Posted on 08/31/2020 5:29:08 AM PDT by w1n1
Is your Shotgun ready? Like many of you, I am much better at just doing stuff than getting ready for it. I guess its all about being prepared, and I was never the sharpest Boy Scout in the troop, or something like that.
But some things are too important to not prepare for. Depending on what and where you hunt with your scattergun, your season is either coming up fast, or is already here. September is often the last call for getting shotguns and other paraphernalia ready, so lets talk about what you need to do to get out there and sling some lead or steel.
First, pull those scatterguns out of the gun safe and look em over. Im sure that you would never put a shotgun away at the end of the season without a thorough cleaning, but if somehow this did happen, now is the time to rectify it.
Not that long ago, I needed to disassemble a Browning BPS, and when it came to taking the bolt assembly apart I was unsure about getting it back together. Fortunately, there are multiple internet videos about putting this gun and many others back together.
While you are making sure that your guns are ready to roll, here are a few items that will help improve your experience in the field.
Open the action and make sure everything seems to function properly action, trigger, safety, etc. If there are any problems, you may (yes, I wrote may) have time to get it to your gunsmith for repair. But if there are any questions with functioning or the safety, do not take the shotgun to the field.
Clean Up
Most of the time, the only prep our guns need is some old-fashioned cleaning. Pump guns and semiautos need a little more TLC when it comes to this, but don't neglect the actions on your side-by-side and over-and-under shotguns just because theyre easier to clean. It is, however, easy to be intimidated when it comes taking pump and semi-auto guns apart, so if you feel as if you are getting in over your head, dont do it.
ONE GUN PROTECTION PRODUCT Ive recently come to use is Hopper Spit by Birchwood Casey. The name is derived from and I am not making this up the products dark brownish-green color. If you caught grasshoppers for fish bait as a kid (as I did), you know what color their spit is. Read the rest of shotgun season ready.
:)
Where’s the tobacco?
Turkish tobacco? Oh it’s around.
Well, I don’t have any of these spiffy high dollar foreign made over and under rigs, just an everyday 1964 Winchester Model 1200 pump, in 16 gauge, but it’s always ready to go. Dependable as they get, always my go to home defense weapon and always full of buckshot.
Sure wish my old Winchester Model 12 hadn’t been stolen about 1975...it was 16 gauge too, with poly choke. That thing was unstoppable...I have no idea how many rabbits met their demise when they crossed its path...
I clean the model 1200 once a year whether it needs it or not, usually about this time of year, so I’ll be walking around smelling like gun oil soon...again...
Just finished doing a couple of Ambassadeur reels (5500 and 4600) so I can start doing some salt water fishing again, haven’t touched a rod in 20 years.Put the Black Max in a box to bring as a spare, still needs a cleaning though.
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