Gordon,
I appreciate your reply as well.
I pay attention to your posts, and one reason is you have the life experiences and observations you do. Including having the many hours of training.
Again, I have never attended a known training facility, there were not any unless one went into the Military, or Police work when I was coming up. My "lessons" and "set ups" were all private by those I respectfully refer to as "Mentors & Elders".
Granted some of these ladies and gents were quite interesting.
I paid attention to you [Gordon] because I am reading words I heard coming up from Mentors & Elders.
Yes, this includes those that served in Vietnam and carried a Ithaca 37, and ...
"Stuff does not do what some folks read in a magazine, hear at the barbershop, read on a box of shells, or some gal's brother who knows a plumber, that knows a guy that said ____" -Ranger.
(yes I cleaned up the language)
Then I read Reviews of Awerbuck by Gordon.
Now years ago I learned of Awerbuck, and being totally honest, what got my attention, was the fact he was from South Africa.
I had Mentors & Elders from South Africa.
When I heard of what Awerbuck was teaching, I wanted to cry.
My Mentors had shared some of the same darn things, for the same darn reason.
Then I laughed when I found out Awerbuck is "not that tall" but his gal is.
I know how darn tough a "not that tall" South African is. I also know how tough a tall good looking South African lady is too.
Now I am being mentored by South Africans, and I hear how buckshot did not work in "unrests" in his country, nor did it work for dangerous game.
And again, if you drop a shell around a South African, you are not going to reach down and pick it up. That was another thing I understand Awerbuck does not allow.
So I read Gordon, Lee Lapin, and others that have attended a Awerbuck class and these things are Mentors shared with me , way back when.
Scott Rietz is another...
H&H Hunter has shared his trips going after dangerous game, and the loads for shotguns are slugs.
[Contrary to what a former member tried to sell everyone around here with 3.5" 000 buck being the ultimate extreme load from the ultimate shotgun).
Now back in the day, Winchester 1300's came in all 4 gauges. 12, 20, 28 and .410.
Now I grew up reading Ruark, and these South Africans shared with me Ruark's works and about the peoples and unrests.
So Ruark is more than just The Old Man And The Boy, to me.
No secret I have a thing for Quail, and hate feral cats. I grew with quail, and Ruark.
South African Mentors and "lesson time". They had a feral cat in a mesh cage.
I was asked if I could fell that feral cat, caught out near some quail coveys.
Sure I could, and though I was not that big, I could do one shot with a 12 ga with buckshot.
Then the Mentors put some "quail" around that mesh cage. Small balloons to replicate quail...about the size of a tennis ball.
Atop, sides...
This changed matters right fast. I had seen this 1300 in 12 ga patterned with the 00 buck load.
"Young-un, whatcha gonna do?"
I snagged the 1300 in 28 ga, and tossed in a round ball slug and took the shot.
No balloons burst, only the feral cat was felled.
The 28 ga was used a lot for defensive shooting lessons. Just like using a .22 rim-fire allows one to focus on correct basic fundamentals with less felt recoil, so will a 28 ga.
Keep in mind I grew up with Veterans of Wars, and others with Physical Limits.
So a 28 ga afforded them then, just as today, the ability to tote a shotgun that might be toted more than shot...and one that can be shot quite a bit due to less felt recoil.
Lots of deer, and other critters have been felled with a 28 ga slug.
28 ga is .550, which is not far from .54 caliber, which has a proven history.
Some of these deer were felled when deer season was open during quail season.
Tote that easy to carry 28 ga for quail, then if the opportunity arises to take deer, just change load.
I get bigger, and have a '74 SX1 that I had Nu-Line install external knurled chokes in a 28" barrel. Originally it was fixed modified of course being 28".
FWIW that gun was still running like a top after I put somewhere like 300,000 rds through it, before it was destroyed last year.
I had the .735 tube screwed in, heck I left it in for most of what did anyway, lots of skeet...
Out on the property, just a good old outdoor BBQ. Nice day, good folks.
New puppy for one of the kids, kids being kids...
Some rabid dawgs come onto property. We knew some were around, just we had not been able to run them down.
Serious mode kicked in.
The kids were ushered in with the ladies, and some older gents.
I snagged the SX1 and a box of Slugs, and hopped into the bed of the truck.
Kids are crying about that new puppy, especially the little girl it belonged to.
The puppy was being a puppy and in all the hurry, could not be carried in.
Little girl had it, but with fear let it go and ran...
I mean that truck was fired up and folks had guns, and ...
I did not miss, I felled rabid dawgs from a moving truck. I did not hit any other vehicles, structures, or anything.
Lessons from the old days.
I was mobile, and others had positioned themselves various ways to protect themselves and afford shots.
In the blink of a eye this happened and it was over with quick.
Then just "snag-n-drag" the corpses down to a burn pile and back to BBQ.
That puppy was being targeted by one rabid dawg, I did not have much of a window, but I had one.
Swing thru method ( pass through) I come from behind, matched speed and angle and had nothing in my focus but the leading edge of that rabid dawg...
I kept swinging saw daylight, slapped trigger and kept on swinging.
Think station high 4 in skeet, only ground level.
Head shot, and felled , puppy kept running...
I kept the plug in that SX1, so I had only loaded 3. I kept the gun fed loading into the mag, and never let the gun go dry.
I have never attended a class of Awerbuck, Clint Smith, Rietz, Ayoob or anyone else.
Still I run what I brung, kept the gun fed, and did not hit anything I was not supposed to.
Again, one has to access themselves and environments. One has to be one with the gun.
Investigate & Verify for you what your needs are, what gun fits you, what loads work in your gun.
I am not going to be at your gunfight - Awerbuck
Neither am I, or Gordon, or Lee, or anyone else around here.
Nor will a shotgun mfg, or shotgun shell mfg, or shotgun accessory mfg, or...
Gordon,
Thanks again sir.
Steve