Hello All,
I'm a lifelong shooter that just inherited a Winchester 1300 but a week ago. I grew up in a very firearms friendly house (shooting my first gun at age 5) and own several guns of my own, yet the entire world of shotguns is brand new to me.
I stripped it, cleaned it, and just put about 40 shells through it. It's beautiful! I love it! However, through past few days I've come across a few questions about shotguns that I haven't really gotten answered.
For instance, is a choke an addition to the muzzle that has some type of effect on the spread? It prevents the projectiles from spreading as quickly, correct?
And how many different types of loads are there for my 12' gauge? I see that I am currently using "Remington Game Loads" with a picture of a squirrel and rabbit on it. I am presuming this is some type of lighter load, but could somebody shed more light on that?
Another question I have is why are shotguns safer to fire in the air than a .22? I mean, I understand that this is true, I'm just not certain why. A .22 slug can travel for miles up in the air but eventually must come down (possibly on something like a house or a person - not good). But if I shot a shotgun into the air, why doesn't the same thing happen with all the little BB's that come out?
My final question is about the size shell I'm using. It says 2 3/4 - 3 on the box of shells. I'm assuming that means two and three fourths of an inch to three inches is the size of the actual shell, but I don't really know. Could somebody help me out with this?
I'm a lifelong shooter that just inherited a Winchester 1300 but a week ago. I grew up in a very firearms friendly house (shooting my first gun at age 5) and own several guns of my own, yet the entire world of shotguns is brand new to me.
I stripped it, cleaned it, and just put about 40 shells through it. It's beautiful! I love it! However, through past few days I've come across a few questions about shotguns that I haven't really gotten answered.
For instance, is a choke an addition to the muzzle that has some type of effect on the spread? It prevents the projectiles from spreading as quickly, correct?
And how many different types of loads are there for my 12' gauge? I see that I am currently using "Remington Game Loads" with a picture of a squirrel and rabbit on it. I am presuming this is some type of lighter load, but could somebody shed more light on that?
Another question I have is why are shotguns safer to fire in the air than a .22? I mean, I understand that this is true, I'm just not certain why. A .22 slug can travel for miles up in the air but eventually must come down (possibly on something like a house or a person - not good). But if I shot a shotgun into the air, why doesn't the same thing happen with all the little BB's that come out?
My final question is about the size shell I'm using. It says 2 3/4 - 3 on the box of shells. I'm assuming that means two and three fourths of an inch to three inches is the size of the actual shell, but I don't really know. Could somebody help me out with this?