3-gun noob advice kilothread

meth0d said:
Interesting, I'm guessing most people roll their own?

I read similar sentiment on Brian Enos' forum last night; that place is just as dangerous as this, I've already started another short list after skimming last night, haha.
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BE is not dangerous, it's tailored to competition shooting, far more than here.
Most shooters buy factory ammo, but, are particular to which ammo. Cheap Winchester has absolutely terrible crimp. Some of it requires a solid shove to chamber in my O/U, for Trap it's okay. The Walmart Remington and Federal is good. Rio, Estate, Fiochhi are all good too. I tore my old Mec 650 apart, and have only the crimp stations in it, and crimp the lousy stuff for practice.
 
Dan S said:
BE is not dangerous, it's tailored to competition shooting, far more than here.
Most shooters buy factory ammo, but, are particular to which ammo. Cheap Winchester has absolutely terrible crimp. Some of it requires a solid shove to chamber in my O/U, for Trap it's okay. The Walmart Remington and Federal is good. Rio, Estate, Fiochhi are all good too. I tore my old Mec 650 apart, and have only the crimp stations in it, and crimp the lousy stuff for practice.
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BE is dangerous because I see all the customized competiton guns and want to buy/customize my own, poses a serious threat to my bank account haha. Thanks for the insight on shells, i'd give you a +1 but I'm posting from my phone and it doesn't work so well...
 
This thread has been silent for a while.
Now, have any of the folks interested in 3 gun/Multigun been trying to strengthen their weak points? Shotgun seems to be the biggest obstacle to overcome. Whether it's, which gun, what ammo, how the heck to I stuff shells into this stupid thing? Now is the time to start to make your weaknesses into someone else's.
The Mossberg 930 looks to be the up and coming shotgun. It's reasonably priced (a big plus!) and in typical Mossberg fashion, built like a tank. That tank, however needs some adjustments. The 930, except for a couple variations, all have ported barrels. Not good, unless you want to play in Open division. The 26" and 28" barrels in the field/waterfowl versions allow the barrel to be cut, and remachined for choke tubes! Now, you can play in Tactical, which goes with the other guns you have, a pretty much standard AR with one optic, and an iron sighted S&W M&P, Glock, STI/SVI....etc.
Shotgun, is the factor of the equation that needs the most work. The gun itself needs some tweeking to make it reliable/and fit to the style of the shooter. Ammo is the big, "purchase" issue for shotgun. Cheap "Walmart" ammo may work for practice, and maybe the match too, but, which ammo? Crimp is the major factor in shotgun reliability! Yes, I found out the hard way, that some ammo just plain shouldn't be used in games that need the shotgun to run. Remington and Federal from Walmart seem to work fairly well, with stock guns. I've run Estate, and Rio with good results too. My Benelli has had some sharp edges smoothed down for reliability. These sharp edges are leading into the chamber, at the extractor cut. Check that area out. The Winchester "cheapo" ammo, needs to be recrimped. I still won't use it in a match now, even though I run it through a strpped down(except for the crimp stage) MEC 650.
Anyway, back to my rambling. Now is the time to work on your reloads, getting the tube filled faster than your competitor is the biggest factor in shotgun! The other guy might be able to rip off 6 rounds real quick, but, if you can outload him, the field gets leveled, or, slanted in your direction! Pick a loading style that you like, and then try another method that may work better. For some reason, folks want to load their shotgun with their strong hand, but, would NEVER load their pistol the same way! Try something different for you. Top shooters are constantly working out of their comfort zone, do the same thing.
I hope that a few can get something from my ramblings.[thinking]
 
Dan S said:
This thread has been silent for a while. [snip] I hope that a few can get something from my ramblings.[thinking]
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Great post.

I am working on my 930 project now, cut a barrel down to 22", just before the ports, and threaded for chokes. I had an issue with the follower getting hung up on the mag tube once it got past the extension. I took a light file to it, and it works great now, although I am looking at a new follower anyways. I have had my nose in the BE shotgun tech forum reading and reading what people are doing with their 930's, and it seems like a few people are filing the loading port to ease the loading process. It looks like something I can do, but I am nervous about removing metal.

I am putting together an order to spend some Christmas gift certs on things like a new follower, a better set of chokes, a bigger bolt handle, shell caddy's, and some 12g snap caps. I plan to spend these nasty days "stuffing my tube" [wink] in my living room until the nicer weather, getting ready Nauset's shotgun match in March.
 
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edmorseiii said:
Great post.

I am working on my 930 project now, cut a barrel down to 22", just before the ports, and threaded for chokes. I had an issue with the follower getting hung up on the mag tube once it got past the extension. I took a light file to it, and it works great now, although I am looking at a new follower anyways. I have had my nose in the BE shotgun tech forum reading and reading what people are doing with their 930's, and it seems like a few people are filing the loading port to ease the loading process. It looks like something I can do, but I am nervous about removing metal.

I am putting together an order to spend some Christmas gift certs on things like a new follower, a better set of chokes, a bigger bolt handle, shell caddy's, and some 12g snap caps. I plan to spend these nasty days "stuffing my tube" [wink] in my living room until the nicer weather, getting ready Nauset's shotgun match in March.
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Don't waste your money on "Snap Caps"! Get Dummy rounds from Brownells. Which shell caddies are you considering? Choate caddies are reasonably priced (cheap) but need a major modification.....smooth Velcro to stabilize the shells. The big bolt handle is overrated.....in some things "size doesn't matter", really!
Try different versions of loading.....
 
Thanks for the heads up on the dummy rounds, I will go that way.

I was looking at the CA Comp Works belt caddys. I am not sure if I want to hold shells on the gun it self, it is something I want to play with and see if I like it. I thought about trying to mount a 2 shell holder on the hand guard in front of the ejection port parallel to the barrel. But again, I need to practice from the belt before I get crazy with stuff like that.
 
Get a box of 25 of the dummies. They will last quite a while. I have Choate caddies (6 round) and Mark Otto 4 round caddies. Mark Otto's are nice, and reasonalbly priced for machined aluminum caddies, not to mention they are adjustable. If you keep track of rounds, the 2 rounds on the forearm aren't really necessary. It all comes from practice and shooting matches.
 
Damn it. I tried loading weak handed on my 11-87. It was kind of fun in a "I really sucked, so I must get better" kinda way... time to cut the barrel and get a shorter mag tube.
 
Since I have a Remington in the safe, along with the Benelli and the Winchester SuperX, I can tell you that the Remington is the least conducive to weakhand loading. The Benelli is by far the easiest of the 3. The large loading port definately helps. The Mossberg 930 is very similar to the Benelli in regards to port size and a carrier that needs no other actions to be able to move for shell insertion.
 
The only bad thing I can say about the 930, is the notch in the lift gate. When trying to load it quickly, it catches the knuckle of my thumb often and is like a Chinese finger trap. I am sure with some more practice I can get away from that with working on the position of my thumb against the lift gate, maybe at an angle. Again I see someone on BE welded in a filler on theirs and I think that would be way cool, but I do not have the means or the smarts to do something like that.

ETA; so those that may not have handled a 930 can see the problem I am talking about.

elevatorwm.jpg
 
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edmorseiii said:
The only bad thing I can say about the 930, is the notch in the lift gate. When trying to load it quickly, it catches the knuckle of my thumb often and is like a Chinese finger trap. I am sure with some more practice I can get away from that with working on the position of my thumb against the lift gate, maybe at an angle. Again I see someone on BE welded in a filler on theirs and I think that would be way cool, but I do not have the means or the smarts to do something like that.

ETA; so those that may not have handled a 930 can see the problem I am talking about.
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Ed,
Jeff Cockrum is the guy that welds up Benelli carriers. He did one for Kurt Miller. I have one of his, but, I modified it to my liking, and my thumb won't get caught now. Also, learn to push with the tip of your thumb, not the pad. Bending the knuckle keeps the carrier up, and out of the way.
 
edmorseiii said:
The only bad thing I can say about the 930, is the notch in the lift gate. When trying to load it quickly, it catches the knuckle of my thumb often and is like a Chinese finger trap. I am sure with some more practice I can get away from that with working on the position of my thumb against the lift gate, maybe at an angle. Again I see someone on BE welded in a filler on theirs and I think that would be way cool, but I do not have the means or the smarts to do something like that.

ETA; so those that may not have handled a 930 can see the problem I am talking about.

elevatorwm.jpg
Click to expand...

Could you at least take a Dremel and "mirror polish" the notch and area around the front edges of the lift gate? That might make it easier for your thumb to slide in and out without getting caught, and it would be a whole lot simpler than welding.
 
That makes sense, will try that when I get home.

I thought about contacting Mossberg about ordering an extra lift gate and having a metal fab buddy of mine take a look at it, but now that I know, maybe I will contact Mr Cockrum and see what he says.

Thanks again.

ScottS said:
Could you at least take a Dremel and "mirror polish" the notch and area around the front edges of the lift gate? That might make it easier for your thumb to slide in and out without getting caught, and it would be a whole lot simpler than welding.
Click to expand...

That is an idea that I can do and wont hurt any, I will do that as well.
 
ScottS said:
Could you at least take a Dremel and "mirror polish" the notch and area around the front edges of the lift gate? That might make it easier for your thumb to slide in and out without getting caught, and it would be a whole lot simpler than welding.
Click to expand...

The thumb gets wedged in the notch. Polishing won't make any difference.
Jeff's contact info
http://www.c-rums.com/
 
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Dan
with the EZ Loader, do you recommend keeping it full length or trimming it? I haven't had any issues with it catching my thumb, but it seem to make keep the shell in the port harder
 
Supermoto said:
Dan
with the EZ Loader, do you recommend keeping it full length or trimming it? I haven't had any issues with it catching my thumb, but it seem to make keep the shell in the port harder
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Mine is full length. I do see the merits of shortening them. Especially for us slow tactical guys.
 
Dan S said:
Mine is full length. I do see the merits of shortening them. Especially for us slow tactical guys.
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The end of it seems to drop down pretty far and is causing the shell to get hung up. Maybe I'll take a little off at a time
The receiver is also tearing up my thumb.

Got some shell caddies on the way
 

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