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A fine looking pup. Choco Dogs are my favorites. Hope she makes a great companion too.

Beautiful job! You are a good friend indeed. I never thought of using a shim on the front ring and then adjusting the rear to get the POI you wanted, but I like it. Thanks for the tip.

The barrel came yesterday. It's a smoothbore with rifle sights and cylinder choke. I'm doing the barrel switch after a breakdown and serious cleaning of the action and gas system. I bought some 2 3/4 inch #3 buck, 3 inch #2 buck and some 3 inch slug loads. Didn't realize that there's no double ought buck loads for 20 gauge since they don't stack neatly in the shell and lead to sparse, uneven patterns. Looking forward to sending pix and a range report or two this week. Have a good week everyone.

Perhaps the term "mental health system" was the wrong one to use. It is too generic and unspecific. My bad. I should have said mental health research. Such research is not the sole province of our Government, even if extra-governmental organizations in the USA are turning more and more to our Government for funding since the Govt. seems to have the funds and the photocopy machines to throw money around.

There have been enough instances of such shooting sprees that we need to find out why. Frankly, I don't care who does the research, as long as it is done right. Government funded research, as long as it isn't bent to serve political agendae, can be valuable. NASA, The Department of Agriculture, The National Institutes for Health and many other agencies have provided plenty of valuable research for the use of private industry and is an example of the Government really serving the people. We'll leave research on Global Warming out because it's an example of what I think is research bent to serve political ends.

To be specific, I'm concerned about young people who are in decent economic shape who then become mass murderers. There've been enough news stories describing the perpetrators as "quiet, always kept to himself" that my family and I use that as a synonym for dangerously crazy.

Until we know more about James Holmes it would be premature and silly to toss about hypotheses. I do have some questions:

What causes someone to basically throw his/her future away?
   
Why did this course of action seem to be the best one for Holmes to       pursue out of a multitude of possibilities?

How can someone who was an apparently decent camp councillor lose his empathy/compassion or did he ever have any?

Was this guy so caught up in what was in front of him that he didn't see the forest for the trees?

Was this, as was said earlier, an attempt to get attention? If so, I'd rather pay attention to the victims, their families and the heroes who shielded others with their own bodies.

What does this guy have in common with others who have done what he has done?

Did this guy have an end game or did he lose the gumption to do a suicide by cop?

TackyDriver, I hope to never need it but I would hate to ever be in a situation like these people and be unarmed.

Amen Brother, I hope you never have to either.

HB, I never saw the need for a CCW but now I'm rethinking it. Did anyone notice how this "attention seeker" basically went passive as soon as he was confronted by armed LE Officers? As has been speculated before, what are the chances such an incident would have occurred at the SHOT Show or an NRA convention?

I agree with Kombi & BH51. An improved mental health system would be more than worthwhile. If everything that humans can use to kill one another was legislated out, we'd be left with nothing. It sounds like a matter of trying to deal with the arrows instead of the archer.

I disagree with our President when he said that we may never know what caused Holmes to do what he did. I believe that it is VITAL to know why he and others do what they have done. I am in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with our President about one thing: Saturday morning I hugged all of my family a little bit tighter. Oh well, my Mother always says that even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

My middle son and daughter went to the local theater to catch the midnight showing of the same movie the same night/morning. Fortunately, they returned without seeing the film because my daughter had a migraine. Never been so glad she had one. Though we're hundreds of miles away, it sure seemed a little too close for me. LA isn't exactly without its own share of loonies.

The movie theater shootings that happened last night/this morning is deeply saddening. If any of you know or are related to any of the victims my sympathy and prayers go to you as well as the victims. I hope we can figure out what causes people to do such insane things so we can try to keep it from happening.

Can't believe I hadn't seen this poll,  either. I voted for pumpers as in what I would want if I could only  have one shotgun. Basically, I like any shotgun I can hit with.

Learned  to shoot with a Fox SxS 20 gauge. I first broke 15 clay birds at the  trap range with a Browning Auto5 in 12 gauge. The first shotgun that was  officially "mine" was an Ithaca 37 in 12 gauge and still have and shoot  it. I love my Dad's  Winchester/Miroku Model 101 O/U. That was the first gun that just seemed  to jump to my shoulder without thinking. Got a great deal on a semi-auto Beretta 3901 in 20 gauge because they stopped making them. Got it to teach my kids. For those concerned about learning to "spray and pray" with a semi, I just give them one round for each clay bird.

I guess I just like shotguns. So much so, in fact, that I've chosen my last 3 center fire rifles because they handle like shotguns. So many shotguns, so little time and money, but I'm not dead yet.

Belated Happy Birthday. A good dog and a 5c avocado? You could do much worse. At least the avocado will keep your coat shiny;). All this talk of hot dogs is making me hungry. Have a good year and more!

Thanks for the replies. I think a 22 inch barrel should be fine too. The nice thing about the barrel length is that it's the same as 3 of my other rifles. With all of these fancy "tactical" guns, by the time you put on one of those door breaching standoff  muzzle brakes, you end up with near 22 inches anyway. Shouldn't need to breach any doors myself.

When the barrel arrives, I'll try it out around the house, unloaded of course, to see if there's any problem areas in the house. After that it's pattern board time. You all have a good point about using #6 shot and 4 buck. I also want to try some of the 2 and 3 buck loads. What I learn with this gun will determine what I buy for a dedicated gun, though I'm still leaning toward the Mossberg 930.

you might like one of the blackhawk convertibles, too.  another option to look at, anyway.  comes in .45colt with the .45acp switch cylinder.  or .357mag with the 9mm cylinder, whichever'd better suit.
 
i thought at one time you were going to get a .460rowland pieced together on your 1911 platform.  that'd certainly pack a punch as an easy packing trial weapon.  a word of advice, if you're still interested in doing this
 
 
 
k

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Life's what happens when you're trying to do what you like. I'm still interested in the .460 Rowland but my 1911's are vintage and I'm not sure the surface hardening used was strong enough for the added power. I'll need to buy a new frame, slide, etc. I thought a double action revolver would be a good alternative. Also, such a gun is more a gun I'd like, not a gun I need. I've started a thread on House Guns on this sub-forum. 'til then, I'm saving my blue chip stamps. Have a good weekend.

Happy Friday everyone, even if it's the 13th.

Placed an order for a slug barrel for my Beretta 3901 20 gauge. It's the Citizen trim version. It's not much to look at but it's perfect for my needs. Originally I bought it to teach my children the fine art of wing shooting. The painted barrel and composite stocks don't give me heart palpitations if the gun gets dinged. About 2-3 years ago I brought it as a backup gun for my Ithaca Model 37 on my annual dove hunt in Arizona. It shot so well that it has been my "go to" gun for dove ever since. The reliability and cyclic rate really impressed me. Oh, I still let my offspring shoot it if they're good.

I've been looking for a home protection long arm for a while. In my suburban neighborhood, I believe a shotgun makes the most sense. Spacing between houses is 20 feet or less, and my home's internal construction is conventional drywall. Some areas of my home have restricted spaces and narrow passage ways. There's nowhere outdoors on my property that couldn't be reached by a shotgun.There's little crime in my city and police response is really good. There are a lot of burglaries and there have been a few home invasions, though. You have to love "Commuter Crime".

I've been looking for a 12 gauge semi-auto with a short barrel. If I was looking for a "bug out" gun, I'd choose a pump gun because I believe they are more reliable. However, the gun I want will be kept at home and kept clean. The main attraction of a semi-auto is that if I have to, I can shoot multiple times one handed when opening a door or if I lose the use of an arm/hand.

The Benelli M2, Beretta Tx4 and FNH SP would be great but costly. I understand that Remington has developed a tactical version of their Versa, but a 3.5 inch chamber makes the action a little long for my needs, even if the gas system is brilliantly simple to me. That leads me to consider the Mossberg 930. With my budget, it seems that it might do the trick.

In discussing this with my friends, a number of issues have come up. One pointed out that the Mossberg has an aluminum receiver and he doesn't trust aluminum's fatigue resistance with cyclic stresses. One should practice using a home defense arm and that might mean more rounds through it than what might be used in hunting. Another said I could save money by getting a basic version without a magazine extension. He thought that if one can't deter an assailant with 6 rounds (5 in the mag and 1 in the pipe), 8 or 9 won't make much difference and the shotgun will handle better. If I want tactical accessories, he said I can add those as I see fit.

I'm still thinking about it and would appreciate any words of wisdom from my THL friends as well. In the meantime, I ran across this sale announcement from BerettaUSA.com. Extra barrels for my Beretta usually list for US$300+. I saw Brownell's had them around US$290 or so. During the sale BerettaUSA was listing them for US$153 and added a discount of approx another $30. I bought the 22inch slug barrel with rifle sights. The barrel is still a little longer than I'd like but it's still better than the 26" barrel for use in tight quarters and I'd love to see what I can do with it when brush busting wild boar. With the barrel and the mag plug removed I'll have a pretty decent stop gap until I figure out what would be best for a more dedicated defense arm. Don't remember how long the sale will last but if anyone is interested, he/she ought to check it out. As I said before, I'd like to hear what anyone thinks about home defense arms. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Thanks for the word, K. The "Bulldog" planform was always interesting to me. I'm looking for something like it that shoots what my 1911's do. I'll settle for something with a 4 inch barrel since I'm not necessarily looking for a CCW, but also something I could pack on the trail. I don't have enough guns to have a "one trick pony." I also want it to be double action.

The Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt seems to come pretty close but I'm not sure it's worth modding it take .45 ACPs in moon clips. Maybe one of the S&W models would do. I'm really happy with my Dan Wesson in .357 mag but want to give it a rest and shoot cheaper ammo.

I didn't know they came in anything but .44 Special. Is the 9mm Federal similar to the 45 Auto Rim compared to the 45 ACP? Do you shoot the other rounds in the picture above and if so, what's been your experience with bottle neck cartridges in revolvers?

Nice rifle, JaDub. Don't care if the checkering is pressed or hand cut. That's really nice looking. The leather work is pretty classy looking too. It works well with the engraving.You all had to put up with my blather about my Win 88; no regrets. In searching for info about the 88 I learned a lot about the 100. Have to get accustomed to the look of your rifle without a lever;)

How's the trigger feel without having to deal with a swing out trigger assembly? What kind of scope is on it? If I guess right, your 100 ought to jump up to your shoulder for close or running shots and the .308 should let you reach out for longer shots at hunting ranges. When you have the time, I'd like to hear how your 100 handles 7.62 x 51 NATO vs .308 Winchester rounds. Hopefully it's a non issue. Enjoy!