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By M. D. Beale Jr. (HPD Retired)
They come in all sizes and shapes these days - shotguns that is. www.fourten.org.uk , the premier .410 website, shows a new .410 that looks like an M16. As uptight as the Brits are about gun control, I'm amazed that they would allow this one in.
Well, not really surprised, I guess. They allow silencers, even require them in certain areas, for noise abatement. I've always contended silencers would be a wonderful noise abatement tool in a drive-by shootings.
How Outside Looks
A company by the name of Safir Arms Industrial Company Ltd. makes this M16 "look-a-like" with 5-, 10- and 13-shot (?) magazines. It'd be hard to run out of ammo on a single covey rise of quail. It's illegal for migratory birds like dove and waterfowl without a two-shot magazine - which would give it a three-shot capacity with one in the barrel.
Research and Development guys as well as the marketing folks keep tinkering around with different ways to get a charge of shot down a barrel. It seems that all of the major semi-auto manufacturers have something new. They tinker around with how the insides work and how the outside looks, but in the final analysis all of them still do the same thing they've been doing for 500 or so years... fire a charge of shot out of the end of the barrel.
Recoil is mitigated, to a certain extent, a little better by some of them, but I still think that a lot of it is just smoke and mirrors. A 103-year-old Winchester Model 1897 pump is still bound by the same laws of physics, which are pretty well immutable, as the newest Cordoba or Maxima by Beretta. The latter may have a slight edge in recoil but the shot probably won't fly any better out of one than the other.
Confirming what Steve Powers at Briley's told me some time back, recent pattern tests with the 3 ½-inch 12 gauge magnum shells pretty well substantiate that bigger isn't necessarily better. Using a Browning Gold 3 ½-ich Magnum and a variety of shells from light 2 ¾-inch target loads to the heaviest 3 ½-inch steel and lead shells, a series of informal tests where made at a pattern plate at a measured 50 yards. The gun cycled all of the shells without a hitch.
But the bottom line was that, using the factory choke tubes that came with the gun, the very best 50-yard full choke patterns were obtained with the 3-inch No. 6- buffered lead shot. The recoil difference between the 3 ½-inch and 3-inch shells was substantial. How anyone could stand to shoot one of these long shells in a pump or any fixed breech gun is beyond me. But, I'm sure there is someone somewhere that can and does, and on a regular basis... somewhere.
The Browning Gold is one of softest if not the softest recoiling shotgun on the market today. They are not prominent in clay target shooting or in the Argentina dove fields because they do have reliability issues with high volume shooting. They have a nasty habit of breaking/locking up in the middle of a match.
I'm told by folks that should know that the shooters that Browning sponsors and that use the Gold in the big matches, have two or three backup guns with them to make sure they are able to get through the match. However, I think that for normal hunting and target shooting, with proper maintenance, they should be just fine.
Browning's new Maxus system is supposed to remedy the Gold's reliability problems. We'll see how it really works out. Probably be some decent buys on some used Browning Gold's before long.
If you have a shotgun you like and can hit with it, that's about as good as it gets. Everything else is window dressing.
Quail Ranching
RPQRR is a relatively "new" West Texas brand. Founded in 2007 the Rolling Plains Quail Research Project is run by Texas A&M University in Fisher County, Texas, off US Highway 180. It's near Rotan and they get their mail in San Angelo. This 4,700-acre spread is the old W. T. Martin ranch. Their website is www.quailresearch.org and you need to check it out, especially if you're a quail hunter and/or an animal lover of any sort.
This is a 501(c)(3) [donations are tax deductible] outfit run and operated by TAMU through their Texas AgriLIFE Extension program. This is a serious effort to do the detailed research necessary to develop programs to stop the sharp decline in quail populations, specifically in Texas and elsewhere in general.
The wild quail populations east of here have all but vanished, especially in the "Old South." I know of only one small wild quail covey in Georgia, and it's strictly monitored. There might accidently be a few others around; I just don't know about them. For all practical purposes, wild quail are a thing of the past for the southern and eastern United States. It'll be the same here if something isn't done. These are the guys that are seriously trying to do something to stop the decline.
Heading up these "wild quail cowboys" is Dr. Dale Rollins, aka "Dr. Quail." who, along with Dr. Dean Ransom, wrangle this sophisticated program that studies exactly what Texas bob white and blue quail do and what they need to survive.
There are sophisticated and detailed research studies underway here regarding habitat as well as bird biology and habits, and the impact of weather on all of it. This includes keeping track of as many individual birds as possible via bird bands and electronic tracking collars. The cattle, Angus and "Tiger Stripe" Brahma x Herford cross, are also tracked via GPS collars.
The January 2010 newsletter talks about prickly pear, its benefits and drawbacks on the quail population and the studies that are being formulated using the ranch's habitat. Included in the article is the current state of the organizations involved in trying to study quail.
With the Lord's blessing and hard work, they should be able to do for quail what Ducks Unlimited has done for the waterfowl population. Any help anyone can give them will be greatly appreciated, I'm sure. Check out the programs that they have for young folks to get involved. It appears to be a wonderful way for parents and children to participate in conservation together.
If you're up in the area, I'm sure it'd be worth the time and effort to stop by and visit. Just call before you go. The numbers are on the website.
Stay safe and warm. Gunny Rock and I will see you in the field or on the range.
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