Tried several 110gr loads for Taurus 85UL. I shoot them all fairly centered when rapid firing but using sights had produced a group to the right of POA. Not sure why as I used to shoot stright with it.
Green&yellow Remingtons had less muzzle flash but were also less accurate. Federal PD had more flash and better accuracy. Handloaded 125gr JSPs had no flash at all.
Got an incomplete ejection with a 115gr UMC in a Beretta 92fs. Same ammo failed to lock the slide back a couple of time last range trip, must be too whimpy to cycle the slide fully. 147gr Remingron, 124gr Blazer and 125hr Triton JHPs all fed fine and were much more accurate than generic ball.
The Winchester Lady Defender 1300 20ga came back from repairs. Now it ejects cleanly. Now for the disappointments:
- trigger requires relaxing the finger to re-set. Very unnatural for my taste, wonder if I'd prefer Ithasca 37...
- magazine is supposed to take 7 2.75" shells. That is true with some brands of birdshot but with most other ammo, incl. slugs and buckshot, #7 just fails to latch in properly. Ack, so much for truth in advertising...
- Slide does unlock after a shot but, if I do not cycle it all the way at one, required moving the slide forward before pumping.
- Crossbolt safety is shoddy and doesn't feel very positive.
- Accuracy with slugs isn't all that great...provided I did my job which isn't certain. At 15m I couldn't get slugs to come closer than just barely touching at best (Remington Sluggers) or way away from each other (Federal).
- Shot pattern seemed to be slightly left of POA. The #3 buck 20-pellet load did not pattern worth a damn (either Remington or plated Federal)...most pellets struck in clusters leaving some paper unmarked. #4 birdshot was a little better. With cylinder bore the pattern was "human-wide" at 15-18m. At 25m neither buck nor shot were dense enough to be reliable, IMO. Fortunately, I do not have rooms longer than 20ft diagonally but it did underscore the short-range nature of the beast.
With practice, I did learn to operate the gun fairly well but I would still prefer an M1 carbine or an AKM to it. Recoil is mostly a problem is proper cheek weld isn't maintained.
Reloading is also annoying because the underside of the port has some sharp edges. Hopefully six or seven rounds would be enough.
This is my second tube-fed gun (after Remingtom 11 12ga) and I am again unimpressed by the design. Waaaay too many ways in which one could dump the round instead of chambering it or jam the action. Also requires vigorous cycling which is noisy.
All in all, I do not care for the gun itself or the concept (I am sure improved proficiency would have improved my opinion a great deal) and also think that folks relying on smallshot would be better served with buck or at least larger birdshot (#4 or BBs). It is also not the kind of gun I'd recommend to newbies (a SxS 20ga or a revolver would be more like it).
Now for the good sides: trueglo sight is very nice. Ejector design is ingenuous. Recoil is brisk but not too bad. The gun isn't designed for using support for better aim but handles OK from the shoulder and points naturally from retention.
Advice on fixing the abovementioned flaws (mag capacity esp.) would be much appreciated.
------------------
Oleg "cornered rat" Volk (JPFO,NRA)
http://dd-b.net/RKBA
Green&yellow Remingtons had less muzzle flash but were also less accurate. Federal PD had more flash and better accuracy. Handloaded 125gr JSPs had no flash at all.
Got an incomplete ejection with a 115gr UMC in a Beretta 92fs. Same ammo failed to lock the slide back a couple of time last range trip, must be too whimpy to cycle the slide fully. 147gr Remingron, 124gr Blazer and 125hr Triton JHPs all fed fine and were much more accurate than generic ball.
The Winchester Lady Defender 1300 20ga came back from repairs. Now it ejects cleanly. Now for the disappointments:
- trigger requires relaxing the finger to re-set. Very unnatural for my taste, wonder if I'd prefer Ithasca 37...
- magazine is supposed to take 7 2.75" shells. That is true with some brands of birdshot but with most other ammo, incl. slugs and buckshot, #7 just fails to latch in properly. Ack, so much for truth in advertising...
- Slide does unlock after a shot but, if I do not cycle it all the way at one, required moving the slide forward before pumping.
- Crossbolt safety is shoddy and doesn't feel very positive.
- Accuracy with slugs isn't all that great...provided I did my job which isn't certain. At 15m I couldn't get slugs to come closer than just barely touching at best (Remington Sluggers) or way away from each other (Federal).
- Shot pattern seemed to be slightly left of POA. The #3 buck 20-pellet load did not pattern worth a damn (either Remington or plated Federal)...most pellets struck in clusters leaving some paper unmarked. #4 birdshot was a little better. With cylinder bore the pattern was "human-wide" at 15-18m. At 25m neither buck nor shot were dense enough to be reliable, IMO. Fortunately, I do not have rooms longer than 20ft diagonally but it did underscore the short-range nature of the beast.
With practice, I did learn to operate the gun fairly well but I would still prefer an M1 carbine or an AKM to it. Recoil is mostly a problem is proper cheek weld isn't maintained.
Reloading is also annoying because the underside of the port has some sharp edges. Hopefully six or seven rounds would be enough.
This is my second tube-fed gun (after Remingtom 11 12ga) and I am again unimpressed by the design. Waaaay too many ways in which one could dump the round instead of chambering it or jam the action. Also requires vigorous cycling which is noisy.
All in all, I do not care for the gun itself or the concept (I am sure improved proficiency would have improved my opinion a great deal) and also think that folks relying on smallshot would be better served with buck or at least larger birdshot (#4 or BBs). It is also not the kind of gun I'd recommend to newbies (a SxS 20ga or a revolver would be more like it).
Now for the good sides: trueglo sight is very nice. Ejector design is ingenuous. Recoil is brisk but not too bad. The gun isn't designed for using support for better aim but handles OK from the shoulder and points naturally from retention.
Advice on fixing the abovementioned flaws (mag capacity esp.) would be much appreciated.
------------------
Oleg "cornered rat" Volk (JPFO,NRA)
http://dd-b.net/RKBA