There's a new kid in town. The name is Dickinson. She is just a kid, a .410. She moved in on Monday, and today she was on a sunflower/dove field with me. She has 30" barrels, ejectors and is a real sweetie.
We had a great first afternoon together. I missed the first bird that came by, but decked the second, a long shot that ended with a very dead bird, not a cripple. I struggled for awhile with the new gun, then the birds stopped flying on my part of the field, then it all started in earnest.
We ended the day with a limit, handily. I killed a true double with her, my 11th and 12th birds. A right, then a left. That was encouraging. I saw two doves coming toward me and I thought "This is a two-fer". I killed the first with the right barrel, and as soon as I saw the first bird start to fall I swung on the second and killed it quartering away. Very satisfying for a new gun. Heck, for any gun.
We had maybe 12 people shooting this afternoon, and sat around for a long time while the thermometer climbed steadily. Finally, about 3:30 pm we went to the field and took stands. We quit about 5:30 to let the birds come in and feed undisturbed.
Good day. Here's the "pile" of birds.
I am so pleased with the Dickinson double. The two things I was most concerned about turned out to be non-issues, the trigger pulls and regulation. I patterned her this afternoon on the way to the dove shoot, on the side of an old dairy barn milking parlor on my place. The barrels printed 50/50, both right and left, and both were dead on center. The trigger pulls were the other concern, but that was worry for naught, too. I haven't measured them, but they are great. Absolutely a non-issue, probably about 3 1/2#. I put a leather lace-on pad on her this morning, to increase the LOP to suit me, but took it off for most of the pics so you could see the wood figure.
Very high quality for the price, guys. I am pretty discriminating about "new-made" doubles, but the Dickinson exceeds my expectations. The doves didn't care too much for it, tho'.
SRH
