Lloyd,
Petrik. I think the Petrik came first, then the Remington. To a very large degree, the French Petriks are light, well balanced hunting guns with double triggers. Not saying they can’t run heavy, but, usually, they don’t. The Bruchets were building them for a time, and for some reason moved away from that to a Blitz action O/U that, to me, was a sad excuse of a hunting implement.
This week, I have been taking stock of the guns around the place. There are many, the remains of two collections that were left to me after the death of friends and family, and my own accumulation. It is pretty evident that my days of shooting as a southpaw are behind me, and my efforts to shoot right (so to speak) aren’t really coming to fruition as I had hoped. 50 years of muscle memory is hard to overcome. I’m not saying I am going to quit, but, I do believe I am at the point where I need to hire some help. My best hunting arm, the restocked Darne R10, a gun that cannot be changed without new wood, a gun with 20+ seasons of use, won’t fit me, and likely will never fit me again. I also have a hell of a time manipulating the action of a Darne with my right hand, a problem aggravated by some recent arthritis in both of them. I have a lot of years running big folders and cutters in commercial and trade binderys. The chickens are here. Coupled with the above is the fact I have lattice in the remaining right eye, and an increased risk for a detachment of the retina, the same thing that brought me here with my left eye, in that eye. Recoil needs to be considered, and dealt with, to help keep that risk in check.
Slowly, the Ithaca pumps, and auto shotguns are being converted back to right handed safeties. But, the changes to come are sobering.
Best,
Ted
