I may be a voice crying in the wilderness here, but in all honesty, I see people making the same mistakes every day. Not the same people, but a uncommonly common problem exists. I see it just about every time I hit this BB, or any of several others.
And it applies to all shotgunning, but especially to life/death situations where the life in question is yours, mine or our families. "Serious" stuff,vs fun and games,with a little foodgathering thrown in.
This should be graven on a Tablet of Stone somewhere:
Anyone who spends more on addons and mods than they do on ammo, range fees and lessons NEEDS to rethink their priorities.
Any questions on that?
Let's take a couple of extreme cases for illustrations. Any resemblance to anyone on this BB is pure happenstance.
In this corner we have a complete tyro, with the best shotgun Vang, ST and Tank's rifle shop can come up with. It has all the mods, down to belt feed and radar.He knows where the bullets go in and come out, and that's about it.
And over in this corner,a slightly sleepy looking guy with a scar or two,earned honorably. He's armed with an absolutely stock shotgun, name any you can think of that's reliable and holds more than one shot.
Now have our two worthies shoot any COF you can think of, any clay game, etc.
Which do you think will do better? And, assuming the real world and it has just hit the fan, which do you think is more likely to still be vertical and not assuming ambient temperature post incident?
Right....
It ain't the piano, it's the pianist.
Now, those were extremes, and we're not, I hope.
But, this BB attracts people of widely differing skill levels, abilities, builds and experience. Common denominator, we all want to shoot a shotgun effectively. And here's what your kindly ol' grey haired 870 guru suggests.
For all but the more advanced among us, here's the Way of the Shotgun(Sorry, Myashi)...
USE your shotgun. On days when you cannot shoot it, handle it, mount it, accustom yourself and your muscles to it until it feels right.
And, instead of extended mags, fancy sights, and stuff that looks cool in action movies, buy ammo, lots of ammo.
Get the cheap stuff for most of it, some "Serious" ammo for serious situations, and shoot it up. It doesn't seem to matter much how you shoot it up as long as good form is used. Shoot trap,skeet,steel plates,Sporting Clays, Q targets, tombstones, tin cans,Starlings and English sparrows or rats at the dump. Just shoot!
After a while, you'll note a high proportion of what you're shooting at falls down, dies, busts into little pieces, etc. Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.
And when you hit a plateau, with little/no improvement, then's the time to consider upgrading your equipment. This is when the bellsnwhistles may be added.One at a time,or....
Getting instruction may be the most cost effective way to improve, and often shows the best results. Good shooting is the gradual elimination of mistakes, and a decent instructor can do a lot for many of us. The high dollar instructors and schools can really polish up a student's skills. But, a decent instructor that can help you deglitch your form is probably close by and not all that expensive.
And probably, the closer instruction is given to the start of the learning curve, the more rewards for getting it.Less bad habits to unlearn...
So, you're now trained, effective, and the local legends watch you on the range. What mods do you want on a "Serious" shotgun?
Sorry, can't help you much there. There's too much personal stuff involved in the decision for me to tell a complete stranger what addon or mod they need most.
And this assumes your "Serious" shotgun has a good fit, doesn't kick you horribly, has a decent trigger and the sights work for you. If any of these aren't right, that's where the mods and addons start.
Questions, comments?
And it applies to all shotgunning, but especially to life/death situations where the life in question is yours, mine or our families. "Serious" stuff,vs fun and games,with a little foodgathering thrown in.
This should be graven on a Tablet of Stone somewhere:
Anyone who spends more on addons and mods than they do on ammo, range fees and lessons NEEDS to rethink their priorities.
Any questions on that?
Let's take a couple of extreme cases for illustrations. Any resemblance to anyone on this BB is pure happenstance.
In this corner we have a complete tyro, with the best shotgun Vang, ST and Tank's rifle shop can come up with. It has all the mods, down to belt feed and radar.He knows where the bullets go in and come out, and that's about it.
And over in this corner,a slightly sleepy looking guy with a scar or two,earned honorably. He's armed with an absolutely stock shotgun, name any you can think of that's reliable and holds more than one shot.
Now have our two worthies shoot any COF you can think of, any clay game, etc.
Which do you think will do better? And, assuming the real world and it has just hit the fan, which do you think is more likely to still be vertical and not assuming ambient temperature post incident?
Right....
It ain't the piano, it's the pianist.
Now, those were extremes, and we're not, I hope.
But, this BB attracts people of widely differing skill levels, abilities, builds and experience. Common denominator, we all want to shoot a shotgun effectively. And here's what your kindly ol' grey haired 870 guru suggests.
For all but the more advanced among us, here's the Way of the Shotgun(Sorry, Myashi)...
USE your shotgun. On days when you cannot shoot it, handle it, mount it, accustom yourself and your muscles to it until it feels right.
And, instead of extended mags, fancy sights, and stuff that looks cool in action movies, buy ammo, lots of ammo.
Get the cheap stuff for most of it, some "Serious" ammo for serious situations, and shoot it up. It doesn't seem to matter much how you shoot it up as long as good form is used. Shoot trap,skeet,steel plates,Sporting Clays, Q targets, tombstones, tin cans,Starlings and English sparrows or rats at the dump. Just shoot!
After a while, you'll note a high proportion of what you're shooting at falls down, dies, busts into little pieces, etc. Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.
And when you hit a plateau, with little/no improvement, then's the time to consider upgrading your equipment. This is when the bellsnwhistles may be added.One at a time,or....
Getting instruction may be the most cost effective way to improve, and often shows the best results. Good shooting is the gradual elimination of mistakes, and a decent instructor can do a lot for many of us. The high dollar instructors and schools can really polish up a student's skills. But, a decent instructor that can help you deglitch your form is probably close by and not all that expensive.
And probably, the closer instruction is given to the start of the learning curve, the more rewards for getting it.Less bad habits to unlearn...
So, you're now trained, effective, and the local legends watch you on the range. What mods do you want on a "Serious" shotgun?
Sorry, can't help you much there. There's too much personal stuff involved in the decision for me to tell a complete stranger what addon or mod they need most.
And this assumes your "Serious" shotgun has a good fit, doesn't kick you horribly, has a decent trigger and the sights work for you. If any of these aren't right, that's where the mods and addons start.
Questions, comments?
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