The machine pictured above is one more interesting things I saw at the Beretta factory: the shotgun break-in machine.

Every A400 Xplor action gets a turn on the machine. Two barreled receivers go in the rests at a time and metal arms clamp onto the bolt handles (the break-in machine operator is about to put a second barreled action in the machine. You can see the arm that will fit over the bolt). The other end of the arm is attached to a wheel which spins very fast, working the arm back and forth, slamming the actions open and shut. It loolks like an old-fashioned steam locomotive  when it gets going.

In two minutes on the machine the action cycles 500 times --  the equivalent of running twenty boxes of heavy ammunition through the gun.

A lot of people recommend ... breaking-in a semiautomatic shotgun by firing four or five boxes of heavy loads through it. The break-in process smooths burrs in the action, lets metal parts wear in, and generally imroves the gun’s performance. It’s a good idea. After a little breaking in, some semiautos -- especially the newer models -- will perform impressive feats of functioning. A couple of summers ago I had a Browning Silver on extended loan. Atlhough the manual recommended nothing lighter than one ounce loads, it would cycle my 1200fps, ¾ ounce 12 gauge reloads all day long after I shot three or four boxes of heavy hunting loads through it.

Breaking in a gun isn’t that tedious a job.  I certainly don’t mind doing it myself, but I still thought it was pretty cool that Beretta had a machine that did it for you.

One of the very nicest features of AyA guns (which I wrote about a month ago, here), were the safety buttons. I liked them so much I took a picture of one. As you can see, they stick up high where you can’t miss them and they practically grab your thumb like Velcro thanks to the sharp hand checkering on top. They snick off easily with a mere flick and are easily among the most positive safeties to operate that I have ever tried.

That brings me to the subject of safeties good and bad: a good safety comes off easily so you don’t even have to ... ... think about it as you raise the gun to shoot.

Personally, I dislike the safety on the Benelli Nova most of all. It is tiny and difficult to find in its spot in front of the trigger guard.  For repeaters, the Browning Gold’s big, triangular, easy to push safety  is the all-time best.

When it comes to O/Us, I have seen more bird’s lives saved by the Browning Citori/Winchester 101 style selective safeties than by any other. These safeties slide side to side to select the top or bottom barrel, and forward to make the gun ready to fire. What happens instead is, in the field when people try to push them forward, the safety slides halfway between “O” and “U” and won’t go forward at all.

The gun stays on “safe” and the bird flies away not only unscathed but unshot-at.

Here is a simple trick to solve that problem forever: if you are right handed, switch the safety over to the left to shoot the top barrel first and leave it there. If you’re left handed, leave the safety pushed over to the right,always. There is no room to explain (and a good magician never reveals his tricks anyway) but I promise that works.

Meanwhile, the subject is safeties: favorites, least favorites, funny stories, horror stories, whatever you got.

A note to all you Gun Nuts: The photo below (and three more, which you can see by clicking here) came into my inbox attached to the following caption:

"For those of you who load your own ammunition...
 
A guy came into our department the other day to ask a favor. He had a Smith & Wesson Model 629 that he wanted to dispose of after a mishap at the range. He said there was a loud bang when he tested his new load and the gun smacked him in the forehead, leaving a nice gash. When the tweety birds cleared, this is what he saw..."

Rather than comment on these photos myself, I decided they were serious enough that they deserved something intelligent said about them, so I sent them to my friend and ace pistolsmith John Blauvelt. Here's what he had to say.  --David Petzal

Begin forwarded message:
From: JC Blauvelt
Date: October 30, 2009 8:09:43 PM EST
To: Dave Petzal

Subject: BANG

Dave, Well you asked for it. I hope you find this useful. Thank you for the opportunity.

A graphic reminder of the art of home pressure testing. What I see here is typical of a vastly over-pressure round fired in a revolver. The in-line round of ammunition blew out the top of the cylinder, both adjoining chambers, and removed the top strap.  Most of the destroyed revolvers I have seen usually have the top strap of the frame still attached at the front, above the barrel, and it is peeled forward. The weakest point of an adjustable sight revolver frame is the back end of the top strap were the rear sight cut is. In this revolver the whole top strap is gone and most of both adjoining chambers. This points to a very strong pressure spike. How did it happen? One clue is the reloader’s quote that he was “testing his new load.” So, it is most likely the reloader's fault. He was either trying to make a “Super Magnum” load beyond the recommended loads or used the wrong powder - i.e.  grabbed a can of 231 instead of 296 or possibly changed powders and forgot to change the settings on the powder measure. A barrel obstruction from a squib round? I do not believe so. I do not see any indication of a bulge in the barrel. Unless it was a bullet from a squib round stuck just forward of the back end of the barrel.  In any case, these are sobering photos. Look at the amount of shrapnel that let loose. It could have caused grave injuries to the shooter and/or bystanders on either side of him. An expensive lesson learned, and fortunately no one was injured.

For all the millions of rounds of ammunition reloaded each year, it is rare to see this happen. That's why it makes news when it does. Always remember to check, double check, then check one more time that the recipe you are using is correct, wear your safety glasses, and ear protection.  Also, in this guy’s case, he likely needed a half of a bottle of aspirin for his headache. 

JC Blauvelt Gunsmith, Inc.
www.JCBgunsmith.com

Over the weekend I helped out at a Pheasants Forever Mentored Youth Hunt. PF, I should mention here, is my favorite of the single-species groups because they spend all their money locally, do good habitat work, and support youth hunting and shooting of all kinds. Anyway, it was my job to run three groups of kids through some shooting instruction before they went hunting.  I’ve done this before, and I learn more from watching the kids shoot than they learn listening to me.

This weekend’s takeaway: slow down to speed up.

Since the kids were going to shoot flushing birds, I had them start from a safe field carry position, then call pull, and mount and shoot. Naturally, all of them wanted to throw the gun up as fast as possible.  The kids would whip the gun up, then have to readust their faces on the stock, then find the target again,  and shoot.

Move slowly, I told them. Push the muzzle toward the bird like you’re trying to stick it with a bayonet and raise the gun to your face smoothly.

I expected them to start hitting targets better. What I didn’t expect was that they would start hitting targets faster. But they did. Moving slower got them on target sooner.

Watching over their shoulders, the difference in the speed and quality of their breaks was dramatic.  Why?  Because the mount was right the first time; because their eye was never pulled off target and onto the gun; because they were moving in synch with the bird. As they smoked birds effortlessly, the kids looked at me like I had taught them a magic trick, which, in a way, I had: our eye to hand coordination is capable of miraculous feats, if we just let it work.

Try it yourself: slow down, you’ll shoot faster.