them, but absolutely pounded them. The next station has slightly farther trap-like shots which run pretty high. She missed one, but I think that was only due to the target flipping very high due to the wind as she pulled the trigger.
By this time, she was getting pretty confident in her skills and the "little" gun. I won't go into to much detail, but she ended up with 36/50, which is only a few targets off where I'd expect her with her O/U. I was most glad to see that she was able to stay on and break a particularly tricky true pair (both R->L crossers coming off a tower).
As far as the gun goes, she did have 3 or 4 times when it would hang up while she was working the action after the first shot. I'm not convinced that it was necessarily her form, since on one of them, I had to clear the chambered hull pretty vigorously. This gun has less than 1000 shells through it and may not be completely broken in. I do know that it was cleaned thoroughly before this outing.
In all, a good day. The 28ga wasn't a magic-wand, but it does break clays well and the recoil isn't bad at all. The Xcoil pad did a nice job (noticably better than the stock butt-plate). Most of all, Mrs. Trapper had fun and expanded her repetoire of skills.
First off, I ended up trimming approximately 1.5" - 2" from the stock, and in doing so I changed the pitch slightly, so that she didn't see as much of the rib. The Xcoil was something I'd gotten in a sale bin for a few bucks a while ago. It was a grind-to-fit, which I finished by wrapping the stock in two layers of masking tape and then using my belt sander to finish. It's far from perfect, but quite functional. I beveled the toe a tad and applied clear nail polish to the sides and the beveled portion. When I was done, I compared it to her professionally fittted Beretta 682, and it looked at least in the ballpark.
Today, we went out and shot a round of clays. Since she'd never shot this gun before and had relatively little experience with pumps, we picked an easier course. The weather wasn't cooperating too well and we had a mix of light rain and very heavy, gusting winds.
She was shooting a mix of Winchester AA and Remington STS factory shells, both loaded with #8 shot. For those of you unfamiliar with the 28ga Express, it has a fixed Modified choke and I believe a 26" barrel.
The first station, which is a couple of quartering away report pairs, she not only ran them, but absolutely pounded them. The next station has slightly farther trap-like shots which run pretty high. She missed one, but I think that was only due to the target flipping very high due to the wind as she pulled the trigger.
By this time, she was getting pretty confident in her skills and the "little" gun. I won't go into to much detail, but she ended up with 36/50, which is only a few targets off where I'd expect her with her O/U. I was most glad to see that she was able to stay on and break a particularly tricky true pair (both R->L crossers coming off a tower).
As far as the gun goes, she did have 3 or 4 times when it would hang up while she was working the action after the first shot. I'm not convinced that it was necessarily her form, since on one of them, I had to clear the chambered hull pretty vigorously. This gun has less than 1000 shells through it and may not be completely broken in. I do know that it was cleaned thoroughly before this outing.
In all, a good day. The 28ga wasn't a magic-wand, but it does break clays well and the recoil isn't bad at all. The Xcoil pad did a nice job (noticably better than the stock butt-plate). Most of all, Mrs. Trapper had fun and expanded her repetoire of skills.
