Loading and unloading and loading and unloading

N

Nahuatl

New member
My 2-shot is pretty gentle on the shells but still buffer ends up everywhere. And anyone watching me reload on the fly is always amazed how quick I open and close the action back down on fresh rounds.

I had to reload 3 times on a single stand the other day, and have been considering switching to an auto just to pick up an extra animal or two, but not if it's going to wear out these $2-$3 shells before they actually get fired and foul up the magazine with that gritty plastic buffer when the action gets stale for a while.

Loading and unloading a 5-shot auto must get messy, cumbersome, and be hard on the hulls? Anybody else got comments or issues with hull durability loading and unloading your auto shotgun while travelling from stand to stand? Or how about a better way to keep the buffer in the hull?
 
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I drip candle wax on the crimp. That'll keep the buffer from coming out and fouling things up.



It'll help keep moisture out also (to an extent). We always did that on our duck reloads.
 
It's gotta be hard on shells loading and unloading 5 rounds on every stand too, especially on a slow day. Do they get too bent up to use? Ever jam the weapon?

Unloading the OU is elegant compared to cycling 5 rounds and jacking them into the seat of the truck at the end of every stand. One of the comments I got about unloading at a meeting last night was about a guy who shot his truck in the process. I'd like to depress the ramp and dump the rounds from the magazine in one heap without cycling through the chamber. Has anyone tried this on their Extrema?

Boomsplat - The best cheapest I found so far was 12 ga 3.5" lead #4 buck with 54 pellets for about $1.50 a round and that included the shipping.
 
Gary,
They're coming from Sportsman's Guide. They also had 10 ga 2 1/4 oz. lead BB for $30/box of 25. That's downright cheap compared to Dead Coyote.
Gary
 
just hit the switch on your semi auto, which will lock the shells in the mag. Eject the one from the chamber, close bolt on empty chamber and pack out.

When get to new stand, flip switch back, rack action once load one shell and good to go.
 
Gary, the Beretta is a safe design that does not allow you to cycle live rounds from the magazine to the chamber manually.
To unload, you jack the round from the chamber and then remove the rounds from the magazine by depressing the device which retains unfired rounds in the magazine. Irritating at first, the safest and best way to fly once you get used to it.
Remingtons (870's and 1100's, not sure about 11-87's) can be unloaded like this, though you need to unload the magazine first, as described above. They are also not as "slick" as the Beretta.
I have rarely shaved plastic from shells loading the Remingtons, never the Beretta.
Another plus to the auto - I put three 1&7/8's oz 3" loads through mine as fast as I could aim and fire yesterday. Recoil was very tolerable.

What is that O/U you shoot, anyway?
 
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Joe, it sounds to me like you hit on the exact feature on the Extrema about which I was asking. So what you're saying is I can depress the shell detent and it will dump the magazine cleanly without cycling into the chamber. Cool. That's got to be a feature of any auto I'd use here because like many other states, both the chamber and the magazine have got to be empty every time the gun is in the truck. Most shops are a little shy about test loading their demo guns.

I've been wearing out a Beretta 686 Onyx with a 3.5" chamber. It's about 10 years old and it's been around the world. One mean coyote bit the butt stock a couple of weeks ago and now it's sporting some gnarly tooth marks.
 
Nahuatl, I follow alot of your post and it seems your a coyote getting machine in your own right. I wondered for some time why your not shooting a pump or auto.

I download my pump by gently walking the pump handle to the rear just enough for me to use my index finger to pull the round out of the ejection port.

I make sure the spoon is still up and hit the left and right metal retaining arms keeping the shells in the magazine and each round will slide out into my hand.

It does not damage the shells and does not wear on the parts of the shotgun by racking it all the time to unload it, which is very hard on the shotgun and shells over time.

The crimp or roll of the shotgun shell stays intaked.

Get yourself a pump gun or auto, you need one!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Definately get one of the shotguns with a magazine cut-off. That way, as someone has already stated, you don't even have to empty the magazine. I have a Browning Gold that has this feature and it sure is nice. Simply flip the switch, work the action to empty the chamber and let the other rounds ride in the tube. No need to empty it.
 
Try this to get to an electronic copy of the manual:

http://www.berettaservices.com/index.aspx?m=53&did=652

I have the AL391 Urika Gold Sporting that operates in the indicated manner, though I find it interesting that the manual indicates a need to operate the cutoff device. That is the way mine works w/o operator intervention.
Awesome gun, BTW.

I have an old Mauser that bears coyote teeth marks on the barrel, those suckers must be able to shame a shark when it comes to bite force.
 
I knew there would be a few Beretta shooters here that know a lot more about that gun than the gun salesmen do. It sounds like it ought to be easy to unload without wearing out the shells.

The magazine must be totally empty here when the gun is in the truck.

I don't mind recoil and I've hunted with a pump quite a bit. The new Xtrema2 KO is supposed to be a little gentler on the shooter. Perfect form isn't always possible on predator stands.

arm.jpg


You shoulda seen the other guys.
 
Did the link work?

I shot an extremely challenging round of sporting clays with an 870 and my right side from the top of the shoulder to my waist looked bad, though not nearly as bad as your arm. I imagine that was a reminder that stuck around for a while!
I took this round very seriously, bragging rights amoung coworkers and the business owners were at stake. The shells were free - AA super handicaps - that coupled with a pump gun that was fired on most of the second shots when nowhere near my shoulder messed me up good. I was sore the next morning, by that night I was flat on my back, only able to breath in short gasps. Spent two more days like that.
Bought the AL391 shortly thereafter and have never regretted it. Too pretty a gun for me, but I bought it second hand, unfired, at a very nice price. I've only had it a couple of years but it has had thousands of rounds ranging from 1oz. to those 1 7/8's ones mentioned with never a hint of a problem.

I'd consider either an Xtrema or a Benelli M1 or M90, whatever it's called.
 
I find the cartridge rim beaing beaten up from repeated chambering is as bad as the crimp coming apart. The crimp can be taken care of with a little wax drip to seal it. Battering the rim often raises burrs along the rim edge. These can cause malfunctions. I always check the rims for burrs that can cause the cartridges to hang in the magazine tube or chamber.

In a pump the Remington 870 is about as foolproof as any. Semi-autos that get the nod are the Beretta and Benelli.

I'm interested in how the coyote gnawled on your buttstock? Are you poking him with the wrong end? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
After shooting your 686, you will be surprised to find that
hull life is much shorter with an auto, esp. Federal 3-1/2".
Have no idea why. I went from a SX2 to a 686 Onyx Pro and brass / hull seperations stopped. I do shoot a lot of waterfowl and it could be simply b/c the hulls no longer hit the ground or get wet. I do know when you change you will cuss the autoloader chasing expensive 3-1/2" hulls. If you're not reloading them, the autoloader is much softer to shoot, with any load, and MUCH faster on the third shot.
 
I pushed a wounded animal out of a bush with the gun butt and finished him with a rock. I've had to do that a few times this season. This particular animal took exception to the shove and bit the stock hard.
 
Wow... I just shoot them a second time. That way you don't have to worry about that cartridge loosing its crimp or the rim being battered. New rounds in the rotation... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 


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