Brian Payne

If you reload your shotgun with your strong hand I could see where the pistol grip stock may get in the way. I reload with the weak hand and actually find the pistol grip stock makes it easier to keep the shotgun at the shoulder with the muzzle pointed toward the target. YMMV

I had always heard that a longer handguard would equal a longer gas tube, that would equal greater reliability vs. the shorter gas tube. Don't know if this would be true or not. I do see where the longer handguard would be an advantage. If the Miculek comp. would be illegal, what other comp. should I be looking at? Thanks in advance.

Just some quick questions for the experts. New thread in case the question got missed on another thread. I have a DPMS .308 on order for use in the HM division. 18" barrel that is fluted, Miculek comp., iron sights, JP trigger, Cryo the barrel, and having the short handguard. Now I see on another thread that the Miculek comp. may be illegal in 3-gun?, and I have also seen it written that the Cryo would not be worth the money for any gains you may get? My final questions would be about the fluting of the barrel and the short handguard. Is fluting the barrel a good idea for the little barrel weight you may lose? Another shooter stated he chose the longer handguard over the short one. Which would be better? and why? Does the longer handguard aid in reliability? Sorry for all the questions, but on Monday I will be calling on the weapon and it would be the last time to make any changes. Thanks in advance.

Mr. Kelley: I have a DPMS .308 on order right now. My question is about the handguard. You would add the long hand guard. Why? Is it for the reliability with longer gas tube? Better to protect your hand from barrel heat when shooting (I see from the video clips you extend your weak hand far down the hand guard)? Or is there another reason. Everything else is already in my order. The only other thing I did was have the barrel fluted for weight reduction. Would this be a good idea? As for the compensator, I ordered the Miculek. You state this may not be allowed by the rules. Is this true? What comp. did you replace it with? Thanks in advance for the help.

I saw a used Rem. 1100 in a shop and it got me thinking. This weapon is a left hand version. I reload using the weak hand (left hand) technique. I often thought it would be nice to have the ejection port on the same side as my loading hand. I now use a pump shotgun, and am thinking of getting an auto. for different divisions. Would the weak hand style shotgun offer a weak hand loader an advantage? I have never shot a left hand shotgun before so I do not know what the trajectory of the ejected shells would be, if it would cause any unforseen problems. Has anyone tried this type of set up? Pros or Cons needed. Thanks in advance.

The dummy shells I am using are from Brownells. I purchased a box of 25. They look just like regular shotgun shells with plastic and brass case, and you can see the BB's inside. The primer has already been struck and the case has "DUMMY" printed on each one. Looking over the shells, I find burrs on the brass and pieces of the plastic on some of the shells are gouged also.

Great! I was hoping this was the problem. Thanks much for the help.

I have been religiously practicing my shotgun reloads. My times are getting better and I am having very few fumbled rounds. My problem comes after the shells are loaded. I will load 4 or 8 "dummy" loads. Then I will rack them through the weapon so I also get used to the pump action. Sometimes the rounds in the magazine "stick". By that I mean that they are held up by the little lip that contains the follower after all the shells are removed. The rim of the shell sometimes hangs up on that rim and won't go all the way back to the shell stop (the little metal finger that stops the shells from going into the loading chamber). After thousands of loadings of these "dummy" rounds, the rims are getting a little beat up. Numerous burrs etc.. I have not had this problem when I fire live rounds through the weapon. I don't know if the recoil keeps the rounds from getting stuck or if it is the rim of the rounds not having any burrs on them. Does anyone else have this problem or any possible remedies? The shotgun is a HK Fabarm FP6 with Choate Magazine extension. I have tried to polish the suspect area with a dremel and polishing compound but I didn't want to get too aggressive just yet. Any ideas greatly appreciated. I hope to take the shotgun on its maiden live fire 3-gun voyage sometime in April. I am hoping to have no problems by then.

That would be great. Good luck with your shoot.

I will hit it hard again once my thumb heals. I normally only plan to do about 10 - 15 reloads of four each when I practice. But that beep of the timer keeps calling me back for more. Still no video clips of reloads?

mike.45 I am assuming you are now using the weak hand reload? If so, what made you switch. Was it faster? easier to do under match pressure? easier to do while moving? I would think with a semi-suto, if you had strong enough wrists, you could actually be loading while you are still shooting if you used the weak hand reloads. I only use a pump because I really like the idea of the "He-man" division. I can tell from posted times that quite a few of you on this board are very "godlike" in their abilities. I would still like to see some video footage of someone really smokin' a reload. It sort of helps you break the mental barriers I guess.

Duh - read a little closer, you must be a member and logged in. Oh well.

mcoliver - I couldn't get the link to open for some reason. Dang, I really want to watch someone who knows how to do this properly.

My reloads are starting out of a six shell holder clipped to the belt. Benny Hill. I don't see any possible way that I can shoot one, load eight, then shoot the last one in six seconds. Just standing in one place and loading eight rounds takes me almost eight seconds. That is without even firing a shot much less having to add a pump in there also. Kurtm. I have tried the loading without looking trick and it is faster but I tend to fumble the load more often. Mike.45 - I think I could come close to hitting the four second mark if I didn't have to pump after the first shot while I should be going for more shells. I do feel the weak hand reload is going much faster for me. But this is only if I use a pistol grip shotgun stock. I was trying the same drills with a normal 870 but I couldn't do the weak hand reload as fast. I really can't say why the pistol grip makes a difference for me. Maybe it is just that I can keep the shotgun more stable with one hand. Man you guys are fast.

I have been practicing my reloads for my HK Fabarm FP6 pump shotgun. I have the blood blisters on the end of my thumb to proove it. Question on times. Holding the shotgun by the pistol grip, in the shooting position. Shells in a Choate 6 round carrier on the belt. Par time on the timer set at 4 sec. At the beep, grab 4 from the carrier and load weak handed. Four rounds in the magazine before the second beep. I can accomplish this about 85% of the time. I can't seem to get them loaded much faster at this time. Am I on the right track time wise? Or is this slow. This is standing in a static position. I want to get this down first, then start to practice loading on the move. I have large hands and can grab six at one time, but the loading seems more prone to fumbles. If I want to load eight, it is quicker to load 4 + 4 rather than load 6 + 2 from the carriers.

IanLock: My shotgun came as is except for the Choate mag. extension. My action was pretty smooth from the start but I did take a dremel to it last night and it really made a difference. I was hoping to find some aftermarket choke tubes but so far no luck. Are the your choke tubes threaded on the inside, or the outside? My barrel is threaded on the outside and it has an end that screws on. I assume is to protect the threads. The aftermarket magazine spring feels the same as the factory one to me. Does not feel overly hard. I really like mine and have been doing a lot of dry fire drills and reloading practice with dummy rounds. So far so good. Trying to get ready for a possible 3-gun shoot on April 10th. Good luck.

I have to make a correction on my Fabarm FP6 having only a 7+1 capacity and wanting one more shell. My Choate extended mag. came and I can now put 8+1 in the gun. Works great.

After much trial and error, then some research, I decided on the HK Fabarm FP6 pump. This will be for the HM division. What I liked: 20" barrel. Adjustable Ghost Ring fiber-optic sights. Weaver rail. (if you are interested in optics) Extra large safety button. 7+1 capacity with the Choate extension. Short stock with Pistol grip. Makes for faster handling and weakhand reloads. Bolt unlocks just like the Winchester 1300. Very easy disassembly. Very nice recoil pad. What I don't like: Barrel is threaded on the outside for a compensator, and I don't know where to find aftermarket chokes. I would like to have had one more round capacity. Two hundred rounds so far and I have no complaints. I have not shot slugs or Buckshot through it yet. The actions is very smooth and the gun seems to built very well.

Sorry, I am new to shotguns and don't really know how to explain it any better. The end of the barrel is threaded. With the threads on the outside of the barrel. Much the same as a bolt has the threads on the outside. You could be right, that it may be for a compensator. If there are no threads on the inside of the barrel then I am out of luck for finding chokes for this weapon? Not really too much of a concern, I will just really have to pattern the shotgun with different loads.

Maybe I should rephrase the question. I don't need to now what type of choke to get. I have already gleaned that information from this excellent site. I need to know what Brand of choke to be looking at for this weapon. Keeping in mind the threads are on the outside of the barrel and not on the inside like most shotguns I have seen.

I purchased a HK Fabarm FP6 pump shotgun for HM division. The end of the barrel is theaded on the outside of the barrel with a cap on it. What type of chokes will work with this gun? I didn't see what I needed in Brownell's. Thanks in advance.