O.K, so I wanted to go out dove hunting with a friend, but all I had was some old P.O.S 10ga single-shot gun. No prob, I thought, it will work fine.
Well, apparently, 10 gauge ammo is insanely hard to find here in Arizona. You see, the problem is out here we have no water. Which means we have none of those big birds that like to live near water (we can see them on T.V, or read about them, but I don't remember their names). So we have no need for a shotgun whose only real use is to kill these "big birds" (for lack of a real name).
So after trying 3 different sporting good stores, 2 different Wallmarts, and 2 gun stores, I finally come across a Big-5 Sports that actually had one dusty old box of 10ga ammo in the clearance "please_buy_me_because_no_one_else_will" section. It was a 3 1/2" 2-shot, steel-shot ammo, originally 21 bucks, but CLEARANCED for 19. 19 bucks for 25 shots. Wooooooooo.
Now, I people were laughing at me at these gun stores because, apparently, a single shot P.O.S. 10ga like mine with 3 1/2" high-brass shot like I had bought is gonna kick like a demon mule from hell.
But that's assuming it doesn't just go ahead and blow up first. Because, apparently, shooting a relatively large steel shot through a full choke barrel like mine is "bad" and "not recommended". I've heard varying reasons why it got this "not recommended" label. They vary from things like erratic patterns, to scratched barrels, to bulged barrels, to SPLIT barrels throwing burning powder in your face and melting your eyes. Well screw you, you little "not recommended" label. The guys that made you didn't have to go to 7 different stores just to spend 20 bucks on a single box of ammo. I'M GONNA SHOOT WHAT I CAN FIND!!
So here's me walking alone ahead of my friends to test out the first shot. I am wearing 2 recoil shields, an extra tough acid-proof pair of chem-lab safety goggles, and carrying my P.O.S single shot 10ga with it's *two* butt-pads ("Extreme Force" recoil, yknow). It's loaded with steel shot.
I point the gun at a can on the ground, pull the stock as hard as I can into my shoulder, turn my head, close my eyes, begin to scream, and jerk the trigger.
And nothing happens.
Well, I mean the gun does go off, but my shoulder isn't broken or dislocated, and the barrel hasn't exploded or even bulged, and the can is gone. I was so joyous that I almost peed all over myself.
Anyway, I bagged 5 birds with my crappy gun. Even after taking both recoil shields off, it felt no worse than my friend's 12-gauge. The barrel even didn't get messed up (I was so paranoid I checked after each of the 25 shots I took). What was fun was letting my friend shoot at a dove with his 12, then after he blew his 3 shots and the dove was getting out of range, I'd let go with my cannon for a long distance hail-mary shot. I figured this was the only time the pattern would actually spread out enough for me to have a chance of hitting with my steel shot through a full choke. I was pretty successful with these shots, I guess, I did get 5 killz. And the birds weren't "totally gone"(well most weren't, heheheh) like some of the gun store owner's had said they would be.
All in all it was a blast, and my shoulder wasn't even bruised when it was over. So there's my first hunting trip. Don't give up on the 10 gauges! They aren't as bad as they seem.
Well, apparently, 10 gauge ammo is insanely hard to find here in Arizona. You see, the problem is out here we have no water. Which means we have none of those big birds that like to live near water (we can see them on T.V, or read about them, but I don't remember their names). So we have no need for a shotgun whose only real use is to kill these "big birds" (for lack of a real name).
So after trying 3 different sporting good stores, 2 different Wallmarts, and 2 gun stores, I finally come across a Big-5 Sports that actually had one dusty old box of 10ga ammo in the clearance "please_buy_me_because_no_one_else_will" section. It was a 3 1/2" 2-shot, steel-shot ammo, originally 21 bucks, but CLEARANCED for 19. 19 bucks for 25 shots. Wooooooooo.
Now, I people were laughing at me at these gun stores because, apparently, a single shot P.O.S. 10ga like mine with 3 1/2" high-brass shot like I had bought is gonna kick like a demon mule from hell.
But that's assuming it doesn't just go ahead and blow up first. Because, apparently, shooting a relatively large steel shot through a full choke barrel like mine is "bad" and "not recommended". I've heard varying reasons why it got this "not recommended" label. They vary from things like erratic patterns, to scratched barrels, to bulged barrels, to SPLIT barrels throwing burning powder in your face and melting your eyes. Well screw you, you little "not recommended" label. The guys that made you didn't have to go to 7 different stores just to spend 20 bucks on a single box of ammo. I'M GONNA SHOOT WHAT I CAN FIND!!
So here's me walking alone ahead of my friends to test out the first shot. I am wearing 2 recoil shields, an extra tough acid-proof pair of chem-lab safety goggles, and carrying my P.O.S single shot 10ga with it's *two* butt-pads ("Extreme Force" recoil, yknow). It's loaded with steel shot.
I point the gun at a can on the ground, pull the stock as hard as I can into my shoulder, turn my head, close my eyes, begin to scream, and jerk the trigger.
And nothing happens.
Well, I mean the gun does go off, but my shoulder isn't broken or dislocated, and the barrel hasn't exploded or even bulged, and the can is gone. I was so joyous that I almost peed all over myself.
Anyway, I bagged 5 birds with my crappy gun. Even after taking both recoil shields off, it felt no worse than my friend's 12-gauge. The barrel even didn't get messed up (I was so paranoid I checked after each of the 25 shots I took). What was fun was letting my friend shoot at a dove with his 12, then after he blew his 3 shots and the dove was getting out of range, I'd let go with my cannon for a long distance hail-mary shot. I figured this was the only time the pattern would actually spread out enough for me to have a chance of hitting with my steel shot through a full choke. I was pretty successful with these shots, I guess, I did get 5 killz. And the birds weren't "totally gone"(well most weren't, heheheh) like some of the gun store owner's had said they would be.
All in all it was a blast, and my shoulder wasn't even bruised when it was over. So there's my first hunting trip. Don't give up on the 10 gauges! They aren't as bad as they seem.