Did You Ever Wonder About...?

    Have you read online discussions about shotgun sports or sat around a table with shooters discussing their experiences and a topic is discussed that stirs your curiosity or hits the old befuddlement spot in your brain?  Being a retired science teacher causes me to investigate exactly what they're talking about.  I lean toward scientific findings, not someones "feelings".  It is difficult to separate fact from fiction concerning some of these topics.  Typically I get this feeling from the people expounding their thoughts: "I think so and I've shot all guns, reloaded all ammunition, blah, blah, blah, and therefore I must be right."  I have researched the following topics and will let you reach your own conclusions about if they are important or not. 

1. Long barrels vs. short barrels -   I have seen 34 inch plus barrels and even extensions that are longer yet.  I have also seen very successful sporting clays shooters use guns with 26 inch barrels.  There probably should be a balance between barrel length, weight, shooter's physical makeup, etc.  This is an interesting article:  http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_barrel_length.htm  I also like this article: http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/guns/2002/08/longer-better
2. Choke tubes - Some sporting clay participants use different choke tubes at each station while other have favorite choke tubes that stay in their gun regardless of the target presentation.  Both seem to be successful.  So do the extended tubes really work?  Read this article by Randy Wakeman: http://www.chuckhawks.com/extended_chokes_patterns.htm. 
3. Doing shotgun modifications - Does back-boring, lengthening the forcing cone, porting gun barrels, using after market chokes, or doing trigger work make us better shooters?  What does this all mean?  I enjoyed this article:  http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_mysteries.htm.
4. Primer brisance - This topic brought strong reactions from forum contributors and I'm not sure they really understand what brisance is and how it relates to primer performance and primer choices for reloading shot shells.    Here is what I found: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_5_55/ai_n31480080/.  I decided to leave this topic to the powder companies when they list which primer should be used with a powder-shell-shot load- wad combination in reloading situations.  Do not experiment on your own.  Follow only well-tested and documented recipes when reloading.
5. Shotgun combs-  Raising or lowering the rear sight (your eye) of the shotgun is said to enable the shooter to sight down the barrel more effectively if they are shooting too high or too low.  The comb can also be adjusted to the left or right to adjust lateral effectiveness.  Read http://speedbumpadjustablecomb.blogspot.com/ to see if you need an adjustable comb.  I realize this is an advertisement but the article is good.
6. 20 gauge vs. a 12 gauge -  This is a century old discussion that will never be decided.  Most shooters have a favorite gauge and are fairly close-minded to other's opinions.  However, I did find a very interesting article:  http://www.chuckhawks.com/twenty_vs_twelve.htm. 
7. 16 gauge vs. other gauges - Obviously I am prejudiced because I really like shooting a 16 gauge bird hunting or shooting sporting clays.  I have written a previous blog discussing this topic.  I really enjoyed reading the following site: http://www.chuckhawks.com/16_gauge_wakeman.htm.  
8. Over-Unders vs. semi-automatics -  Randy Wakeman wrote 2 articles; one favoring the O/U and one favoring semi-automatics.  I must like Randy!  Ha!  http://www.chuckhawks.com/reasons_buy_over-under.htm and http://www.chuckhawks.com/avoid_ou_shotguns.htm.  Good reading

    Well, this is my list.  A single blog could be written on each separate topic, but I thought you might have many of the same questions that I have about shooting sports. I also have been reading articles about cheap shotguns vs. expensive shotguns.
    Are all these topics important to the typical sporting clays shooter?  Probably not!  I heard a person say that great shooters can shoot almost any combination of gun size, choke tubes, gauge, barrel length, etc. and still shoot effectively.  Do shooters seek a crutch to improve their scores?  I think so.  Comfort, reliability, and confidence in what you are doing as you shoot probably has more effect than the eight topics I listed.  What do you think?

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain