Rackin', whackin' & stackin'

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When Susan announced she wanted to be on the 4-H Shotgun team, I set about finding a shotgun for her. In case you are wondering, finding a left-handed shotgun is like finding a non-lying politician. They exist, but they are about as hard to find as a, well, a non-lying politicians.

I checked all over the place for sinister autoloader. NOTHING. Then I remember Thumper is ambidextrous. Safety on the top, ejects on the bottom.

Hammer time!

I saw Harvey Broome over in Fitzgerald. I told him why I was buying it and he immediately dropped the price. Harvey understands we must get the younger generation involved. So Crambo got a BPS 20 and later I bought a set of chokes.

With her shotgun she's average. She breaks about half the clays she shoots at.

Saturday at the Baker Clan extended reunion, we hauled out to a pond to bust some clays. What I thought was a case of 20 gauge shells turned out to be 12 gauge skeet loads.

Fortunately, I packed The Riot Act. I assured Susan the loads were the same as for her shotgun and it might even kick less because of a ported barrel and the weight.

She decided to try it.

I think she missed 10. She shot more than five boxes of shells.

For some reason - we think it is the rifle sights on the barrel but it could be she was shooting against a background of trees - she went from an average shooter to the best or second best on the pond that day. As to who was better, she or I, that will have to settled another day.

She also managed to rip four shots, several different times, before the clay hit the water. This despite my 12 gauge is harder to cycle than her Browning.

In addition, TRA cycles to the right. With each pump, she had a spent shell crossing her line of sight. Most people who who left handed find this to be an intolerable distraction. If Susan found it distracting, I couldn't tell it.

Someone might say we just have to find out exactly WHY she shot so much better with my 12 gauge.

I reply, she just needs to keep shooting that old Mossberg. If she continues to turn in that kind of performance, next year she'll be the top shooter for the 4-H team and definite contender for state champ.