Shoot it like you stole it.

[sm]

Dave- put your coffee down. Courtesy Warning done now...

First off there is a misconception I want to clear up. Italian Tune-Up refers to "drive it like you stole it".

Southern Folks invented this, we ran moonshine, invented NASCAR, it turned out so well - well you know the Europeans, just couldn't stand it and stole it from us.

NIB 870 Express .

Fellow said he wanted some assistance and get it broken in. Okay a few us said we would.

He was born somewhere up north where they actually wait for lakes to freeze, actually go onto said lakes, toting huts, cut a hole in the ice and use a heater to stay warm while they fish thru a little hole. And folks thinks us Southern Folks are nuts.

His Fiance' being a Southern Belle...Southern Belle's have this grin. Cuteset darn thing you ever did see...

We just get ammo that all us have that needs shootin' up. I guess folks up north just don't power-slide into NAPA and snag CRC Brakleen, can of SeaFoam, beef jerky and sodas...

Get to the shooting place and out comes a battery drill and the chamber /bore is cleaned. WE get funny looks - we don't drill holes in ice and fish thru small holes and freeze our tushes off.


I mean we all grab something and clean it. "I thought we were supposed to use Hoppe's number 9?"
"No honey that is a aphrodisiac"
Northern guy sure do turn red when Fiance's say something...

"Yah ( however you spell the northern version) we wax skis"

In da South...we use Johnson's Paste wax on shotguns. I mean - he dont' don't know what to think with Southern folks getting a new gun prepped and ready to roll...


Gun is cleaned of factory lube, Gave him a choice of Castrol Dexron II ATF fluid or Castrol Syntec 0w-30...I used the ATF, he was busy picking up his jaw that dropped.

WE run the gun bone stock with - you name a load, with rusty bases , candle wax crimps, electrical taped crimps, " we going to use this factory ammo I have?"
"What - and spoil a new gun?"

Not one hitch, we even patterned the thing, made notes. His really likes the OLD Peters Blue Magic with electrical tape...

Did I mention this took place over 5 days...bunches of folks shooting as hard and fast as can ? First 100 rds or so, we took it apart - looked at it - back together and off we go. About day 3 " we gonna clean this gun?"
To make him feel better we opened breech, toothbrushed/ pipecleaned the breech face, extractor, and thru the port did a quick chamber clean.

Southern Belle's have a really cool grin - did I mention that?

Best figured, counting hulls, we ran ~ 2100 thru this $199 bone stock shotgun. Never missed a beat.

Being fitted better to him <tweak here, stretch his neck using a tractor there...>
...we let him clean it with one person assisting. The Fiance' heck no, she gots better stuff to do.

"Honey, you reload I shoot the ammo. You buy a gun and what is yours is Mine, I shoot you clean - got it?"

It is in fine print somewhere, guys cannot find this, or read it - but it there somewhere just the same.

Beats sitting in hut with a heater warming up ice trying to catch fish - don't you think?

Well the shotgun got broken in all smooth and no hiccups...got to work on the Northern Fiance'. Time to eat...we did the catfish already, fried chicken too...

We order for him a Rib Sandwich.
"Okay yooze guyz, what is the bread for?"
"Sopping"


He had this "look" on his face. I piped up..."Hey, take a bottle of Hoppe's number 9 and crack the top, your gal will be all over you".

Did I mention the grin Southern Belle's have?

The couple ate rather quickly...

She grabs his hand, and off they leave, real big hurry...He had a big smile as the Southern Belle slapped that small block in gear and laid rubber out of the parking lot.

WE do stuff different in the South.

That is how you do a new gun break-in in the South.

Shoot it like you stole it.

Steve

 

[TrapperReady]

Shoot it like you stole it?

Wouldn't that involve a Stop-N-Rob and all the cash in the till?

 

[Bob F.]

Aahhhhhhhhhhh, them Southern Belles!!!!!!! Not just the grins but them flashin' eyes....................

And to keep it gun related: 870's and Hoppe's #9. Heaven, pure heaven!!!!!!!!!

Stay safe.
Bob

 

[mr.trooper]

Yup! shotguns are tough campers. They can take anything a bunch of miss-guided Hill-Billies can dish out!

 

[Bob F.]

"Hillbillies" is not PC; we're Appalchain-Americans!!

Besides, Hillbilly is not necessarily synonomus (need "spellcheck!) with Southern. Conversely, Yankee is Yankee no matter how you slice 'em.

Bob
(South of the M-D line!)

 

[sm]

Trapper my friend...

1) Do you shoot guns? I mean do you get a new gun, pattern it, tweak the gun fit, and shoot it a lot? Ever taken a new gun / new to you gun out and shoot 50 rds or more right off the bat?

2) Do you get a gun and have had accessories awaiting its arrival and spent time taking it apart / bolting unbolting stuff, rub it down, admire it, post in internet forums about what all you just "did to" the gun? Not actually shooting it...just what all it has...

If you answered #1 - you just admitted Shooting it like you stole it.

Just down here, 50 rds? Pshaw! Punch that doggie and run 'em hard.

You want me to tell your great kids daddy is a Southern Boy and didn't know it?

Something about a Northern feller going from "yooze guyz are shooting a lot of slugs - will that not hurt my gun?" to " Gimme my shooting Iron - I wanna bust that rock too".

Southern Belle's do not always let Fiance's shoot their own guns. They do bat eyes, "Sweetie - run get me some more slugs over there will ya?"

He has not got a prayer with this gal.

Funny: Just happen to have a need to shoot feral cats. This was his first exposure to this. I am popping them with slugs...

Being a family forum I cannot type exactly what the Southern Belle said...

"Honey, we are in the South, this chasing "cats" with the Fiance' is not a big deal. Now I ever hear or find you out chasing on your own...I can shoot very well".

Northern Fiance's sure do turn red...then swallow real hard .

Steve.

 

[Rupestris]

Man, I was born in the wrong state...

One, there ain't no better state to learn power slides, e-brake slides and power drifting through a curve than (frozen solid) Michigan. If all four tires aren't barkin' you aren't doing it right.
Get your feet wet on the ice then learn to put it to work on dry pavement.
Them fair-weather NASCAR guy's got nothin' on I-75 through Detroit rush hour.

Two, Castrol Syntec and Mobile 1 5W-30 work. If it'll "carry grime away from your lifters" it shouls do the same for a 1911 or an 870 too. Right? Right.

Three, Bone Stock? I figure the folks at Remington, Winchester, GM, or Evenrude know a thing or two about engeneering a good product.
As I was told by a mechanic years ago when I wanted to upgrade to four-wheel disk brakes on my old Cutlass, "You think you know more about stopping a 4,000 lb. vehicle than GM does? Eh, its your money."

Four, as long as I've lived in this state I can tell ya, there ain't no fish worth sittin on a frozen lake for hours. See you in WVA come spring for some real fishing. Ski's? What are those?

Five, Dupont Teflon spray lube works as well on a Rem. Nylon 66 as it does on a mountain bike chain. Mountain bikes don't work that well in the snow and ice. Neither do outboards (see #4).

Six, Remind me not to introduce you to my wife. I found her in MI but her family is from AR. Yea, I've asked her to put a dab of Hoppes #9 behind the ear.

Thanks again for another great post Steve.

Chris

 

[sm]

Ain't the 'Net great?

We learn from one another. I was in MI, or was that MN...I think I have been in both, I was younger and we did not have just 2 letters to tell us what state we were in...we did Mich, or Minn...still makes more sense.

All I know is folks sure do like to pull a chair closer " say something else Steve- we like the way you talk ".

Tell a bunch in a Deli up north about Snipe hunting and shotgun loads - good for pie and coffee.

I put a lot of folks at ease, crickets. Yeah they thought these were about the size of small puppy and the thought of rubbing hind legs to make sounds...freaked folks out.

Then again I am not used to seeing plug-ins on the front of a car. "What -you folks plug in a electric skillet to cook fish or what?"

That was good for a tour of a hole in a wall with great hunting guns and Smores to munch on while you shopped. Great Idea I thought.

You got a gal from AR huh? No wonder you and I get along.

Wild guess, we have never discussed this. Gonna guess Smackover, Russellville, or Strong. How'd I do? One more...Camden.

All I know is b/t AR and MI/ MN I learned where all the Ithaca 37s and Model 12 with fixed mod bbl went...Pheasant Country.

I arrived once via school bus headed to Canada. Another time I landed via a small plane out in the middle of nowhere at night...and talk about wind off the lake...whew doggie! Cold Too.

Had to actually wear a glove on my shooting hand the next morning...Used a snow bank to pattern a gun.

 

[Dave McCracken]

(Coffee mug set down out of reach).....

Thanks, Steve. A couple things....

One, I've never ice fished, but I have cast streamers for crappie with ice forming in the guides of my old South Bend bamboo fly rod. Caught some good'uns that way. Good cure for Cabin Fever, AKA The Shack Nasties....

Two, I can't think of a better way to polish up a new 870 than by your Committee Method.

Three, There's a bran' new quart of Mobil ! 5W-30 sitting down next to that cordless drill with the dowel and 4/0 steel wool chucked up in it.

Four, Hoppe's does contain pheronomes. A camo nightie from Bass Pro works also....