pre-season shopping

Time to stock up on all the huntin' and shootin' gear you need this year, for you and the wife and kids.

Here's a neat gift idea...click to see more great gift ideas.

TR's AH Fox for sale

Teddy Roosevelt's A. H. Fox 12-gauge side-by-side shotgun goes up for auction on October 5.

Photo courtesy of James D. Julia Auctioneers, www.jamesdjulia.com

Full story here.

I like guns

for your musical appreciation. enjoy.

more of the good stuff

sorry I've been AWOL. Keith told me to post something to the blog. Here it is.



Bet some of you may like other "Viral Video Film School" clips on YouTube. Be sure to check out the ones on animal fights and feeding the bears.

best death scene . . . nailed it.

The camping one is good too.

Couldn't resist... Maine diner reprise

Remember this?




Now there's this... and some interesting, though slightly dated, reading...

Watch out you wily woodchucks . . . .

I've been meaning to be back in touch with Yeoman about his rifle advice from last year. Since our exchange here on the blog I have picked up two smallbore guns, a CZ 527 in .223 Rem, and a Tikka T3 Lite in .243 . (I also picked up a CZ .22lr military trainer, which I and my kids absolutely love.) Here's my report so far:

CZ 527 American
Yeoman, while I think I've come to agree with you about the CZ's overall quality compared with the Tikka, let me tell you that it seems to me CZ makes you work for it. This .223 CZ gun has a very rough bolt and very rough magazine feeding. The bolt was so bad that the gunsmith at the store offered to polish it for me as a warranty repair before I even took it home.

The CZ also makes it hard (though not impossible) to mount a scope, due to (a) the short action, but also (b) the clearance needed between the scope and the bolt handle. I ended up fitting a very nice 4x14.5 x40 Nikon Buckmasters scope on it, but I won't be able to put flip-up scope caps on it.

The good news is that the .223 shoots well and seems to like (so far) Black Hills remanufactured ammo with 55 grain soft points. The set trigger is also kind of fun to play with--basically a hair trigger once it's set.

So basically the main issue is that I've got to wait for the action eventually to smooth out after shooting it a bunch more.

Tikka T3 Lite
Here's more good news. This thing shoots. I've got a Nikon Buckmasters 3X9X40 with a BDC reticle I'm not sure I need. But lookee here--at 160 yards with Federal Premium 70 grain Nosler Ballistic tips:

These rounds will go an inch high at 100 yards and an inch low at 200 yards--about right for the fields around here. While 70 grains through a .243 seems like overkill for groundhogs, one thing I learned from the elephant gun video . . . it pays to use enough gun.

Watch out you wily woodchucks.

Breaking news- Hevi-Shot developments

The good news is, a new option emerges for those of us shooting older fixed choke guns. Hurray!!

The bad news is, it seems Hevi Shot has been watering down the "Hevi" part of their offering...see this "Hevi Shot sucks" discussion.

Thought ya'll'd like to know.

Back to your regularly scheduled grousing.

Cagey

To Huglu or not to Huglu?

I’m gearing up to buy a new duck gun. I swore off of autoloaders after the Browning jammed for the umpteenth during the waning minutes of my final Double Black hunt.

I’ve been watching the web auctions, looking for something with modern steel barrels to handle steel and mag loads. Add to that 3” chambers, a little bit of sexiness and, most importantly, two fat 12 ga barrels sitting side by side. Two triggers would be nice too, just to keep things simple when I switch from this gun to the Pahkah. Oh yeah, screw in chokes would be a plus. And, did I tell you that I will have to use the proceeds from my anticipated sale of the Browning Gold, plus whatever change I get from redeeming soda cans?

El Huglu 201A

For obvious reasons I keep returning to Huglu, despite the fact that its name reminds me of Yugo. Huglu’s are inexpensive, have lots of options and, I think, are nice to look at. Also, I read a fairly favorable review of the Huglu in Shooting Sportsman a few years ago.

I’m contemplating getting the 201A with 30” barrels, Prince of Whales stock, and splinter forend (no cheek piece as in the picture above).

Anyone care to throw out an opinion on the Huglu as a gun? As a duck gun?

Huglu Model 201 – A OPTIONS
*Gauge : 12,16,20,28,.410
*Chamber : 70 - 76 mm (2_"-3")
*Trigger Type : Double
*Barrel lenght : 20", 22", 26", 27", 28", 30"
*Safety : Manual
*Engraving : Hand-engraved (50%)
*Receiver : Machined from steel blocks
*Recevier Chrome: Write or black chrome optional
*Ribs : Sunken or raised
*Stock : Walnut*Stock Type : Optional
*For - end : Walnut
*For - end Type : Optional
*Barrel : Machined from steel blocks
*Barrel Chrome : Inner side plated with hard white, outer side plated with black chrome.
*Choke : Optional
*Weight : 3.2 - 3.4 KG

This week at Daddy Camp

Some of you may have guessed by now that I was off from work this week, goofing off while shooting woodchucks and taking care of my kids.

I took the opportunity to teach my kids how to shoot. I decided, however, that the Marlin would have been too difficult for the kids to attempt to learn on. So I went over to Dick's, which just happened to have some of its youth guns on sale. I settled on a Rossi two-barrel combo of a single shot hammer .22 and 20 gauge. A brick of Remington Thunderbolts followed me home.
First up was Sophie. I can't tell you how much she enjoys making one-liter soda bottles filled with water explode! and for what it's worth, she does a good job of making them explode.

Her older sister Julia was a bit more tentative about the whole thing, waiting an entire day before she'd come out in the yard to try it.

And although she enjoyed making soda bottles explode as well, Julia really surprised me with how intense she got with target shooting at paper. Her powers of concentration really impressed me, and her steadiness at squeezing the trigger improved with each target. Here's her fifth target from the bench rest after shooting four ten-shot groups.

We weren't shooting quite at 25 yards, more like 20 yards . . . but I'm pretty damn proud of her shooting on the first time out. Aside from the flyer in the 8 ring (the first shot of the target), that's about an inch and a half group with open iron sights. Not too shabby!

Tuning up my soul.

Last night I poured a glass of Ardbeg and settled in to re-read A Rough Shooting Dog (ISBN: 0385479921), by Charles Fergus. It's a really nice story about the first year hunting with a springer spaniel.

I'm thinking about how the local WMA, McKee-Beshers, is going to look to me with a dog at my side. I'm reading some web posts about how to take full advantage the Potomac during the watefowl season.

It's a bit premature, but I'm getting excited about rediscovering my neighborhood.

something completely different

sorry, I just couldn't take looking at that cross-dressing ferret of Josh's any longer. Hey Josh, whassup with that rat in drag, anyway? something you want to get off your chest, pal?

Now hear this...

Want one of these?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?item=51127750

Forget what Mr. Mike says . . .

And don't forget, he's the one who took us all on the NEQPD not too long ago (Never Ending Quest for the Perfect Dogge, for newcomers).

I made the field trip today to Syracuse to inspect the CZ Huglu Ringneck 28 gauge gun that was in stock at Gander Mountain. I now stand by my earlier statement that this gun--and the small gauge equivalents in the Bobwhite model as well--are probably the best value for a new side by side gun today on the market. You can shoot steel through them, the wood to metal fit is beautiful, the wood for a sub-$1000 gun is beautiful, you can have choke tubes--it's all there. The rounded Prince of Wales grip is my personal favorite grip style, so I'm in to that as well. So again, forget what Mr. Mike said about Huglu's Teutonic Majesty--he was undoubtedly referring to a 12 gauge gun from several years ago, not these guns being imported today.

Ringneck model

I picked up the literature. The 28 gauge gun that I handled today weighed 5.7 pounds and came up very sweetly to the shoulder, and my eye lined up right on the bead. The 28 inch barrel version of the same gun would weigh 5.9 pounds; and the 20 gauge version of the gun would weigh 6.1 pounds.

Move to the 12 gauge, however, and the gun jumps up to 7.1 pounds. This is probably a good thing, though, especially for you lads and lasses who would be shooting such a gun out of the Double Black Blind at pesky incoming waterfowl.

The only negative that I saw on the gun is that the case coloring is not quite up to Doug Turnbull standards (surprise, surprise), but also that I could see the machining milling marks on the receiver, ever so faintly. Well, you can't have everything.

And as I mentioned yesterday, the folks on Shooting Sportsman who have actually shot these guns are for the most part very pleased with them, thinking them a great value for the money. Read some of their conversation here, here, and here.

Again, the question here is value for the money. If you insist on a side by side that can shoot modern loads, has choke tubes, and you've got $4000 for a custom Spanish import, then have at it. But if your budget is under $1000, then the Ringneck I looked at today was $999 new in the box--for a 28 gauge. The Bobwhite with double triggers and English grip would be $699.

Bobwhite model

The only other guns that I can think of that come anywhere close would be used Ithaca SKB side by sides. Clearly some of the brethren have gone that route and are very happy with their guns.

But I think I may be getting a 28 or 20 gauge toy sometime soon, you know, just for fun. And we all know I like two triggers--lucky for me that's the cheaper of the two models!

...a meager contribution

God knows, and even Tantillo knows, that my gun knowledge is limited and that my gun collection, is, er, colorful. However, I have "kilt" a few things with my "colorful" guns and even fancied myself in the new gun market recently, having "kilt" enough to justify plunking down real money.

I bought the Marlin LC Smith in 12 gauge sxs. I regret it.

Now, I am am instinctive shooter, especially since Josh enlightened me at a firing range somewhere in the DC metro area by suggesting I become a left hander. (Why, because Uncle Sam found it useful that I sacrifice my right eye ...long story...perhaps next grouse camp.)

So, I shoot left now, and this LC Smith kills stuff. I beat the snot out of it the first two weeks I owned it killing geese mercilessly. I hit what I aimed at. But not well, not enjoyably. Bottom line is I don't enjoy this gun one bit.

First, hate the single trigger. Second, hate the inability to select barrels (important when I need a "fuller" choke to take the banded geese closer to Jim so they don't escape unscathed due to Tantillo Balistics Blundering) ;).

Third, and most important, the cast. Its a bad deal. Not well published or advertised, but clearly there, and not favoring lefty's. Lots of crippling shots, lots of ugly connections. Birds fell, I was shooting solo, the dog retrieved 'em, but they weren't the clean stone dead drops from the sky I have become accustomed to. Switched back to old favorites and I was back in "enjoyable" form. This is important to me, all science and ballistics aside.

Finally, it is stocked long (or else there is something else going on) which means the trigger guard beats my hand to a pulp (reminiscent of one of Pete's guns).

So, in response to an embedded comment somewhere in the impressive 19 comments to the recent Grouse Gab post, I'd say avoid the LC Smith Marlin thing.

True, I broke the gun in on waterfowl ('cause I have different guns for upland, of course!), but I think my impressions would be the same in any case. With that, I slink back to my amateur's armchair and await more action from you pedantic pugilists.

GROUSER NEEDS GUN HELP!!

Hey lads and lasses,
sorry to have been out of the loop lately--was felled by a bug of some sort and spent the last 48 or so hours in stuporific doze under a mass of quilted blankets.

Anyway, just in case nobody's up-to-date and current on reading their 5 Smart Guys comments, Superior Shooter this morning pleads with us to help him address his off-season gun woes. To wit:

Maybe the esteemed panel can suggest a new gun for the house (grounds for divorce on my end if I get caught!)? What is the best left-handed poor-man's aint-got-no-good gun dog gun that you can recommend? I'll not impose any limits on the conversation but I'm currently limiting my looking to the Ithaca 37, the 870, the 1187, a "loose" citori and possibly a new Ohio born NID (all in 20 ga). Note that the last two choices require some lucky tickets at the next Red squirrels sportman's dinner potluck and bbq.

For the sweet love of the almighty, will someone here please help the not-so-humble one figure out what his options are? Also, if Superior would provide us with more detail about the RUMORS that he's passing on about Ohio-made New Ithaca Doubles in 20 gauge, that would be much appreciated by yourn' truly.

I know we've got some lefties out there--and I'm not just talking Al Franken fans--so let's pony up some good gun advice for the shooter.

Where is everybody?

It's been a little lonely this week at 5 Smart Guys and Mr. Mike, putting me in a slightly elegiac Friday frame of mind.

Here is a little picture I like to call, Dead Birds with Parker:

I miss that gun . . . my beat up 20 gauge.

Just like I miss you guys. sniff sniff. Tugs at my heartstrings, thinking of each and every one of you.

Josh, with your amusing tendency to get violently ill at grouse camp for no reason. Well, there was a reason, we just won't mention it.

Safari, for your generous contributions of candy bars and camraderie in the conifers. Say, that could be a haiku.

Pete, I miss your manic-ness. Period.

Vicar. who are you exactly? heh heh

Path Walker, I miss your dragging me through impenetrable alder swamps at high rates of speed following your (ahem) slightly higher energy setter than I'm accustomed to.

Mr. Bill, I miss your calming presence on hunts with Mr. Pete. That and all those conversations trying to figure out the perfect gun for you. By the way, how's that new Elsie?

Mr. Mike. I don't really miss you because you're just as active a blogger as I am. But if I did miss you, I would miss your geometric approach to cutting transects through the coverts, and my telling you to forget geometry.

Cabin Boy. I also don't miss you since you work in my building. But when I wax on, wax off about days afield with the Cabinmeister, I guess I'd say I miss that whole group of Canoga goosers and duckers you've introduced me to. I don't miss you reminding me about Jim's Comeuppance every time we bird hunt.

Hmmm. I can take this further. Ernie, I know you sometimes read this blog. I miss your Meals Ready to Eat of grilled steaks marinaded in Chiavettas. Also miss that monstrous bonfire at beer camp.

Mike O--I miss your calling ability for bringing ducks in and your gentlemanly holding back on shots so I can have first crack at them. Except for when you invoke the rarely-invoked "drakes only" rule, or say "go" instead of "take em." oh wait, that's Tidball.

Carola, since you're still listed in the blog lineup, I miss your pseudonymous haiku lurking in the comments sections. If you're still reading, let us know you're out there, every now and then.

Well, I'm sure I miss more than just you folks, but I've gotten myself so veclempt that I can't type. Talk amongst yourselves.