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The Best Shotguns of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:56:43 -0500

These are the best new shotguns of 2012.

Connecticut Shotgun: Quality Firearms Made in the U.S.

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:22:54 -0500

Here are three of Connecticut Shotgun's latest models, including a sporting clays model, packed with custom features. Act fast because they're offering special introductory rates for certain shotguns.

Stag Arms 3G AR Rifle: Built for 3-Gun Competitions

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:24:46 -0500

The Stag Arms 3G was designed with 3-Gun competitors in mind. Stag Arms offers both right and left handed versions so everyone can join in this growing sport.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 3

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:48:52 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 2.

Dave Petzal on SHOT Show 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:27:48 -0500

by David E. Petzal

In a wretched economic year, the pants-wetters, doomsayers, and purveyors of pessimism would be confounded by the life and vitality in the shooting industry. This year in Las Vegas, an estimated 60,000 people (all in the gun biz), many of whom look like Larry the Cable Guy, crowded into a maze of under-ventilated halls to ogle, grope and buy. Guns. What did you think I was talking about?

The most densely crowded venues were dedicated to the wonderful worlds of the paramilitary and law enforcement. Apparently there is an insatiable need for the equipment used in shooting, clubbing, and gassing people. There are suits of full body armor the like of which has not been seen since the Battle of Agincourt. There are all-black deathmobiles, equipped with lethal gear of all sorts. I’m told that Cop World constitutes fully one-third of the SHOT Show. How shooting and suppressing the citizenry ties into Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade is more than I can comprehend, but there it is.

There is also a very notable shortage of Booth Babes. In past years, you could hardly turn a corner without seeing some inadequately clothed young mammal who would cause you to stop dead in your tracks and give thanks to the forces of evolution. Damned if I know what happened to them.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 2

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:34:22 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 2.

First Look: The New Mossberg FLEX Modular Shotgun Platform

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:54:07 -0500

The Mossberg FLEX modular platform is the shotgun world's answer to the easy interchangeablity of the AR rifle platform. Without tools, you can literally convert a black pistol grip home defense shotgun with a railed tactical forend into a camo hunting gun in less than a minute. Check out this video to see how the whole thing works.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day I

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:48:40 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 1.

Beretta A400 Xtreme Unico Features Breakdown

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:48:35 -0500

John Snow breaks down the features of the Beretta A400 XTREME Unico semi-auto shotgun.

Browning A5 12-Gauge Autoloader

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:03:11 -0500

Browning's humpback was a favorite among waterfowlers and upland bird hunters and the company is bringing it back to life in 2012 with it's new A5. The gun is a sweet shooter and comes in three finish options: walnut, black synthetic and camo synthetic.

More on Long Range Shooting

Sarah Smith — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:30:40 -0500

by David E. Petzal

Back in April, 2011, I became a probationary member of the Scarborough Fish & Game Association in Scarborough, Maine. The name notwithstanding, SF&G is a shooting club, and a very large, very active one at that. They stage just about every kind of rifle, shotgun, handgun and archery event you can think of, and there is a dedicated range for cops to practice shooting people (so if you have any wants and warrants outstanding, stay away).

Among their assets is a beautiful range with shooting points from 100 to 600 yards, but since the Association’s official religion is safety, they do not let anyone use that range until they’re vetted. You qualify there or you stick to the 100-yard ranges; SF&G does not want any bullets sailing over the backstop. If you raise your muzzle above the level of the backstop you get a warning. If you do it again you are requested to leave.

Jingle Bells With a 1911

Sarah Smith — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:48:01 -0500

Happy Holidays from the Gun Nuts!

When Good Guns Happen to Stupid People

Sarah Smith — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:37:46 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Spend enough time surfing the internet and you will see horrible sights. This video is one.

During last week’s discussion of the Benelli Montefeltro, the Winchester Model 50’s name came up. Thinking it would be interesting to write about the Model 50*, I went looking on Youtube in search of a video illustrating the gun’s unique action. Unfortunately, the video here is what I found instead. It’s probably better that some readers (Tom from Cody, I’m thinking of you) don’t watch this at all. This is a gun project so horribly wrong-headed I almost didn’t get through to the end of the clip myself.

If Pheasant Hunting Was My Job

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:17:29 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Fortunately, I hunt pheasants for fun and can shoot them with whatever gun I please. And, just as fortunately, market hunting for pheasants is illegal. However, if hunting pheasants was my job and I was paid by the head of roosters I killed:

a.) I would be going broke this year in Iowa.

b.) I would put aside my double guns and shoot my Benelli Montefeltro.

The Benelli is such a perfect ringneck gun. Sometimes I wish I didn't own it because there is no good reason to take any of my other guns pheasant hunting as long as I have it.*

The Top 5 Softest Kicking Semi-Auto Shotguns

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:18:03 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Whenever I post about semiauto shotguns, the subject of recoil reduction and which gun shoots the softest comes up.

Strictly speaking, semiautos don’t reduce recoil. Recoil is a function of the weight of the ejecta (shot, wad and powder) weight, the velocity of the ejecta and the weight of the gun. You can reduce recoil by shooting a heavier gun, or choosing lighter shot charges and/or lower velocity ammunition.

However, semiautos reduce felt recoil (aka “kick”) by spreading the recoil impulse out over a longer period of time. Generally speaking, gas operated semiautos offer the most recoil reduction although not all reduce felt recoil equally. Here’s my list of the softest shooters. Your shoulder may disagree with mine. For instance, I shoot Beretta 391s a lot and like them, but I don’t think they reduce recoil as much as do other gas guns. I also think Benelli’s inertia guns get a bad rap for recoil and aren’t that painful to shoot unless you insist on firing 3 ½-inch shells out of them at which point they hurt, because they are light guns. Anyway, here are my picks:

First Look: Beretta A400 Xtreme Waterfowl Shotgun

Sarah Smith — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:15:31 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

If you can accept the fact that shotguns built by robots (not craftsmen) can have stocks made of plastic and rubber (not walnut) and be “decorated” with camo, (not engraving) and still cost upward of $1500, then we undeniably live in the Best of Times for semiautomatic shotguns. The Browning Maxus, the Benelli Super Black Eagle, the Winchester Super X3, the Remington Versa Max and the Beretta A400 all cycle a wider variety of loads more reliably and with less cleaning than any semiautos that have ever come before.

Is the New 725 the Best Citori Ever?

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:12:19 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

There was a second new gun introduced at the Browning gathering where I saw the new A5 back in Septmber: the Citori 725.

Like some of you, I have mixed feelings about the new Browning A5. I like Browning semiautos and have a kneejerk fondness for the humpback receiver. On the other hand, I already own a Benelli Montefeltro and am not exactly sure why I need a Browning inertia gun, too. However, I have no mixed feelings at all about the 725. I just want one.

100th Anniversary L.L. Bean Merkel Shotguns Coming in January

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:10:33 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

"You cannot expect success hunting deer or moose if your feet are not properly dressed. The Maine Hunting Shoe is designed by a hunter who has tramped the Maine woods for the last 18 years. We guarantee them to give perfect satisfaction in every way." That hunter was Leon Leonwood Bean, who invented the Maine Hunting Shoe (aka “Bean Boot”) in 1912 and sold them through the mail with an unconditional guarantee.

While I would question whether leather upper/rubber bottomed Maine Hunting shoes are the perfect moose and deer boot, they are great for fast-moving upland hunters, sort of like Converse Chuck Taylors for the outdoors. I have gone on to other boots, but for years I wore nothing else, and I still wear mine around town on rainy fall and spring days.

Of course, L.L. Bean became a mail order and retail giant, and this year the company celebrates its 100th anniversary. To mark the occasion the Maine retailer is selling a number of commemorative items, including a limited run of high grade Merkel doubles, both individual 20 gauge guns ($15,000) and four-gun small gauge sets ($75,000) featuring a 16, 20, 28 gauge and .410.

First Look: Browning’s New Humpback A5 Shotgun

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 08:53:59 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Browning has a new humpbacked semiauto. It’s called the A5 in honor of its predecessor, the Auto 5, but the similarities end with the squared-off receiver. This new A5 is an inertia gun that uses the same operating system made famous by Benelli. The gun was just announced at the Browning sales meeting and it won’t be available until the first quarter of 2012.

I had a chance to shoot one last month at a writer’s gathering in South Dakota, so here’s a preview:

The A5 is a light 3-inch 12 gauge gun, weighing a hair under seven pounds with a 28-inch barrel. Outside, it looks like a Browning, while inside, it looks similar to my Benelli Montefeltro.

The Best Description of Shoddy Gunsmithing

Sarah Smith — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:17:52 -0400

--Chad Love

I am an admitted shotgun junkie, and one of my favorite things to do late at night after the family has gone to bed, is cruise the various online fine gun shops and salivate over shotguns I'll never be able to afford (while crying quietly so I don't wake up the children). You should try it some time, it beats the hell out of porn.

Anyway, one of my favorite online destinations (and real world, too, as it's located a mere 90 miles away) is Champlin Arms in Enid, Oklahoma.

The inventory at Champlin Arms is - like most high-end shops - full of the kind of aforementioned sob-worthy firearms attainable only by ruling-class patricians. But what makes Champlin Arms stand out from the crowd is the creative license exhibited by the shop's owner in describing the various firearms. Not in the actual description of the gun itself, which is always thorough and truthful, but in the opinions that come afterward.

To wit:

We've all seen shoddy gunsmithing work, right? Well, as I was perusing Champlin's site last night (and crying. Always crying.) I stumbled upon what I believe is the single best description of a subpar piece of smith work. Ever.

Shotgun Review: Low-Priced Baikal MP 153 Returns to U.S.

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:17:36 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Since Dave and I get crabby letters whenever we write about anything that costs more than $500 it pleases me to report here on the return of a great, cheap semiautomatic shotgun to the U.S. market.

The Baikal MP 153 enjoys a reputation as a no-frills, inexpensive, very reliable semiauto and unfortunately, it hasn’t been available in the U.S. since 2008, until now. Originally imported from Russian by European American Armory, the MP 153 became the Remington SPR 453 for a couple of years when Remington introduced its “Spartan Gunworks” line of imported Russian Izmech guns. Since the Spartan line went away in 2008 the MP 153 has been unavailable here. Now EAA is bringing it into the country again, at a price so low I would be suspicious of it if the gun didn’t have a proven track record.

Announcing the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:22:42 -0400

Enter the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest for a chance to win a S&W rifle.

Shotgun Review: The Merkel 2001EL

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:30:32 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Filming a “50 Best Guns Ever Made” segment for “The Gun Nuts” last month I got my hands on one of the guns I yearn after: a Merkel 2001EL. Made in Suhl, once behind the Iron Curtain in the former East Germany, Merkels weren’t exported to the US for years after WWII, making them sort of the Cuban cigars of fine guns.

The Merkel is exactly what you expect a Teutonic shotgun to be. There is, for instance, the engraving, which tends toward very deep relief game scenes, often depicting deer, hares and foxes as well as gamebirds and dogs, since German hunters are mixed-bag generalists.

New Stoeger 3500 Semiauto May Be Worth the Gamble

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:01:40 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Here’s a shot from the filming of the second season of The Gun Nuts TV show featuring the new Stoeger 3500 3 ½-inch 12 gauge semiauto. We did a video segment on the gun and I was impressed with its value. Like its little brother the 3-inch Stoeger 2000, the 3500 is a Turkish made intertia semiauto patterned after the semiatuos of parent company Benelli.

The actions of Stoeger and Benelli semiautos are very similar. The main difference is that the Benelli, like most semiautos, has its action spring buried in the stock, while the Stoeger has its action spring on the magazine tube where it’s very easy to inspect and clean.

The 25 Best Turkey Guns Ever Made

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:41:12 -0400

Phil Bourjaily picks the top 25 gobbler guns of all time, from the Kentucky Long Rifle, to the Remington 870.