MacTech
Member
H&R Topper Deluxe Classic (TDC), how do I love thee, let me count the ways...
1; Thou art simple in lines, form, and mechanism, and in that simplicity, lies beauty
2; Thou art as reliable as the day is long, as reliable as rock, as the tide, as the orbit of the celestial bodies in the sky, whenever I reach for thee, I know that thou will be there, thou wilst never let me down
3; Thy lines and curves fit me as if thou was crafted solely for me, even though I am not your first owner, thee point naturally, thou are an extension of my arms, when I shoulder thou, we are as one, man and machine, united in the fight against the encroachment of the Evil Orange Frisbees
4; Thou are a rejection of the latest Übertactical craze infesting the shotgun world, a return to the roots of scattergunning, one barrel, one shot, simplicity defined
(okay, getting tired of this whole "Olde Schoole" language thingy here, switching to conventional voice)
I really do love my pair of TDC's, a 12 and a 20 gauge, right now, the 20 is getting far more use, mainly because it's just more comfortable to shoot, it soaks up recoil, thanks in part to my recoil-absorber in the stock, the heavy barrel (the TDC 20G barrel is a 12-gauge blank bored out to 20G, the barrel walls are twice as thick as the standard H&R 20G barrel), and the nice, dense walnut furniture.
Using my largely unscientific testing procedure of "hang the gun off my Zebco DeLiar 229 fish scale", the TDC 20 tips the scale at 8 lbs, the 12 tips the scale at a pound less, 7 lbs, so coincidentally, the 12 kicks a bit harder, whatever shells I shoot in the 12, a similar shell in this particular TDC 20 has noticeably less recoil, be it a WinLite 7/8 oz shell, or a full power 2 3/4 buckshot shell, my TDC 20 just soaks up the recoil, heck, it even made shooting Federal #3 Buck 20 pellet 2 3/4" shells a non-issue, recoil? what recoil? and I even have the stock big squishy H&R recoil pad on the 20, not a nice, fancy Limbsaver, the TDC 20 just doesn't *need* one
I'm actually considering trying a 3" Magnum slug in the TDC 20, to see what the felt recoil will be like, I have a feeling that it's gonna' be no problem
a Fed #4 Buck 2 3/4" in the 12G TDC gives a firm, insistent shove to the shoulder, almost twice the felt recoil, the TDC 12 definitely has a bit of "bite" to it...
Both the TDC 12 and 20 are great guns, and I did end up with the 12 first, but you know, if I had gotten the 20 first, I would have never purchased the 12, the 20 does everything the 12 does, and does it with a more comfortable, manageable recoil
If you get a chance to pick up a TDC in 20 gauge, *JUMP* at the chance, it's a *great* gun, this is one of the few guns in my collection that will *NEVER* be sold, I may eventually sell/trade off my Mossberg 500, heck, I may eventually trade/sell my TDC 12G, but the TDC 20G is here to *STAY*, and not many guns in my collection can say that...
I *LOVE* the TDC series, and I especially love the truly sweet TDC 20G...
Of course, to be fair, there is one minor downside to the TDC 20G, and that's weight, the combination of the heavy "bull" barrel (makes the Mossberg 590A1 barrel walls look thin by comparison) and my recoil absorber in the stock make it a little less fun to carry around for woods-walking, oh and the barrel finish could be better, the bluing is okay, but the barrel itself has a kind of "ringy" texture to it, you'd think on a "working man's" gun like this that H&R would have parkerized the barrel, I think a Parked TDC would look really nice, solid and utilitarian
Before I got this 20, I'd go to my local range intermittently, when I felt like it, usually 2-3 times a week, usually hitting the rifle and handgun range, spending an hour or so punchin' paper, and then head home...
Since getting the TDC 20G, I've gone *every* week, and spent a good 3-4 hours there, shooting both Evil Orange Frisbees, and the shooting the fecal matter with my fellow shooters between matches, and staying around after I'm done to help clean up and shut down the range when everyone finishes
it's a great group of shooters at my range, today we got to talking about reloading shotshells, as I'm a newb with shotshell reloading (but not with reloading metallic cartridges), in fact, one of the guys is going to bring one of his spare presses next weekend, give me a quick lesson, and then let me borrow the press until the next week
He also gave me one of his handloads, 7/8 oz of shot, and a minimum charge of ?green dot? powder IIRC, it dusted the EOF quite handily, and had essentially *no* recoil, and a nice, quiet muzzle report, a truly great load
1; Thou art simple in lines, form, and mechanism, and in that simplicity, lies beauty
2; Thou art as reliable as the day is long, as reliable as rock, as the tide, as the orbit of the celestial bodies in the sky, whenever I reach for thee, I know that thou will be there, thou wilst never let me down
3; Thy lines and curves fit me as if thou was crafted solely for me, even though I am not your first owner, thee point naturally, thou are an extension of my arms, when I shoulder thou, we are as one, man and machine, united in the fight against the encroachment of the Evil Orange Frisbees
4; Thou are a rejection of the latest Übertactical craze infesting the shotgun world, a return to the roots of scattergunning, one barrel, one shot, simplicity defined
(okay, getting tired of this whole "Olde Schoole" language thingy here, switching to conventional voice)
I really do love my pair of TDC's, a 12 and a 20 gauge, right now, the 20 is getting far more use, mainly because it's just more comfortable to shoot, it soaks up recoil, thanks in part to my recoil-absorber in the stock, the heavy barrel (the TDC 20G barrel is a 12-gauge blank bored out to 20G, the barrel walls are twice as thick as the standard H&R 20G barrel), and the nice, dense walnut furniture.
Using my largely unscientific testing procedure of "hang the gun off my Zebco DeLiar 229 fish scale", the TDC 20 tips the scale at 8 lbs, the 12 tips the scale at a pound less, 7 lbs, so coincidentally, the 12 kicks a bit harder, whatever shells I shoot in the 12, a similar shell in this particular TDC 20 has noticeably less recoil, be it a WinLite 7/8 oz shell, or a full power 2 3/4 buckshot shell, my TDC 20 just soaks up the recoil, heck, it even made shooting Federal #3 Buck 20 pellet 2 3/4" shells a non-issue, recoil? what recoil? and I even have the stock big squishy H&R recoil pad on the 20, not a nice, fancy Limbsaver, the TDC 20 just doesn't *need* one
I'm actually considering trying a 3" Magnum slug in the TDC 20, to see what the felt recoil will be like, I have a feeling that it's gonna' be no problem
a Fed #4 Buck 2 3/4" in the 12G TDC gives a firm, insistent shove to the shoulder, almost twice the felt recoil, the TDC 12 definitely has a bit of "bite" to it...
Both the TDC 12 and 20 are great guns, and I did end up with the 12 first, but you know, if I had gotten the 20 first, I would have never purchased the 12, the 20 does everything the 12 does, and does it with a more comfortable, manageable recoil
If you get a chance to pick up a TDC in 20 gauge, *JUMP* at the chance, it's a *great* gun, this is one of the few guns in my collection that will *NEVER* be sold, I may eventually sell/trade off my Mossberg 500, heck, I may eventually trade/sell my TDC 12G, but the TDC 20G is here to *STAY*, and not many guns in my collection can say that...
I *LOVE* the TDC series, and I especially love the truly sweet TDC 20G...
Of course, to be fair, there is one minor downside to the TDC 20G, and that's weight, the combination of the heavy "bull" barrel (makes the Mossberg 590A1 barrel walls look thin by comparison) and my recoil absorber in the stock make it a little less fun to carry around for woods-walking, oh and the barrel finish could be better, the bluing is okay, but the barrel itself has a kind of "ringy" texture to it, you'd think on a "working man's" gun like this that H&R would have parkerized the barrel, I think a Parked TDC would look really nice, solid and utilitarian
Before I got this 20, I'd go to my local range intermittently, when I felt like it, usually 2-3 times a week, usually hitting the rifle and handgun range, spending an hour or so punchin' paper, and then head home...
Since getting the TDC 20G, I've gone *every* week, and spent a good 3-4 hours there, shooting both Evil Orange Frisbees, and the shooting the fecal matter with my fellow shooters between matches, and staying around after I'm done to help clean up and shut down the range when everyone finishes
it's a great group of shooters at my range, today we got to talking about reloading shotshells, as I'm a newb with shotshell reloading (but not with reloading metallic cartridges), in fact, one of the guys is going to bring one of his spare presses next weekend, give me a quick lesson, and then let me borrow the press until the next week
He also gave me one of his handloads, 7/8 oz of shot, and a minimum charge of ?green dot? powder IIRC, it dusted the EOF quite handily, and had essentially *no* recoil, and a nice, quiet muzzle report, a truly great load
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