Maikeru-sama;3267851 said:
They were "placed" on a hill, meaning they were stationary. We did not use a machine to launch them as I am told it takes quite a bit of skill to hit moving targets with a Shotgun.
One thing I didn't mention, was on exactly two occasions, when I loaded 3 Shells in the gun, the 3rd Shell would not fire.
The Instructor chalked it up to breaking the gun in which is kind o scary. He also said I may not be pulling the magazine back hard enough when loading another shell in the chamber.
After the 2 failures, we repeated the process and was able to get the 3rd shell to fire, so maybe it was bullets, the gun needing to be broke in or something else.
If the first two are firing without problems, then the third is operator error. Yank that pump back with force like you mean it. The gun doesn't mind one bit.
You'll have to get used to looking down the top rail of the barrel to get your sighting adjusted and to learn how to shoot a shotgun accurately. After enough practice, you won't even see the rail or bead it'll be instinctive. That's really what you are after. Instinctive shooting.
If you are getting instruction, I won't offer any advice on that since its better to get it all from one person. I will say this however, and it's the same that I got from my Dad once I got my first 20 gauge.
If someone breaks into your house there is an unbroken chain of events that you follow from getting the gun to KILLING the criminal. There is no politically correct way to say it. You are going to kill the person to save you and your family.
Dad said on our way back from our first bird shoot that at dinner I was supposed to sit at dinner and remember that if I didn't follow the chain of events somebody at that table was going to die because of me. Not because of the criminal, but because I couldn't follow the chain of events. It's a sobering thought, but you've made the right first step in protecting your loved ones already.
Some folks are saying that buying 2 cases of shells is too much. Wrong. Go back to Academy and buy 2 more cases. If you are missing stationary targets on the ground, you've got a lot of shooting to do. You want to get proficient enough to hit moving targets in the air.
The criminal in your house might not be polite enough to stand still while you fire a shot into his chest. The better you are with the weapon, the more confidence you have in your shots, and the action will become instinctive to the point you aren't thinking about it and only concentrating on the situation in front of you.
A friend of the family, also a CHL instructor, has a collection of tactical pistols I drool over. When I picked up a Smith and Wesson M&P .40 a few years back, he bought me 2 cases to run through it to just get accustomed to the feel of the thing. That's 2000 firings of the pistol, just so that I could get used to it. He also gave me two boxes of Ranger SXT's.
Point is, you cannot be too familiar with the firing of the weapon especially with the purpose you bought it for. Besides, shooting is pretty dang fun. You'll smile like a kid in a candy store the first time you nail a clay thrown across the range.
