Shooty Goodness

So a couple of months ago, I bought a shotgun. Very nice piece, in a rather benign configuration. Innocent looking.

Innocent doesn't always translate into "easy to handle," so my dad and I decided to take on a father/son project involving metalworking, dremels, and about $300 worth of parts.

Lots of complications ensue. Parts don't go together right, the teeth on the dremel cutting wheel get shaved down, the grinding wheel eventually is discarded for a squirt bottle and a metal file, and various holes have to be drilled in various places where one shouldn't have to drill holes.

Getting the trigger back together was a chore and a half.

In its new configuration, it has a pistol grip and a folding stock (w/ rubber pad that is a godsend over the metal plate it had before). Took us roughly 10 hours total over 2 days, and that's pretty dang good.

Took it out today with 25 rounds of lowbrass bird and 5 slugs. Didn't cross myself before shooting it, like I have every other time.

And...it works. Something my dad and I built, with absolutely no experience, half-@$$ed directions, over the weekend, is now identical to something built by major custom gunshops selling for $1700.

The birdshot was actually fun - the recoil was nice, as recoil goes.

Then we hit the rifle range for the slugs. I fired the first one from a bench (@ 25 yards), my elbows on the table. BOOM! Pushed me back so hard it tore up my elbows on the carpetting. Shot the next four off-hand, two doubletaps.

Painful. Accurate, but painful.

The slugs grouped together in a size smaller than a pie plate (and definitely smaller than the target) at 25 yards. Seeing as I only stock slugs for that end-of-the-world scenario involving vehicles, that's good accuracy. Minute of pie-plate at 25 definitely equals minute of SUV.

On the other hand, my right hand goes numb now every time I touch my shoulder, and there's something grinding below the skin.

I'll keep an eye on this.