Turning to the bright (and shiny) side?

[Fred Fuller]

Yesterday I had an appointment with the eye doc to get the annual inspection done on my baby blues. Good news from that department, no changes in my prescription and no problems anywhere in the eye department. But as usual I got 'the drops' and so was pretty impaired visually for a while until my pupils closed back down to normal size.

I meandered over to my favorite FFL nearby to pass the time until I could see clearly again. I should have learned by now, that can be a mistake.

On the used rack was a nice Browning Pump Shotgun of Japanese extraction, 12 gauge, English style stock, 22" VR barrel with Invectors, roll engraved game scenes on the sides of the receiver, the usual pretty walnut and blue job from Browning, the whole deal. And the price seemed awfully reasonable. AWFULLY reasonable. Cheaper than the single solitary 870 Wingmaster that was on the used rack at the same time, as a matter of fact.

Well, I'm weak where pumpguns are concerned. I admit it. But there isn't a BPS in the pumpgun menagerie here. An Ithaca 37, sure, but no BPS. And no straight-stocked pumpgun either.

And there still isn't. But I left a picture of Ben Franklin on the counter and had it put on layaway for me until I get the final out-the-door price from the boss later, when he gets back from his current jaunt to the beach.

It's a shame to have no self control at all...

lpl/nc

 

[Pistol Toter]

I can't go in a gun shop! My wife has put one of those GPS collars around my ankle and programed the location of all the gun shops in the area in it's memory. Everytime I get within a city block of a gun shop the shock collar she has around my neck goes off. I hate it when that happens, cause dang! it hurts. Congrats on your find.

 

[sm]

It's a shame to have no self control at all...

I dunno, sounds to me like you handled it quite well.



You still have not let the Good Doc handle a 28 ga shotgun have you?
Now that is either 1) self control , 2) being chicken.

Pick one.

 

[Fred Fuller]

"You still have not let the Good Doc handle a 28 ga shotgun have you?
Now that is either 1) self control , 2) being chicken. "
=======================================

Steve,

I had the Browning in mind for her to play with. We'll see how she likes it when I get it home, I know the stock will be too long but we can always shorten it. Could be the SX2/FN SLP that's on order will make the whole pumpgun approach moot for her, I don't know. Again, we'll see. I'm trying to find something that will get her excited about shotgunning, but so far it hasn't happened. I'm hoping that if all else fails, a 28 might do the trick 8^).

lpl/nc

 

[sm]

Lee

1. Looking forward to another Great Review you do - this time on this BPS.

2. I could always take the Good Doc Shopping.

Yes I have references. Larry, Preacheman, Chris (P95Carry) , SmokeRizen are some you can PM on this forum alone in regard to me being "shopping assistant".



<waves "hi" to Good Doc, tosses peppermint to dogs>

*grin*

 

[Dave McCracken]

Covet,covet....

Congrats on your find.A range T&E please,when you find the time.

22" barrel, straight grip, sounds like a quail gun to me....

 

[sm]

Dave,
We might just have to show the boy how a set up like that is supposed to be used on quail .

I think Lee Should us invite us over for home grown garden goods, homecooking, and when we get back with his gun, and fellling quail we will have food ready on the table.
I take my tea unsweet btw...

Oh...I also want some handgun lessons from the Good Doctor...

Then you can distract...I mean have a nice visit with Lee as the Good Doctor and I go shopping...

I shop better on a full stomach, and I still get a kick in sending another's mans wife home with a new 28 ga.

"Are your intentions honorable with my wife/ daughter son?"

"Nope, never have been - told old to start now" .

I like the part where I have to take the women out to shop for the guys...only way to keep them male grubby paws off Their [ladies] 28 ga shotguns.

I got this stuff figured out real well. Ask Larry.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Hmm, the Piedmont isn't that far from Lee's place. Gotta be a few quail around there.

Maybe a grouse or two also in the alders.

Hope my legs hold up to this educatin'....

 

[Fred Fuller]

Well, I got it home. Been spending some time with the 4/0 steel wool and the Ballistol getting off the surface rust (WHY do people fail to wax blued guns, and then store them in soft cases?) and applying multiple coats of Johnson's paste wax. Actually it has cleaned up very nicely, better than I thought it would.

And the doctor likes it a lot. Even at 13 3/4" the LOP is too long (she needs about 12.5"), so it will need to be shortened. But it's light, and the straight grip allows an easy reach to the trigger, the field type forearm is easy for her to reach too. She likes the safety on top of the receiver.

Going to have to see about shortening that stock, installing a premium recoil pad and getting a couple more Invector choke tubes. One more project gun, it seems...

lpl/nc

 

[Dave McCracken]

Sounds like a worthy cause,Lee, rescuing that BPS and giving it a loving home.

Do start the Doc with light loads. My guess is this with 7/8 oz of 8s will prove to be oodles of fun for small, newer shooters.

BTW, what's the weight?

 

[Fred Fuller]

Dave,

The current production Upland Special tips the scale at 7.5 pounds, but most of the weight is between the hands and it feels lighter than the scale says it is. It's a very pointable gun, ought to be useful for all sorts of things.

The Doc is actually a pretty accomplished shooter, though with more trigger time on handguns and bolt guns (she took Carlos Hathcock's class once upon a time after all) than scatterguns. She did some time in the 3-gun arena and that has been pretty much her only competitive shotgunning so far. She had a good time straphanging with me at Louis Awerbuck's class and wants to take it herself now, which I think is a good thing. Something tells me that this wouldn't be a bad gun to use in class when all is said and done.

lpl/nc

 

[Dave McCracken]

7.5 lbs? A trifle heavy for the uplands, but doable. Balance counts.

Does look purty. I wager the usual flagon of mead that the Doc could take it on an SC course or some practical stages and not embarass herself.

 

[sm]

I want it documented I said that Lee lost that shotgun to good Doc first.

That gun balances so well it does not feel 7.5 #s

I also want it documented I said if Lee hands the Good Doc a B-80 'upland" and a Rem 1100 Upland Special, good Doc will claim them too.

I gotta hunch what the good Doc will appreciate fitting her, and I have not met the lady in person.

Then again maybe that is why they have "Big Dog" to watch the property.

Yes I have spoken to Big Dog and Little dog...why do I feel that was a "training step" for them?

 

[HSMITH]

The BPS is a really good shotgun, I have had several and liked them.

LEAVE it together, when it needs deep cleaning spray your something of choice in it to rinse it out well and then re-oil. They are an absolute NIGHTMARE to put back together the first couple times. They come apart pretty easily, easily enough you don't notice EXACTLY where everything lines up and that lulls you into a false sense of security. It will only come apart and only go together in one spot, and several parts/pieces have to be just right. Not trying to scare you, but be aware of this. There is enough clearance on the important bits that you can rinse it out well with a cleaner and then re-oil without tearing it down for many tens of thousands of rounds.

 

[Fred Fuller]

I read the owners manual online looking for directions to field strip it. Manual says if you have to go into it beyond taking off the barrel and stripping the magazine tube, take it to a gunsmith. After decades of easy familiarity with the innards of 870s, I find that a little disconcerting. More than a little disconcerting in fact, but I am grudgingly willing to live with it. My copy of _The Gun Digest Book of Firearms Assembly/Disassembly, Volume 5: Shotguns_ has a detailed section on the BPS, and if it really came down to it I could go into the gun if something came up with it.

I am long past the stage of having to take something apart just to see how it works and what the pieces look like. I can look at an exploded drawing and see pretty much everything I need to see. If a gun ain't broke it don't need breaking. But after a really long time of dealing with military design type firearms that are made to be easily fieldstripped, cleaned, inspected, lubricated and reassembled, such (to me) needless complication is... well, needless complication. That's why the firearms I have chosen to rely on are designs I can go into if I have to, repair and maintain as necessary on my own with reasonably simple tools and a few spare parts, and keep running for the long term with no outside assistance.

That's why no matter what I experiment with I always come back to the 870 as the go-to shotgun. It is simple, robust, highly modular and easily convertible to multiple tasks, easily maintainable, 95% repairable with no access to factory level resources and inexpensive enough at the outset to allow easy duplication of the entire system. Those may not be sufficient advantages for everyone to choose an 870 but they are for me.

So the BPS is not going to be a gun I will be staking our entire shotgunning future on. That doesn't mean anything other than we will be experimenting with it and seeing how the good doctor likes it once it gets a shorter stock and a more open choke tube installed.

lpl/nc

 

[sm]

HSMITH post # 14

and

Lee's post #15 need to be re-read by all again.

Heck they need to be printed and put in a frame and a copy in a notebook for everyone to read - no matter what kind of shotgun - heck even applies to any platform of firearm be it shotgun, rifle or handgun!


I guess some thoughts run thru mind and I know I am not alone in my thinking around here:

-If it ain't broke - don't fix it.
-Only take down to the level one is comfortable with, has experience with, tools for, and only as far as needed to do what needs to be done.
-RTFM
- First -Do no harm.
-Stop if stuck, ask for help and learn from someone that does have experience, the right tools and write it down, make a copy of parts exploded view, ...etc.

Browning is known for metal and wood fit and the finishes being great.

Posts 14 and 15 also remind us - or should make us think about firearms and maintaining.

Lee is doing all this in the comfort of his home, taking his time and having fun.

He mentioned "Modular" and specifically mentions the 870.

There is a difference in having a fun gun, safe queen, bird gun and similar that is not used often and shot little. A bird gun may be shot a lot during a season, then cleaned up and not shot until next season.

Clay shooters shoot a LOT, so knowing and maintaining one's firearm is crucial in keeping the gun up and running.

3 Gunners have even additional needs.

JUST ME, mind you,

I have avoided side saddles, mag extensions for reasons. Reliablity is big with me.
The ability to fix a problem right then, right now is big with me.

Be it on a clay field, out hunting , natural disaster [been thru tornados, floods , riots...etc]

I can take stick, pencil my keys, knife, golf tee ....and drop a Trigger group, get a blown primer out, seeds, debris from flood water...out and get the gun back running - no special tools, no special bench/table...

Just me you understand, I have done this , I have BTDT.

Pump guns are the most Field Friendly, and the 870 is one of , if not the most friendly.

I admit preferring the most simple for me. 1911 was designed to be maintained in the field - modular - in its original form. I prefer the original JMB 1911 as the gun is a tool unto itself.

870 pump , a Double barrel and single barrel shotgun are simple too for serious situations...proven.

One shotgun stands out in my experience as NOT being good for me. I have busted 6 of these in some fashion or another and these have to go back to Mfg.

Just how I think based on life experiences I suppose.

 

[stevehaun]

I own a BPS. I finally detail-stripped and cleaned it last winter after pheasant season. I too was intimidated by the instructions in the owners manual. I found a website with instructions and pictures - mississippi duckmen. I can't find the exact url as I am at work and the surf control will not allow. Anyhow, it was not as bad as I had feared. It was the first shotgun - other than a single shot - that I had ever detail-stripped. When I put it back together, I had one piece backward and that hung me up for a few minutes. After a good cleaning and lubrication that thing shucked slicker than snot. I have now put over a 1000 rounds thru it and it needs to be stripped and cleaned again before chasing roosters this fall. To make a long story short, if I can do it, I am more than sure that Lee can.

 

[GRP]

It's rough being addicted to guns and shooting. I know too well the feeling of seeing something you like at the gun store. I can sometimes fight it off for a few trips past the shop but sooner or later I must scratch the itch. Do they have an equivalant to AA for shooters? Anyways good luck with your new BPS shotgun.

 

[Scoupe]

Do they have an equivalant to AA for shooters? Anyways good luck with your new BPS shotgun.

Range time?