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what about your finger?


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So I got my first shotgun (hell my first long gun) this weekend and finally got to shoot it today, and I have a couple of questions.

1) I read somewhere here kellyn asks brian about pointing with the weak hand index finger while shooting flying orange disks (i don't know trap or skeet...) do we want to do this while shooting steel and sh!t.

2) I shot about a 150 rounds of the Wal-Mart 3 dram 1 1/8 oz, and the gun (11-87) ran from start to finish, what I want to know is this a good test guild?  The dude I bought the gun from gave me half a box of 3 1/4 dram 1 oz. upland game loads and said to stick with them for reliability.  Now he used the gun for years to shoot two-gun action type stuff not hunting.  Tomorrow if I try the cheep Wal-Mart stuff will the gun run?

3) My face kind of hurts.  Is this caused by something I'm doing?  I did what kellyn said and tried to bring the gun to my face... or is it in the nature of   the beast?

4) cleaning….I have and I will scrub the living crap out of the guts and the shinny part of the magazine tube, but the barrel is what I want to know the true about.

5) lubrication, how much and where.  I read somewhere (that pesky phrase again) that even though the manual warns not to lube, there should be some lube so….who do I believe?

thanks

Okay the title may be a little miss leading.

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If your gun ran 150 rounds it likes the load and I wouldn't worry about it choking later.

Clean the magazine tube and gas ring(s) well and keep them clean. Do not lube these, but you can lube elsewhere. I don't get overly concerned about the barrel; it's just a scattergun. Clean around the gas ports well, scrub out any plastic wad residue in the bore, and keep a light coat of oil in the bore so it doesn't rust.

Face slap is a bitch. You got a monte carlo stock? That's what got me.

Oh yeah, do point with the weak hand. Works for clay sports and action games.

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I usually run a bore cleaner stick (like a BIG pipe cleaner) through the barrel a couple passes, good as new. I also use Remington Dry Lube spray all over the inside of my mag tube, and all moving parts in my 11-87, its still working great without missing a beat with a few thousand rounds through it.  11-87s rule!

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I used to point.  I realized lately that I wasn't pointing with my left index finger, and I was still hitting.  Oh well.

As for cleaning, the bore gets really sludged up with plastic from the wads.  Get a brass pot scrubber from the supermarket and cut it apart into a large sheet.  Wrap it around an old (and not to be used again) bore swab, and scrub the plastic out.  You'll be surprised at how much stuff comes out of a bore that otherwise looks clean.

As for lube or not lube, the question is almost like a religion.  People do it or don't do it regardless of rational thought or argument.  Here in Michigan everyone lubes, because if we don't it rusts.  In Arizona, I bet they don't because the dust in the air forms an abrasive paste.

If you go to clean the gas ports with a drill bit, chuck it into a drill but don't turn on the power.  Just shove the drill in and out, and you'll scrape the gunk out just fine.

If you find the face slap is too much to deal with, get an adhesive-backed cheekpiece. (Brownells has them) An 1/8" thick pad does a lot to soften the impact, and doesn't change the pattern location much at all.

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So do you Arizonians lube?  I shoot mostly on an old cow pasture (Norco, Ca) and it gets pretty darn dusty?

Also exactly how much gun should be on your shoulder?  If I do, the, bring your face to the gun thing I find the top of the recoil pad isn't no my shoulder.

As a side note I slammed my thumb in the action yesterday, I was practicing the mount, and I guess I hit the loading gate funny while handling ... anyway ouch.

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No, a Marine PMI would slap me silly.  I'm too tall and skinny to do the "lift the stock to your face" routine, so I get the full buttplate against my shoulder/chest and stick my neck forward.  Sort of the SWAT/MP-5 routine, developed back before the SAS told us how they saved the world from Orcs.

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Okay I'm 6'8 and was wondering about the whole neck forward face gun thing.  So I can get down into the stock a bit with my face to get the butt all the way into my shoulder, right?

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This arizonan lubes big time.  

I mostly move the stock to my face but I'm also a stock crawler so I do crane my neck and head forward and slightly down when mounting the rifle or shotgun.

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Dave, the trick I found (I'm 6'4") is to square off to the target much more than traditional marksmanship technique calls for, so when I crawl the stock I'm not tilting my head to the side.

Works for everything so far, including an M-249 I got to play with for an afternoon, and the M-60's we used to shoot at Second chance.

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Dave,

If you regularly shoot at Norco please look me up and I will be happy to go over the basics with you. I have been shooting the shotgun for a couple of years with a little success. Since I also use the Remingtons I will go over the cleaning and lube drills that most of us use if you like.

I will be at Prado for the Tactical match on Saturday, and the USPSA match on Sunday. If you are going to be there bring out your shotgun and some ammo and we can go over it after the match.

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Living in Sturgis South Dakota, I grew up shooting game birds.

If you miss you don't eat...:)

* look at the bird, not your front sight

* give the bird enough lead

* trigger control/follow through

* point that left index finger

* Muscle tension is your worst enemy

* keep your scatter-gun clean

Hunger is a great motivation not to miss...

Think about that......

bird

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Bob:

Thanks for the offer; I shot with you and you puppies last week (the 11th.).  I'll be at shooting Norco this Sunday (for the steel match not uspsa???).  I'll find you and pick your brain.  I was planning on trying to shoot some of the stages with the 11-87.

dave

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