The Guns and Weapons Thread

[Martin Blank]

Primarily home defense, but maybe also some casual sport shooting. I shot a Benelli M3 years ago and the option for pump or semi-auto was nice, but that's definitely not in the moderately-priced range.

I'll have a look at the 590 and 870. Gun prices are a bit high and stock is a problem at most of the DFW area stores. I'm intrigued by the magazine options for both, but I'm not sure if that would get awkward.

[raptor9k]

Anything Benelli makes is generally high quality but the pump/semi switch feature is really only useful if you're running less than lethal loads or something finicky. Pump is king for reliability but modern autos are pretty solid. My Franchi Affinity has no trouble with everything from super light sub ounce 2-3/4 low brass 8s to 3" 00 buck.

The detachable mag models of the 870 and 500 seem kind of pointless to me. At that size you can't easily carry spares. Might as well setup a gun belt with shell carriers and learn the quad load.

[Deacon]

Extended tubes work great for the 590 and 870.

But I agree about modern semiautomatic shotguns, especially inertia-driven. My Benelli Super Black Eagle II is really more of a goose gun, but it’s cycled without a single complaint hundreds of rounds of everything from massive goose magnums to little nothing dove loads. Never a single failure to feed or eject (or fire for that matter). I would trust it with my life.

[Deacon]

Here’s my 590A1 with extended tube. 18.5” barrel let’s another two rounds get in there. Click to embiggen.

[raptor9k]

Hey Deacon, did you every end up with the Magpul Hunter stock on that Remington 700? Did you like it? I have a Savage Hog Hunter in a Hogue pillar bedded overmold that shots great but the stock would never survive the inlet for AICS bottom metal. Magpul announced they were making the Hunter stock with bottom metal for the new Savage 110 so that's an option but I've never put hands on one. Buying a take off accufit with bottom metal is another option at about the same money. Or I could spend some cash and drop it into an MDT LSS XL Chassis but at that point I doubt I would want to carry it to a deer stand. I may also contact Boyd's and see if any of their laminates are inlet for the AICS bottom metal.

[Deacon]

I did, and I like it a lot, except I’m not a huge fan of the M-Lok attachment. I could never get one end of the shoulder strap to lock in properly on the hand guard. I like everything else about it, though.

[raptor9k]

I really like the looks of it, and I plan on trying to find one locally to get some hands on time, but then I found this yesterday.

https://mdttac.com/us_en/xrs-chassis-system.html

It's a fully adjustable conventional stock wrapped around a full chassis. It's $200 over the stock magpul setup but you get adjustable grip angle, no need to buy extra comb risers, and a full aluminum forend with barricade rest at around 1/2 lb heavier.

Boyd's hasn't developed anything for the savage that accepts AICS bottom metal and I don't particularly want a full metal chassis for cold weather hunting.

[Deacon]

Man, I've begun noticing that heavier long guns (e.g. bull barrel rifles) aren't great if you have to hike your way out to the stand or otherwise walk around with them much. Adding a half pound isn't too bad, but it's difficult to remember any time hunting when that level of adjustability was important. But then again I didn't need any extra cheek risers and such because I have my scope mounted low and tight to the rifle and don't have some massive objective lens to require elevated mounts.

[raptor9k]

This particular rifle sees more bench time than hunting, but I don't really have many rifles that aren't already 8 or 10 lbs with glass. My main deer rifle the last couple of years has been a Ruger M77 Hawkeye Magnum Hunter in 300 win mag. Putting that stock on the savage would bump the total weight by about 1.2 lb based on the weight of the hogue vs the Chassis. I do like to carry the Savage every now and then so I'd prefer to keep it in a hunt-able configuration, but I'm not worried about carrying it long distance or shooting off hand.

My average hike to the stand involves parking the ATV in a dense thicket approximately 20 feet from the shooting house after I unload my son and all his snacks for our 2 hour hunt. He runs through the snacks in about 30 minutes and then goes to sleep. Still fun seeing him light up when the deer start moving. Two years ago we pulled up to the stand for an afternoon hunt with a doe standing in the field and she never left. At one point we had 14 deer and a hog standing out there. Sadly the hog lived another day because I'd forgotten to chamber a round in my little 300 blackout. My son got to shoot a deer in the butt with a bb gun though.

[Deacon]

Sadly the hog lived another day because I'd forgotten to chamber a round in my little 300 blackout.

I hate when that happens! But it’s great for real-world revelation of poor shooting habits, especially anticipating the recoil and jerking the trigger or closing your eyes (or both) as a result.

My son got to shoot a deer in the butt with a bb gun though.

Heh. That’ll teach that deer to steal my corn!

[raptor9k]

Yeah, dry fire practice can help a lot with that and building muscle memory. In this case I knew a round wasn't chambered because I always ride in on an empty chamber anytime my son is with me. When the bolt slammed home the hog and a couple deer decided to make an exit post haste.

[Deacon]

In this case I knew a round wasn't chambered because I always ride in on an empty chamber anytime my son is with me. When the bolt slammed home the hog and a couple deer decided to make an exit post haste.

Haha yeah I’ve been in that situation before as well, but I’ve also forgotten the chamber was empty and felt like a complete doofus and then tried to quietly chamber it while still being securely done, hard to do.