It's complete! Bwahaha!

Diabolical...no...maniacal laughter filled my basement shop. Lighting flashed in the window well while the distant sound of thunder, swelling and rolling off into the night, a flash of awareness and rumbling approval as though it understood, it was complete. My instrument of harvest was finally, finally ready for the season. Bwahaha!

Alright, things don't get anywhere near that dramatic in my shop, but that doesn't diminish my enthusiasm. My birthday is right around the corner and I picked up the last part I needed for making my Benelli Nova a deer slayer...er...harvester, a Carlson Rifled Choke. (George, I really wanted a Trulock choke, but I couldn't find a rifled choke on your site. I'm still "true". All my other chokes are Trulocks or Benelli branded Trulocks, I just wish you had a rifled choke available for my Nova.)

The Benelli Nova is an awesome all-around shotgun. It's a sexy little Italian number that's versatile and reliable as hell. Oh...and it's easy to shoot. Because of the hunting regulations in Illinois (just today ranked as the 49th best state in the nation, yay), I have to hunt deer using a shotgun. A limited number of other firearms and bows are allowed in the right season, but I have my Nova. How is my Nova configured for deer (and hopefully wild hog in the future)?

• Benelli Nova Pump 12 GA (IMHO, awesome all-around shotgun, purchased at Bass Pro on sale)
• Shotgun saddle scope mount w/picatinny rail (Sun Optics USA)
• BSA Huntsman RGB Illuminated Sight (red dot scope, but also green and blue, and currently on my Marlin 795)
• Carlson Rifled Choke (purchased at Bass Pro)
• Redhead sling (Bass Pro again)

I'm into the entire setup for less than $500 thanks to a very versatile shotgun. Now I just need to find a place I can sight it in. And you know what? That's not easy in northeast Illinois, but I'll figure it out.

One last item to bring up. A question I have seen frequently on the web that Carlson's site answered is, "Will a Beretta/Benelli Mobil choke fit my Benelli Nova?" The answer is yes, I just bought one and it fits perfectly. It's amazing how often this goes unanswered by shotgunners and retailers alike. The Nova is a very popular pump shotgun and the knowledge should be readily available, but it's not. Well, now it is. My thanks to Carlson.

When I do sight it in, I want to get it on video. Until then...queue the lightning, I'm heading back down to the shop. Deer and hogs beware. Bwahaha... ah...cough, cough...ugh...ahem.

Zeroing BSA RGB (Red Dot) scope

I'm going to do a bench review of the BSA Huntsman Illuminated RGB sight too, but here is my first ever vlog entry. Be kind, I did it to get some experience and to see how good of a job my Samsung Focus S Windows Phone would do. Considering that I was by myself on the range and had no stand, I thought it was a good start. They'll get better from here.

There are a couple of details I didn't mention in this video (but will cover in the bench review) about the BSA Huntsman:

• It will mount on both 3/8" and 5/8" sight rails. That's good for me, because it fits my Marlin 795 rifle and Benelli Nova shotgun
• This red dot is RGB, meaning it has red, green or blue dots to choose from depending on lighting conditions. I've been using the red dot for a few reasons, some of which may not be true of this particular scope, but is true for other sights. The reasons are:
• The color red consumes less power than other colors. My hope is for longer battery life. I know this is true for LASERs (yes LASER is an acronym), not absolutely sure it applies to red dot sights.
• Red is the only color humans can see directly in the middle of the eye at night. I think being able to see red directly in the center of the eye makes it more accurate.

I was surprised when using the BSA Huntsman RGB for the first time how far off it was from center. After firing for the first time I completely missed a rather large target (you'll see them in the video) at 25 yards. I could hardly believe that the shots landed at least 10 inches below the center target!  I expected it to be off, but wow, 10 inches?

I would have liked to get better groups, but it was pretty muddy out there and, other than a plastic lawn chair, I couldn't use any kind of rest to steady the rifle. I expect I will keep improving with some support. So far I'm liking the BSA Huntsman and having fun with it. I'm hoping that continues. As Larry Potterfield of MidwayUSA says, "An accurate rifle is an interesting rifle."

One more item to note...while working on this, to help me I wrote a program for my Windows Phone to assist with calculating clicks for zeroing the sight at distances under 100 yards. If you have a Windows Phone, you're welcome to install touchdevelop by Microsoft on your Windows Phone and download zero my red dot by ShootinUgli.

Well, I'm going keep preparing for the club shoot. They tell me it's very friendly, but you know there always some competition involved. I'll keep you posted.

Trigger The Vote | Register Today!

Trigger The Vote! 'via Blog this'

I'm getting on my soap box again, hear me out...ahem...

It is the duty of each and every eligible American citizen to get out and vote. Let me say that again, voting isn't only a right and privilege, but a duty. Freedom isn't free and it begins with responsible individuals at the local level. All should understand that every vote matters.

If you agree and are so inclined, follow the link at the top of the blog entry and let R. Lee Ermey and the NRA help you get registered to vote...and then get out and vote!

Speaking of voting, I heard on Fox News yesterday that Chicago won Most Corrupt City in America. I also learned Chicago was actually Second Most Corrupt City in America, but it rigged the vote. ;-)

Remember, a right now exercised is a right lost. Support the Second Amendment and our Constitutional Republic.

Rio Ammo - The Follow-up

It's been a bit since I receive the case of shot shells from Rio Ammunition. I'm happy to say in shooting through the rest of it two weekends ago...it performed...flawlessly. My [Rio promo] hat's off to the caring, quality conscious people at Rio. Honestly folks, this ammo performs as well, if not better, than anything else I've shot so far including...

• Remington Gun Club
• Winchester AA
• Winchester Universal
• Federal Target

...and at a lower cost, making Rio Ammo an excellent overall value.

If you've been following for any amount of time you know that I've been a Winchester fan, and I still am for my 9MM Luger and .22LR cartridges. Still Winchester makes a fine shot shell too...of which I have 98 remaining for future pheasant hunts.

Nevertheless, I'm a fan of Rio shot shells too. I've been more than pleased with their performance on the trap  range and impressed with the responsiveness of the company. (I've tried contacting Winchester on an unrelated topic and received no response.) As a result I'm looking forward to taking my first deer and/or boar using a Rio slug in my shotgun. When it comes time to zero my red dot sight on my shotgun with a Rio slug shell, I'll be talking about that experience then. I'm looking forward to it, but for now I need to get it zeroed on my Marlin 795.

See one of my new links for Ammo.net for a small selection of Rio Ammo.

Marlin 795 .22 Rimfire

I picked up something new last week so I could participate in a local .22 shoot at Sandwich Sportsman's Club. Each month they hold a .22 shoot that's open to the public and indoor during this cold time of year.

So...what did I get? As you may have already guessed from the post title, it's a Marlin 795, which has gotten terrific reviews for accuracy and bang-for-the-buck, a Shootin' Ugli must. With everyone complaining about the express sights, I also purchased a red dot scope by BSA for the Marlin and hopefully my Benelli Nova for deer hunting.

The Marlin 795 is well reviewed, well let me rephrase that. There are a lot of reviews, some better than others. I'd like to cover it anyway. The BSA red dot scope is not very well reviewed, so I'd love to cover it with the Marlin and then the Benelli. I think I'm outfitted for the shoot. Now I just need to sneak away to the range to get it sighted in.

I'm also thinking about trying something new, adding some video. I have a new Windows camera phone I purchased for business and I think it may work for vlogging. We'll see. I need to organize my workbench first.

Oh man...Personal Defense TV just came on and they're saying things that aren't quite kosher. Dude...just kick him in the...oh never mind. Time for bed.

Goodnight all!

The 'Best Of' Gun Accidents

The 'Best Of' Gun Accidents

I've seen some of these "accidents" before, but they never get old. They are always a good reminder for safe firearm operation.

Included are a few firearm malfunctions, but mostly people malfunctions.

Enjoy!