doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Small victory along the route.

There are a few things about this endeavor that are very concerning to me.

Recoil bothers me off my right shoulder far, far, more than it ever did off my left. That is one of the reasons for using the 20 gauge Remington gas gun. If there is a design of gun that is more user friendly for pointing and shooting, for more people, than an 1100, I have yet to meet it. I can use my Brother’s 12 gauge 1100, if need be, but, to date, I haven’t. I also have not wrapped my head completely around the fact that my little brother is in a nursing home, both legs amputated below the knee, with a host of other medical problems, and very much not likely to need his 1100 ever again.

Handling his guns brings me incredible sadness at the moment.

The arthritis in my hands from the blue collar printing work I have done my whole life, is worse in my right hand. I’m having a bit of trouble manipulating the three Darne guns in my accumulation. I imagine for hunting use, I can make them work, but, the disquieting truth at this point is ANY double is hard for me to connect on a target with.

That bugs hell out of me. My scores slowly crept up with the 20 gauge 1100, but, the doubles gun scores are consistently bad. I hope I can practice my way out of it. I could shoot a 20 gauge black autoloader the rest of my life, and be thankful for it, but, I don’t know how happy I would be about it.

Best,
Ted

I enjoyed that Ted!!

Ted, Take the victories where they come and build on them if you can. But be sure to enjoy the progress you’ve made. It was a detached retina that made my father put his guns down. I know it’s been tough but you are doing well.

Keep up the good fight Ted.

Ted, your effort and willingness to admit that recoil is an issue are refreshing. I've seen skeet and dove shooters who brag about not having recoil or flinch affect them but almost topple over, bracing for recoil, on a FTF from faulty ammo or failure to have one in the chamber. There is a "sticky" over at shotgunworld in the reloading section regarding 3/4 oz. in the 20 ga. I know you have opinions regarding reloading, but it may be worth your time. You might even have a 25 lb. bag of #9 lying around. Your son's work at the range would be a good source of the best hulls for the task. 20 ga. promo loads are relatively cheap, but it is still cost effective to reload specialty rounds in the 20. Keep going forward. Gil

Great day for you and your son, Ted! Best of luck making the switch. I thought about trying to shoot southpaw, because I'm strongly L eye dominant. And at that time, I was having issues with my R eye. Macular pucker surgery has improved my R eye enough that it's not as much of an issue as it was, although my L eye is slightly stronger. But I've shot right handed my whole life, and everything just flat seemed awkward when I tried to make the switch.

That might be the understatement of the decade, Larry.

When I try to practice my mount, say, at home, I fiddle and fidget around, trying to get it just right. Uncomfortable. I have noticed that when I shoot, it seems to be an improvement, if I just call for the bird and attempt to smoothly mount the gun to my shoulder, focusing on the bird. It is hard to explain, but, that is the best I can do. There is no time to think about the process.

The coach out there on Sunday told me I have a beautiful swing. He obviously didn’t watch me chop at the skeet targets.

Best,
Ted

Ted,
Glad to hear you’re getting out and shooting! I have an 1100 20 gauge and it is an excellent shooting gun. Mine runs well with 3/4 oz reloads which makes it even nicer to shoot. You can try a box if you’d like.

Very kind of you, Jeff. When it warms up a bit, I’m in.

Gil, that is actually a bag of 8 shot. Right where I left it, in front of my gun tools toolbox. The COVID19 scam put a damper on my attempts at becoming a reloader. I should develop a 2 1/2” load for my Halifax Darne, even though Dustin says just run 2 3/4” in it.

I should do a lot of things.

Thanks.

Best,
Ted

Keep at it Ted. As you said thinking about shooting when doing it doesn't work well. I know because I do it all the time. Best of luck in your switch. I hope your MD has prescribed some anti-inflamitory for your hands, I understand. Sometimes Fiochi makes 3/4 oz 20 ga loads. As I said, best of luck.