3/12/09

The reason y'all got a mini rantlet yesterday was because John and I didn’t go to the shop after all. Samantha, John’s wife, was sick so we had to reschedule. I'm not sure if we’re going tonight or blowing it off until Saturday. We’ll see. So, here’s what happened, after work Tuesday I went to Academy to look at that .50 caliber BFR. They’d sold it already so I was off the hook. So yesterday I stopped off at BloodBath and Beyond to shop for another gun. I didn’t have anything in mind but knew I'd know it if I saw it. I didn’t see it. From there I went to the Shooster’s Club to look at that Mossberg 500E .410 pump shotgun Cutie Patootie had shown me some weeks back. I hadn’t really intended to buy it but it is really cute/cool. The final nail in my coffin was when they showed me the Hogue grip for it. I sighed and said, “Gimme the paperwork.” They took the gun and grip to the back to install it but it turns out it won’t actually fit the .410 gun. Damn. Well, I bought the gun anyway. I finger I can get a grip later. Ha, “get a grip!” That is what I need to do! I priced some .410 shells while they were calling the ATF. I wasn’t planning to shoot then and there, but I'm not really sure why. I finally gave in and bought five Golden Bear 2 ¾” #4 buckshot, and five Winchester 3” ¼ oz rifled slug shells, one target, and a lane rental. Through the rain in the lane, I set up the target and loaded the five Golden Bear rounds, four in the magazine and one in the chamber. When I racked the first round in with that universally familiar “shuck-shuck” sound, I had to grin. The report was sufficient and the recoil negligible. I like it! It blew a nice big hole in the torso of the target putting all five balls, as far as I could tell, into the same spot at “antisocial interaction” distance, say about three yards. “Shuck-shuck, BOOM” went the second through fifth rounds and I pulled the target in for a look-see. Yeah, he’s dead. I loaded the five Winchester slug rounds in the same manner and sent the target back out. The report on these was much louder and the muzzle flash rather impressive. Recoil still wasn’t too bad. Remember, I'm used to firing .410 shells in a 3” barrel revolver; this is a pussycat in comparison. Again, “shuck-shuck, BOOM” went rounds two through five and I was pleased. In came the target and I noticed I missed with one shot, which is not too bad considering Juan can only fire this thing from the hip. I threw away the paper and swept my lane. Back at the counter we discussed the thing and they all said they could tell when I was firing. My grin was beginning to hurt my cheeks. I forewent going to the shop to clean the thing and headed home. I stopped off and ate some sushi. Once again, my eyes were bigger than my stomach so I had to take some home with me for later. Mom was gone when I got there, as I knew she would be, so I played with the shotgun in my room for a bit. I still need to come up with a name for it. Anyhoo, I practiced field stripping it and had a look down the barrel, with it removed from the breech of course. It could stand a swatch run through it but it wasn’t bad. Hell, it’s only had ten shots run through it, it should look good. Anyhoo, I loaded the magazine with those Fiocchi #9 birdshot shells which won’t work in the Judge and found I could get five in there! So it is four 2 ¾” or 3” shells in the magazine or five 2 ½” shells. Next I did something which was probably not too bright. I unloaded the gun by racking the shells through the chamber without firing them. Obviously I didn’t kill myself doing it, nor did I blow any holes in the house so it worked out, but I still probably shouldn’t have done it. I loaded five Winchester 2 ½” #4 birdshot shells in the magazine, chamber empty and ready to rack, and started looking for a place where the thing could live. I discovered that it would fit perfectly between the frame rail and box spring of my bed, right next to the Judge in its holster. I then fired up the laptop and sent the message y'all read yesterday to Spiderman and wasted the rest of the evening surfing the internot. Speaking of which, I think I'll go shopping for grips and fore ends on the internot right now. Y'all have a day. “Shuck-shuck, BOOM!”

Ain’t it cute?