ShotGun Showdown

 The thought of just picking up a shotgun gets me excited. This goes back all the way to when I was a little boy. The first firearm I ever shot besides a BB gun was a .22 rifle but, the first one that started this life long addiction to love of firearms was an old long barreled 12 gauge shotgun that knocked me right on my butt. I will never forget that feeling, the feeling of actually holding and controlling something that had an unbelievable amount of power. After begging my Dad and Mom for my first firearm, Chanukah came and went, no firearm,  then on the morning of Christmas of 1976, there under the tree, sat an odd looking box, long and flat, a little heavy. I had already noticed no bike or anything else that I would run to with untold joy. I nervously opened the box and to my surprise and excitement, there in all its shiny wood and blued steel was a Sears and Roebuck single shot .410 shotgun. The world could have ended right then, I was in heaven. I still own this shotgun today and I would not sell it for a million dollars, well maybe for a million but it would not be an easy decision. LOL.

  When it comes to firearms, is there another more versatile than a shotgun ?  In my opinion, no. Everything from home defense, to every type of hunting you can think of, the shotgun is a hard choice to beat. The only thing that comes to mind instantly is, the shotgun would not make a great sniper rifle. Besides that, not many things a shotgun would not be a great choice with. The shotgun comes in a wide variety of choices, from the semi-auto, single shot, pump action, breech loading, lever action, double barrel, side by side, over under to the fully auto. The vast array of choices could and does make your head spin.

  The shotgun came around sometime in the 19th century although, the blunderbuss and the musketoon could really be considered early model shotguns and have been around for hundreds of years. The blunderbuss was used by the Calvary riot control and self defense. John Moses Browning really got the shotgun ball rolling with the invention of the pump action and the semi- auto shotguns. The military quickly realized the value of the shotgun in the trenches of  WW1. The shotgun shined in the close quarter battles that took place and forever made their mark and are still widely used in all forces of the military today. The uses of shotguns for law enforcement is endless. They are used in lethal and also non lethal ways from riot control to blowing locks off doors.

 Skeet, trap and sporting clay shooting have a huge following and is a great sport to become involved with. A whole lot of fun and sore shoulders can be had in a day of knocking clay pigeons out of the sky. Skeet and trap shooting are also recognized featured sports in the summer Olympics.

  When it comes to hunting, anything that fly's or climbs or runs, all can be taken with the shotgun. Modern shotguns with rifled barrels can shoot Sabot slugs that can be very deadly out to well over 100 yards. More and more hunters are taking deer with shotguns. When it comes to water fowl or bird hunting, there is no other firearm but the shotgun.

   The very easy to use and easy to aim shotgun make it a great choice for home or personal protection. There is a myth that all one has to do is point in the general direction you want and fire, although depending on what load choice you make, the spread of a shotgun load does make hitting a target easier, it still needs to be aimed   to be accurate. The stopping power of a shotgun at short range is unbeatable and lessens the risk of over penetration, that can go through interior and exterior walls and the round hitting an unintended innocent target. There is no sound that is quite as intimidating as the racking of an pump action shotgun. It will surely put the fear of God into someone very quickly.

  Although, there are bigger and smaller shotgun loads or shells, the most popular are the 10, 12, 16, 20 and the .410 shotguns. Most shotguns are used to fire a ball shot, along with the slug and sabot slug shells. Buckshot being the most popular for home protection.The buckshot loads are measured from the 4 and as the number goes lower, the bigger the shot. The are 4 down to 0000 buck. The 00 buck being the most popular, especially for home defense. Bird shot shells are measured by weight and go from a #9 down to a #1. A #9 bird shot has 201 very small pellets and a #1 has 25 pellets. The spread on some loads like that of a #9 can be huge, that is where chokes come in. A choke is used to narrow the spread. Hunters, depending on what bird they are targeting, can tailor their shotguns using loads and chokes to achieve a pattern that helps not only to hit their target but, to humanly kill it without destroying all the meat intended to be harvested.

  Shotguns come in many models and sizes. It, in my opinion is the ultimate firearm. The prices for a quality home defense pump action shotgun, make it an affordable choice for even low income earners to protect themselves and their families.

  A great quality shotgun like the Mossberg 500, seem as though they are custom made for home protection, could be bought at retail prices that are about $350.00 range. I won't even get into the prices of what a quality skeet and trap shotgun go for. LOL.

  It is probably pretty apparent that I love shotguns, who doesn't ?  I can remember being that little boy who use to shoot Doves off the power lines  of S.R.84 in Ft.Lauderdale back in the late 70's. I am still that little boy at heart when I pick up a shotgun at the gun show or gun store and I start to get that feeling again that I had as a boy, that feeling of the ultimate power of the shotgun and the now grown man reaches for his wallet and you know the rest...LOL. I am sorry honey, I had to have it because.....

       I thank you for reading my blog, have fun, be safe and God Bless,

                                                                             ChromeFreak123

                                                                                              Mike