I just got a baikal shotgun MP-153...My pump is super reliable and I can hit pretty good with it. Its pretty rare for me to miss easy shots. Adapting to a new shotgun is very weird. Especially from pump to semi. The gun has FTF, and FTEs all the time. The most I got out today was 3 in a row without a failure. Im going to mess with the gas port a little bit more (Adjustable) and im going to polish the op rods so its smoother. See where that gets me. Seemed to get better the more I shot it...breaking in
How to increase the reliability of a shotgun
- Thread starter Lavid2002
- Start date
the rifleer
New member
you didn't actually ask a question in your post, but i would say it probably just needs to be cleaned really well and properly lubricated as well as broken in.
you may also want to try some heavier loads.
you may also want to try some heavier loads.
I dont want to have to use heavier loads...I am going to be duck hunting with magnums, and shooting skeet with el-cheapo loads. My pump didnt like the independance shotgun shells either....Ill try the remingtons and see if it cycles em better. They stick in the chamber on my pump
Lavid2002, you sound like a good candidate for a SxS or U/O gun. You asked how to increase the reliability of a shotgun. Good maintenance and shell selection help, but the best way is to start with a more reliable gun design.
A big reason the majority of comp shooters choose hinge guns is reliability. Drop in the shells, close the action and there's a pretty good chance you'll have no problems. If a load has over sized brass, it won't go in the chamber and you know about it instantly -- use a different shell. With stick gun, you slip your shells in the mag tube and pray they'll chamber properly. If you have an ejection problem or a bad load leaves a wad in your barrel, no problem -- with the hinge gun, just poke it out. With a stick gun, you might get a lost bird counted against your score because of excessive jambs. With a pump, you might not notice a stuck wad and your subsequent shot won't do your barrel a lick of good. (Typically, an auto won't cycle with a such a load)
If you're shooting with a gun that you can't trust, it's gonna ruin your confidence and your kill percentage will decrease.
A big reason the majority of comp shooters choose hinge guns is reliability. Drop in the shells, close the action and there's a pretty good chance you'll have no problems. If a load has over sized brass, it won't go in the chamber and you know about it instantly -- use a different shell. With stick gun, you slip your shells in the mag tube and pray they'll chamber properly. If you have an ejection problem or a bad load leaves a wad in your barrel, no problem -- with the hinge gun, just poke it out. With a stick gun, you might get a lost bird counted against your score because of excessive jambs. With a pump, you might not notice a stuck wad and your subsequent shot won't do your barrel a lick of good. (Typically, an auto won't cycle with a such a load)
If you're shooting with a gun that you can't trust, it's gonna ruin your confidence and your kill percentage will decrease.
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With quality shells and a properly maintained gun that shouldn't be a problem. Does you gun have a tight or rough chamber? It could contribute to your problems. When guns are manufactured, a new chamber reamer cuts the biggest chamber. As more guns are made, the reamer wears down and successive guns have smaller chambers. Eventually the reamer gets so small it can no longer be re-sharpened. Perhaps your gun was made just before they retired the chamber reamer.
You've probably read other posts on the problems some folks have with Remington 870 Expresses. The factory doesn't spend as much time on the Express chambers as they do on their higher cost guns. Many folks complain about the performance from their 870 Ex until they put some time into polishing the chamber.
Also, your gun can be in perfect condition; but, it may not be happy with a certain brand of shells. Again, there are numerous postings with members complaining that their gun just doesn't like a certain brand of shells. Quite often they have been using bottom dollar promotional loads from a big box store.
LanceOregon
Moderator
Zippy13: The MP-153 is one of the most cheaply made semiauto shotguns on the market.
To judge semiauto shotguns as a group by its performance, would be an absolute gross distortion of reality.
Lance,
From your past offerings, I respect you as a considerable font of shotgun knowledge.Yet, the merits of the MP-153 aside, I don't think I painted pumps and auto-loaders with too broad of a brush when I opined they are less reliable than an O/U or SxS. The stick guns have their obvious advantages of lower initial cost and the ability to shoot more than twice. Also, some autos also offer recoil reduction. And, some folks prefer the handling characters of a stick gun. Still, IMHO, when it comes to getting off two shots, two barrels are more reliable than one. Isn't that why the vast majority of comp shooters, in sports with double presentations, select an O/U?
From personal experience: One of my buddies was the trap chairman at our gun club at the time I was the Skeet chair. In an attempt to foster more interaction between trap and Skeet shooters, I shot ATA trap for a few years and he shoot NSSA Skeet. I started out with a R-1100 Trap model and my more affluent friend got a Perazzi with Briley tubes. The Perazzi preformed flawlessly; but, by the end of the first year I'd replaced the R-1100 with an O/U.
One of my buddies, an All-American Skeeter, preferred his R-1100 over his Perazzi in 12-ga events because of its recoil reduction. His R-1100 was a D-grade from the Remington custom shop and fitted with up-graded wood. It was a distant relation to my out-of-the-box Trap model R-1100. His gun cycled with sturdy sounding clank, mine did so with a less reassuring clickety-clack.
From your past offerings, I respect you as a considerable font of shotgun knowledge.Yet, the merits of the MP-153 aside, I don't think I painted pumps and auto-loaders with too broad of a brush when I opined they are less reliable than an O/U or SxS. The stick guns have their obvious advantages of lower initial cost and the ability to shoot more than twice. Also, some autos also offer recoil reduction. And, some folks prefer the handling characters of a stick gun. Still, IMHO, when it comes to getting off two shots, two barrels are more reliable than one. Isn't that why the vast majority of comp shooters, in sports with double presentations, select an O/U?
From personal experience: One of my buddies was the trap chairman at our gun club at the time I was the Skeet chair. In an attempt to foster more interaction between trap and Skeet shooters, I shot ATA trap for a few years and he shoot NSSA Skeet. I started out with a R-1100 Trap model and my more affluent friend got a Perazzi with Briley tubes. The Perazzi preformed flawlessly; but, by the end of the first year I'd replaced the R-1100 with an O/U.
One of my buddies, an All-American Skeeter, preferred his R-1100 over his Perazzi in 12-ga events because of its recoil reduction. His R-1100 was a D-grade from the Remington custom shop and fitted with up-graded wood. It was a distant relation to my out-of-the-box Trap model R-1100. His gun cycled with sturdy sounding clank, mine did so with a less reassuring clickety-clack.
LanceOregon
Moderator
Zippy13:
The problem here is that Lavid is not a competition shooter. He is shooting heavy waterfowl loads at ducks, not light target loads at clay pigeons.
A good gas operated semiauto shotgun is going to make that recoil much more easy to handle for follow-up shots. Not to mention the fact that he will have 3 shots available to use.
If he was instead talking about getting into shotgun competition, then yes, I would say that he should strongly consider a double barreled shotgun.
But for his usage, a semiauto is easily the better shotgun.
.
I'll have to agree with LO here. I am not a competition shooter, but I do shoot a round of sporting clays or several rounds of skeet most weekends. I have 2 Beretta A390s, one being a sporting model, and that is what I have been using for clays. I use a synthetic stocked 390 for hunting. I just bought a Beretta 686 for clays. It had nothing to do reliability. It couldn't. The 390s have never suffered a failure of any kind...ever. I clearly understand that all of these guns will eventually fail in some way, all mechanical devices ultimately will.
With regard to hunting, I find the slimmer faster 390 vastly more suitable than an over under.
I know there are those that would disagree, but that's the way it shakes out for me.
With regard to hunting, I find the slimmer faster 390 vastly more suitable than an over under.
I know there are those that would disagree, but that's the way it shakes out for me.
Lance and Roscoe,
Yep, as I previously mentioned, there are situations where the auto may be the gun of choice, but we talking about reliability. Roscoe may have never experienced a failure with his 390 -- perhaps he's never pushed it to the limit. For example, throw some over-sized shells in with our ammo: I'll know there's a problem when a round won't chamber in my O/U and I'll try another. On the other hand, Roscoe won't know there's a problem when he loads his magazine, but it will become obvious when it jams in the chamber.
Yep, as I previously mentioned, there are situations where the auto may be the gun of choice, but we talking about reliability. Roscoe may have never experienced a failure with his 390 -- perhaps he's never pushed it to the limit. For example, throw some over-sized shells in with our ammo: I'll know there's a problem when a round won't chamber in my O/U and I'll try another. On the other hand, Roscoe won't know there's a problem when he loads his magazine, but it will become obvious when it jams in the chamber.
Good point, Zippy13. I am pretty much a casual shooter. I wouldn't see the failure to chamber on an over sized shell as a huge deal, and I certainly wouldn't consider it a failure of the gun.
On the other hand if I were a high level competition shooter, it would be a big deal. I had a Remington 11-87 Premier that was a jam-o-matic. I know how that can send your concentration spinning. All of a sudden your head is wrapped around what is wrong with the gun instead of on the target where it belongs, and your scores head for the basement. In point of fact, that gun was traded in on one of the 390s.
For me, that jam is just a "Sorry guys, let me have that one over". For some it could mean money. In a defensive situation it could mean disaster. This is one of the reasons that pumps are so popular for this application...you can usually muscle that over sized shell into battery and muscle it out if need be.
With regard to the Auto vs. Break open guns, I have several flats of Winchester ammo, 1 oz., that pretty regularly doesn't want to fully eject from my Beretta 686. It has never failed to eject from the 390's. Again, it's not a big deal, I just reach up and flick it out with my hand, but we're back to that concentration thing again, aren't we?
I'm not trying to be contentious, just pointing out that there are all kinds of perspectives.
On the other hand if I were a high level competition shooter, it would be a big deal. I had a Remington 11-87 Premier that was a jam-o-matic. I know how that can send your concentration spinning. All of a sudden your head is wrapped around what is wrong with the gun instead of on the target where it belongs, and your scores head for the basement. In point of fact, that gun was traded in on one of the 390s.
For me, that jam is just a "Sorry guys, let me have that one over". For some it could mean money. In a defensive situation it could mean disaster. This is one of the reasons that pumps are so popular for this application...you can usually muscle that over sized shell into battery and muscle it out if need be.
With regard to the Auto vs. Break open guns, I have several flats of Winchester ammo, 1 oz., that pretty regularly doesn't want to fully eject from my Beretta 686. It has never failed to eject from the 390's. Again, it's not a big deal, I just reach up and flick it out with my hand, but we're back to that concentration thing again, aren't we?
I'm not trying to be contentious, just pointing out that there are all kinds of perspectives.
You're not being contentious, you're expressing an opinion based on your shotgunning experience. That's all the majority of us do around here. There are other web forums with some pretty nasty resident trolls, for the most part we've been lucky here at TFL's shotgun side.RoscoeC said:
I think we both agree, when you throw irregular shells and the possible comp consequences into the picture, "reliability" takes on a new meaning.