I went to Dick's to get a few slugs to test my grandson's shotgun that I'd installed a Simmons Red Dot sight on last evening, when I spied the O/Us on the rack and started looking them over.
First, I looked at the Stoeger Condor, then the Rem Whatchamacallit, then picked up one of the 20 gauge Franchis and fell in love with it. They had 6 of them and I tried all of them. One had a bad safety, another was too tight in the hinge, but I settled on another that had really good wood and the action worked very well.
When I got home, I ran some patches through it and took it out behind the house to hunt birds.
A big woodcock went up 5 yards away and I nailed it on the second shot. Not bad for the first time shooting that baby, especially buying it on Friday the 13th!
The gun comes up as nice as any I've felt and the safety/grip relationship is fantastic. I think this one will be around for a long time. I may glassbed the stock inletting...to keep it from splitting, as some shotguns tend to do over time. We'll see.
Anyway, the price was right at $799, and I got an extra $100 off my purchases with the Dick's discount card.
I'll be hunting with it quite a bit over the next week. We're going to Northern Maine for three days. I hear the grouse are plentiful in a few places up there.
Picher
First, I looked at the Stoeger Condor, then the Rem Whatchamacallit, then picked up one of the 20 gauge Franchis and fell in love with it. They had 6 of them and I tried all of them. One had a bad safety, another was too tight in the hinge, but I settled on another that had really good wood and the action worked very well.
When I got home, I ran some patches through it and took it out behind the house to hunt birds.
A big woodcock went up 5 yards away and I nailed it on the second shot. Not bad for the first time shooting that baby, especially buying it on Friday the 13th!
The gun comes up as nice as any I've felt and the safety/grip relationship is fantastic. I think this one will be around for a long time. I may glassbed the stock inletting...to keep it from splitting, as some shotguns tend to do over time. We'll see.
Anyway, the price was right at $799, and I got an extra $100 off my purchases with the Dick's discount card.
I'll be hunting with it quite a bit over the next week. We're going to Northern Maine for three days. I hear the grouse are plentiful in a few places up there.
Picher