The Mossberg 500 had never seen field duty. It serves as one of the local security tools since having the "turkey" (20-inch) barrel installed for purposes of launching magic cones of certain death at intruders, along with, of course, the fearsome Clickety-Clack Chorus. (by Anton Dvorak, I think, or maybe Bill Haley.) On a lark I took it to the game farm near Avon, Minnesota this weekend for a morning of shooting at ringnecks. It turns out that the cone of death is real when the gun is loaded with lead No. 6s and properly pointed. Modesty be damned, I estimated the range at 40 yards. My hunting buddy called it 40 to 50, but he is an extremely generous fellow. (The 3-inch double ought-buck in the stock band was set aside for the duration of the hunt.)
The breast is preserved for an evening when I am absolutely certain to be dining alone. It will soak in salt water -- perhaps with a pinch of cumin? -- and be severely seared before hitting the oven. The legs will become part of a slow-cook stew, company welcome. And anyone who isn't jealous gets a lot more pheasants than I do. Or has never tasted one.
2 comments:
I've got a 500, with a 18.5" barrel and cylinder bore, and I've taken a lot of pheasant and grouse with it.
I'll probably catch Hell from the purists for opining that choked barrels are something of an anachronism. The plastic shot sleeve does some of the work of the constriction, and I doubt shorter, thus handier, barrels rob us of enough velocity to matter.
Post a Comment