Here is a pic of my new shotgun. I picked it up at Cabela's in Ft. Worth last night. I went out and did some shooting today and really enjoyed myself.
The fit and finish of the gun are very nice. No rough spots or blemishes anywhere. It appears to be a well made gun. The one out of the box problem I have with the gun is the wooden ramrod. While attractive, it does not appear very sturdy. I ordered a fiberglass replacement from Dixie Gunworks today.
The gun is a snap to clean, ( remember this is from a guy that doesn'town anyremovable breech guns). The nipples screw into top of the barrel, there is no bolster.
As far as shooting goes I will need to get used to this gun. I started the day with a load of 60gr APP 2F and 60gr #6 shot just to get a feel for the gun. I used X-full and full choke tubes today one in each barrel. With this light load the gun patterened well but low. Actually my patterns were low all day. I believe that is my fault. I was trying to shoot the shotgun like a rifle. Any help ya'll can offer would be welcome.
I next tried the max load for the gun. This load is considerably smaller than the guy at Cabela's told me over the phone. I was told 110 & 110 grs respectively for powder and shot. Not so! The max load for 2F black powder or equivilent is 89gr.( I shot 90gr) The max load for shot is 1 1/4 oz. or 90gr volume. When I shot this load,90gr APP 2f and 90gr #6 shot I was surprised by the lack of recoil. I thought at max load it would kick like a mule, turned out to be pretty mild.
The pattern was pretty tight but again low. I will need more range time before the April 1st opener but that won't be a problem. I should have plenty of time to straighten things out.
Oh, BTW, the gun shot its best patterns with a conventional wad column rather than a plastic shot cup. I was rather surprised by that.
Thats all for now I guess. Sorry about this post running so long. I am just really excited and wanted to share my experience.
Any help on the low pattern thing would be appreciated. Thanks, Greg.
AKA Txrookie