Who's our resident shotgun expert?

by Paul , Tuesday, January 01, 2013, 17:16 (4290 days ago)

Hey guys,

There's an opening of sorts in the dearth of decent shotguns down here north of the Equator and south of the Canal. Someone high enough up the ladder to have some influence seems to be pushing for the formation of a Sporting Clays league or something of the sort and they've got a shipment of scatterguns coming in this month with a second one coming in the middle of the year. They are VERY limited as to what is coming in with only Winchester and Browning being mentioned and only very specific models and very limited numbers. Most (if not all) the first shipment is spoken for. Anyway, I'm very interested in taking up this offer they are making as Sporting Clays is an excellent excuse to obtain what one day may be called on to defend the innocent should society take a nose dive - if you get my drift. There's nothing so benign appearing as a 'sporting implement' and registered sportsmen have historically been allowed access to that which other people are not in this country. As a permanent resident I get the same treatment as the nationals as far as firearms and such go, including special privileges for being a registered shooter. My US citizenship pretty much counts for nothing in the matter, especially in comparison to my rights as a sportsman under the Constitution and other legislation here(some folks seem to believe that our 2nd Amendment will allow us to ignore local law when traveling/living abroad - this is not the case.)

So, here's the "official list" that I've obtained. No mention of the Beretta that I'd heard rumors was also going to be coming in, the Winchester and Browning models below are organized according to cost. I'm not sure exactly what each model is yet, am trying to sort through and get a handle on everything. I'm not a shotgunner by raising, training or inclination so am playing "ketchup" in this part of my shooting education. I've got just enough of an idea of the sport to be dangerous.

Here's the list along with approximate value in dollars - the exchange rate tends to fluctuate and for the most part it does not favor those of us who are funded by US dollars.

WINCHESTER SX3 FIELD ................................approximately $1,880 US
WINCHESTER SX3 CAMO INFINITY ..................approximately $1,940 US

BROWNING MAXUS COMPOSITE....................... approximately $2,100 US
BROWNING MAXUS CAMO DUCK BLIND.............. approximately $2,160 US
BROWNING MAXUS SPORTING CARBON FIBER......approximately $2,220 US
BROWNING MAXUS STANDARD ........................approximately $2,330 US

BROWNING Mod. B525 SPORTER.......................approximately $2,390 US
BROWNING Mod. B525 SPORTER.20 gauge .........approximately $2,900 US

Ammo is as yet unknown, I'm not sure what they are allowing the sport shooters to purchase. I've seen both national production and an imported brand (Rio) hulls around. The specs on the national seem to be about 3/4 to 1 1/8 of 7 1/2 to 9 shot (if I did the conversion right, 24 to 32 grams payload) while the Rio seems to be all 24 gram loads labeled Skeet, Trap and Target. Occasionally they'll allow us to purchase other shells as a club, for hunting purposes, and #4, 6, 0, 00 and 000 all seem to be occasionally available. I've no doubts of the efficacy of even the light loads at entrance hall distances for defensive purposes (see Jeff Quinn's gunblast.com video on the subject) and if they'll sell me 1,000 rounds of such every now and then I'll not feel unarmed.

Anyway, this is still all theoretical as I'm not sure how I'll come up with the $1,000 - $1,500 or so between what is available and what the cost will be. So thanks for feedback and ideas.