Remington 870
December 2009 Newsletter
Wed, 2009-12-30 18:53 — Pat Heyman
Well, we're at the end of yet another year. As our parents always told us, time speeds up as you get older. I still think things that happened three years ago happened only a few months ago. It's been a while, since we have sent out an official newsletter/update, so it's about time. (This newsletter will only cover 2009, but I'll go back and retroactively add in some past newsletters later.)
Family Stuff
God has continued to bless us this past year with our continued health, steady jobs, good friends, our loyal doggy...and we're having a baby!!!!! Jen is seven months pregnant with our firstborn who we're told will be a boy. His tentative name is Logan Matthew Heyman. Jen's due date is March 24. We have a wishlist/registry available if you would like to contribute to the welfare of a minor.
Randy Cain's Shotgun Class
Sat, 2009-12-12 13:42 — Pat HeymanMoreover, you will get a chance to see other people with various options and how they work, giving you ideas for your own gear, both what works and what doesn't. And of course Randy will try to help you steer clear of transfer devices—gear whose main purpose is to transfer your money to the vendor.
This fall, I took Randy Cain's Shotgun class. In preparation for the class, I have already posted a couple articles on the shotgun in general and what to look for in a Remington 870. Now that I have taken the Shotgun class, I will be posting an article on recommended modifications to the Remington 870. But this article is dedicated to the class itself.
Videos from the class are available for friends and family. E-mail me.
Day 1
Shotgun I is the second class that I have attended with Randy, and it followed the same pattern as Tactical Handgun 101. The first thing is a discussion on safety. You will learn Jeff Cooper's safety rules for firearm safety word for word. Following safety is a general orientation to the shotgun as a whole and the Remington 870 in particular (everyone in our class had an 870) including how to load and how to unload the shotgun.
Then we were out on the firing line with buckshot to pattern the guns. Patterning consists of shooting buckshot at paper at varying distances to see what the pattern (or shot distribution looks like). You will need (at least) six rounds of two different types of buckshot (12 total) There are three reasons for this exercise:
- It helps you determine the best ammunition for your shotgun. Every barrel shoots every load differently.
- It helps you to understand your shotgun's capabilities with buckshot at various distances.
- It demonstrates the folly of the Hollywood school of shotguns. At 7 seven yards (across the room distance), the pattern on my shotgun was only 4 inches across—so much for the "just point and you can't miss" myth.
We exchanged our buckshot for birdshot and went to the steel plates and practiced various drills such as firing on the move, searching, and Rolling Thunder. Rolling thunder is a team exercise designed to put you under a bit of stress while manipulating the shotgun as quickly as possible just to keep it loaded. We would repeat Rolling Thunder with different variations several times over the next few days. This was followed by a competition to see who could knock down three steel plates the quickest.
Shotguns: Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.
Sun, 2009-07-12 02:00 — Pat HeymanThose famous words were spoken by Wesley (Cary Elwes) in The Princess Bride in response to Vizzini's convoluted arguments. I feel the same about anyone who can understand all of the intricacies of firearms. I have already written about some of my adventures into the realm of handguns, but this did nothing to prepare me for the dizzying variety in the world of shotguns. Shotguns have infinitely more variety than handguns
