Dove Hunting 2012 - Opening Day

[conty1]

Lanark, Illinois. September 1st 2012.

Dad, son and myself!! We got about 20 birds between us.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of talking.

Cheers,
Amit

[HSharief]

AWESOME. Congratulations brother. I wish I could go with you sometime

[Vikram]

Very nice,Conty. Three generations hunting together. Looks like a sporting clays lay out too. May I ask what guns were being used? Thanks for sharing.


Best-
Vikram

[xl_target]

You're a lucky man Conty; being able to hunt with your father and your son.
Thanks for sharing.

[conty1]

Vikram,

The guns we took along were a Remington 870 pump, an Eastern Arms SXS, and a Winchester SXP.

All 12 guage!!

Cheers,
Amit

[Sakobav]

Amit

Great hunting - nice to see all folks together whats your favorite shotty?

Cheers

[captrakshitsharma]

Nice to see fellow enthusiasts enjoying. It's very inspirational for those of us not so privileged due to our geography and policies. Nothing like 3 generations of a family pursuing the same passion. Salute you dad for giving you this legacy and passing down the love of field sports. I love the topography of the place that you are shooting at. Almost like English country side meadows. Wonder what real estate in that part of the world sets one back. We could set up an IFG shooting grounds/ range there?

[conty1]

Amit

Great hunting - nice to see all folks together whats your favorite shotty?

Cheers

The problem is that my dad and I have both shot his WW Greener (12 Guage SXS) extensively in India. So it is hard for us to like a O/U or even a single barrell for that matter. But having said that, I do like my 870 a lot. The only thing with the 870 is that if I am to take multiple shots rapidly, the pump seems to jam for a couple of seconds. Is there a solution to that?

Cheers,
Amit

[xl_target]

Amit,
I am a huge fan of the 870, mainly because the ones that I have used have been rock solid reliable.
BTW, is your's an Express or is it a Wingmaster? How old is it? What kind of ammo were you using; 2 3/4", 3 "?
I wish you had brought it along. We could have taken a look at it.

On doing some research I came up with several possible causes. Please discount each one that doesn't apply.
1. Cheap ammo (Wally World ammo). There seem to be some complaints about the Winchester shells as they have a smaller rim and don't want to eject as easily. Also some complaints about the cheaper skeet and dove shells.
2. Dirty or fouled action/chamber (see below).
3. Unpolished chamber (seems to effect Express versions), causes spent shells to hangup sometimes. Steel wool around an old bore brush and saturated with gun oil, chucked in a drill will polish any tooling marks/ fouling out of the chamber.
4. Pulling on the forend when shouldering the gun can occasionally cause a lockup. Try using the right hand instead to tuck the gun into the shoulder. Though I can say that I have never personally experienced this.
5. Short stroking the pump. Let it slam back and forth into its stops.

From the sound of it, I would say that some shells are sticking momentarily in the chamber after firing. Does the slide release lever work when this happens or is it locked up?

One thing to check; On the forearm there is a nut with two slots for a wrench. It tightens down onto the slide. If it is loose, it might be causing the shells to hang up. See item 29 in the diagram below


image from HERE

[conty1]

The guns were in the car all the time. We even talked about doing some trap shooting but never got around to doing it!! Maybe next time!!