I did a thing earlier this month......
I bought a shotgun. Yes you read that right. I'll repeat it for ya. I bought a shotgun.
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| My new friend "Trigger" resting on top of her travel case. |
Now before some of you get your knickers in a twist, please allow me to tell you about the reasons I decided to do this, and also my experience in buying said gun, as well as what I intend to do with it.
Knowledge is power, so please sit down, shut up, and read to the end with an OPEN MIND before flipping the fuck out. (or stop reading and close this page - your choice.)
I am quite possibly one of the LAST people who anyone would ever think would own a shot gun and I didn't go into this on a whim. I did a considerable amount of research on what type of gun I wanted including what gauge, what brand, what model,etc. I have logged more hours of research into this, than it would take to watch every season of Game of Thrones from start to finish.
The WHY factor:
Last year for our 10 year anniversary, I bought G an over under Mossberg Silver Reserve 12/20 combo. Since then he and M have enjoyed going to the ranch to shoot and I wanted to be able to join in the fun, but due to various old injuries of my right shoulder, stacked with my small stature using either a 12 or a 20 gauge is difficult at best, and one of the things we were interested in doing was going to shoot in competitions, which is often 100 shots in a day. So me being able to shoot more than 3 or 4 times with control and accuracy wasn't going to happen using his gun.
The WHAT factor:
I knew I wanted an over/under. I like the look, and it really is the "go-to" gun style for trap, clay and skeet. After doing countless hours of research and reading of reviews, and narrowing down some of my choices (price, weight, gauge, quality) I reached out to a friend who is also a gun smith, and sought even more advice, and his personal opinion as to what would be a good fit, as well as over all quality, and value.
I finally settled on a .410 gauge Stoeger Condor Over Under. Which weighs in at 6 pounds exactly, has a 26" fixed choke ventilated rib barrel, and is about 42" in total length.
The Gauge:
I predict that 50% of the people reading this right now are freaking the fuck out about this 'crazy powerful' weapon of mass destruction that I've purchased, and I predict that the remaining 50% (who understand gauging of a shotgun) are laughing their asses off that I got a 410.
For the former 50%, let me give you a little math lesson. Shotguns come in varying sizes called gauges. The biggest is a 10 gauge, then you have a 12, 16, 20, and 28. Last and certainly least, you have what is called the .410. Which isn't really a gauge, it's actually expressed as a caliber in thousandths of an inch. If you need an equivalent to wrap your brain around, it would be a 67 gauge.
The bore diameter is 10.41 mm. (tiny).
Here is a look at the different size ammunition for the more common sizes. a .410 is about the size of my pinkie, which is pretty tiny. On par with a AA battery.
For the latter of you who are laughing, but also curious why I would pick such a small shotgun, again, my shoulder is terrible. If I use 1/2 oz #9 loads, I can increase my spread pattern enough to do a decent job of crushing clays, and to be honest -- I would much rather make it about skillful, than having such a large spread pattern I could hit the broad side of a barn and still break the clay.
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| I call that a good day |
What am I shooting?
Relax animal lovers, you don't have to keep PETA on speed dial. The only things I'm taking down are 108mm clay targets that are also biodegradable.
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| Clays |
The machine flings them at about 40 miles per hour. The targets are about as fragile as an egg. In fact the box says something to that effect, so it doesn't take a lot to break one, only a few of the pellets in the load have to connect.
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| Flinging Machine |
Further, target loads which are some of the smallest pellets (for the widest spread in hopes of hitting the clay) come at a maximum 1/2 ounce loads for a .410 (or about 272 pellets per shell) which greatly decreases their distance at any sort of decent velocity.
Last, let me point out that this is what is called a break barrel gun, meaning you pop it open to load between the barrel and the stock.
This gun holds a maximum of 2 shells at a time. Even with a little practice, it takes me some time to get this thing loaded. I am betting I can, at best shoot about 4 rounds in a minute.
What else can I do with it?
Given the recent Shelter in Place orders, and the news turning everything into Covid-19 scare, there has been a huge uptick in the sale of guns and ammunition in the past couple of weeks. I am sure many of you are wondering if I could use it for home defense. My answer? Yes and No.
Let's say you were going to break in to my house (home invasion). I would hazard to guess that the average intruder if having a .410 pointed at them, would not in the moment realize that it was that small of a gun, as it is the same length and stock size as G's 20, with only the barrels being thinner. Unless you are looking at it side by side with a larger gauge, it's hard to tell. If you are only catching a quick glimpse of it ... unless you are a gun enthusiast, I would dare say that coming across me pointing this at you this in the middle of a home invasion would likely make you piss your pants.
That said - to any potential home invaders our there. Worry not, I will not shoot you with my .410 if you break into my house. No, I have something much more scary waiting for you. If you break into my house, I will likely shoot you with my bow, which is also exponentially quieter than my shotgun, and the only sounds will be your screams from the pain I've caused you. Furthermore, I am much, much quicker on the draw with my bow, and instead of 4 rounds in a minute. I can easily fire 8-10 arrows, but I'll only need one to stop you. That said, get off my blog if you are planning to come invade my home, you sick fuck.
Jumping Through Hoops
So I did a bunch of research, and then went out and tried to find as many guns that I was interested in to touch and feel in person in a brick and mortar shop before making my purchase. I was originally planning on having to order one online, but Dick's decided to get rid of all their hunting equipment in many of their stores around me, and the lovely little sale they had to reduce inventory, came at just the perfect time. Also, one of the guns I had my eye on, happened to be a floor sample gun, which meant that it had already been opened and shut a million and one times, and would not likely be a pain in the ass to open to load. Hmm. a sale, on exactly what I wanted? That could not have worked out better.
So I went down to Dick's, and plunked down my hard earned money on my new friend. Prior to being able to take my purchase home, I had to pass a written Firearm Safety test and receive my FSC (Firearm Safety Certificate) Which passing is 75% of 30 questions. THIS girl got 30/30 on the first try. I also had to do a DOJ background, and wait 10 days to take it home. Further, I couldn't purchase ammo for the gun, until after it was picked up on the 11th day.
As a reminder to everyone out there who things that "gun laws should be tougher" I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that criminals don't usually obtain guns legally, and aren't afraid of tough gun laws. The process was far from fun, but worth the effort, I also learned even more about gun safety in the process (locks, safes, and other storage options) which is very important regardless of whether or not you have children in a household and proper care and maintenance.
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