M1911,
Speaking only for myself, and from the perspective of buying into the {{a shot gun is the ultimate HD tool}} side of things. I agree with you to a point. The point of difference is the possiblility that I'll miss. Honestly, I feel a one shot stop is something that only a nuclear reaction can give. For anything less, there's another few full chambers or more rounds in the magazine. Like a few others, I read the once or twice a year part of the original post. Once or twice a year just ain't going to cut it, no matter what it is you're doing. In that situation, like in mine, even at room distances $hit happens.Given parctice,lots and lots of practice, I'm betting I would lose that little double hitch bad habit I have when shouldering a shotgun. To be quite frank, I'm a bit scared of the things on the shooting end as well as the other end<----NOT A GOOD THING.
Here is maybe a better way to say it. 22 years ago, I woke up one morning and ate a giant bowl of stupid for breakfast
. I took it in my head that I was going to be a sky diver. It LOOKED like a lot of fun, so I figured why not? Now for someone like myself that gets a bit shakey wearing thick socks, the idea of jumping out of a plane 1/2 mile in the air was going to take a bit of getting used to ( or a bunch of Uncle Jack, but the last thing I needed was a crushed and mutilated body AND a hangover
) $60.00 and 5 hours later, I was as ready for the big event as I would ever be. A 15 min climb, filled with terror, turned into 5 seconds of sheer terror as I fell away from the plane. The next 2 1/2 min of the jump consisted of just plain boredom! There is absolutly nothing to do except turn left, turn right, and look at the same scenery. Now the interesting part, and the part that applys. When I landed, and landing took up 4 hours of a 5 hour class, I forgot just about everything I was taught about PLF's and just sat down! Honestly, this is one of THE most stressful things I ever did in life, and in the end, I forgot everything and just sat down. When chooseing something for HD, which I think everyone can agree is another high stress situation, the last thing I want is to just sit down again. If you have to choose something, use all the info you can gather, make a decision and try it out. If it works (speaking of a shotgun), then stick with it until you get it right.Once or wice a year may not be enough.
[This message has been edited by RAE (edited October 11, 2000).]