I spent the Monday and Tuesday before the course (which began on a Thursday) going through my gear and making sure everything was serviceable before packing it all up.
The e-mail I got before the course said there were only a couple equipment requirements: a shotgun with ammo appropriate to the gauge, a sling, and a light with push-button on/off operation (a weapon-mounted light was NOT required). The only other thing mentioned was the ability to have up to 40-50 rounds on your person.
Most students chose to use a clay-target type shell pouch, and a couple opted to just dump them in their pockets. I used an EOD Utility Bag from County Comm since it’s the bag I keep by my bedside with extra shells and a pistol in it. There really isn’t much to say about this piece of gear other than it worked. It wasn’t quite as fast as the shell pouches, but I don’t think it hurt me any.
My basic setup at the beginning of the class consisted of a Mossberg 590A1 with an 18.5” barrel and a bead sight. I replaced the stock with a Knoxx Spec-Ops recoil reducing pistol grip stock and the forend with one from Sure-Fire. I also installed a Vang Comp magazine extension tube and oversized metal safety.
Part of getting my gear together and ensuring it was serviceable included dry fire practice sessions, and I should have followed my better judgment.
The Mossberg’s tang safety was the main reason I bought it (since I’m left handed). I noticed during dry fire practice it was a bit of a pain to disengage the safety, but I figured it would be easy to overcome on the range. Unfortunately, I learned REALLY quickly the advantage of the safety’s placement was negated by the pistol grip stock. In order to push the safety forward into the fire position, I had to either use my trigger finger or rotate my hand forward so my thumb could push it. Either way, I had to break my firing grip, and in the case of using the trigger finger, it wasn’t always a sure bet. At least a couple times, my trigger finger slipped right over the safety and failed to disengage it. I identified the problem in dry fire and should have remedied it before going to the course.
So after the first day, I changed out the stock in favor of the factory one. I considered going ahead and cutting it down a little bit but decided to just shoot it the way it was since I have pretty long arms.
When we patterned our buckshot on day one, I noticed my pattern going slightly to the left of center. I also noticed this the last time I took it to the range, but I figured it was just me … it turns out it wasn’t. By the second day, my barrel was twisting around in the receiver pretty bad, enough to cause my bead to cant over to the left ever-so-slightly which is what caused my patterns and slug shots to go left. Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? Here’s the deal … even though I was concentrating on the front sight, my eyes were making sure the flat part of the receiver was parallel with the ground which caused the high left shots. I scored center punch hits when I concentrated on keeping the bead straight up and down (not paying attention to the cant of the receiver). How do you keep a spherical bead “straight up and down”? Easy, keep the flat base it’s on horizontal
So what caused the wiggle in the barrel? I swore up and down everything was locked down as tight as I could get it … apparently, I must have put on my wussy gloves when I checked it all. As of right now, I’ve come to the conclusion the extension tube backed out ever so slightly which caused the loose barrel. However, I’m going to take it into Morey at 10-8 for a second opinion.
I also had a case of the “wiggles” with my side saddle. By lunch on the second day, that sucker was moving about 1/16” up and down. After taking the saddle itself off, I put a drop of blue loctite on the extended ejector screw/nut (which serves as the forward attaching point for the mounting plate) and tightened it down as much as I could. That solved the problem, and I haven’t had any further issues with it.
I will say the absolute best/most useful accessory on the gun is the Sure-Fire forend. That was no more apparent than during the night shoot. Watching the guys work their pump guns with a hand-held light was funny in a sick kind of way!
The pistols stayed off the range until the last day. I would have rather been wearing my pistol through the entire course, even if it wasn’t loaded, but that’s just me. As far as my pistol choice is concerned, I used my carry piece, an old Glock 23 with XS Big Dot sights, which I outfitted for the course with a Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel and carried in a Comp-Tac Settable Cant belt holster. I used a total of five G19 magazines and Blazer 9mm ammo. I had no problems whatsoever.
So here’s the short version …
What I liked:
- Sure-Fire forend. This is the BEST $200 accessory I’ve put on a weapon, bar none!
- The tang safety location.
- Tac Star side saddle (once I got rid of the wiggle).
- Blue Force Gear sling. I love the ability to grab the dongle and almost instantly cinch it up tight to my body.
- Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel with G19 magazines. I was slightly concerned going into the class, but this combination worked 100 percent of the time.
- XS Big Dot sights with tritium front and standard white bar rear. I didn’t have much confidence in my ability to make precise shots with these sights going into the course. But I only dropped one or two headshots when we fired the pistol, and by dropped I mean they were just outside the “T-box” but still well within the target’s head.
What I didn’t like:
- Knoxx Spec-Ops stock because of the issue I had when trying to disengage the tang safety.
- Sling mount on the bottom of the factory stock. It caused the weapon to hang kind of upside down and kind of at a weird angle. (As soon as I got home I ordered a butt-cuff mount that places the mount on top of the stock.)
- Bead front sight. It will work for my current living arrangement and ammo choice (buckshot), but for a truck gun that might be used with slugs to reach out further than 25 yds or so, I’d want ghost ring sights. (I’m going to pick up a 590A1 with ghost ring sights and set it up identical to this one.)
The e-mail I got before the course said there were only a couple equipment requirements: a shotgun with ammo appropriate to the gauge, a sling, and a light with push-button on/off operation (a weapon-mounted light was NOT required). The only other thing mentioned was the ability to have up to 40-50 rounds on your person.
Most students chose to use a clay-target type shell pouch, and a couple opted to just dump them in their pockets. I used an EOD Utility Bag from County Comm since it’s the bag I keep by my bedside with extra shells and a pistol in it. There really isn’t much to say about this piece of gear other than it worked. It wasn’t quite as fast as the shell pouches, but I don’t think it hurt me any.
My basic setup at the beginning of the class consisted of a Mossberg 590A1 with an 18.5” barrel and a bead sight. I replaced the stock with a Knoxx Spec-Ops recoil reducing pistol grip stock and the forend with one from Sure-Fire. I also installed a Vang Comp magazine extension tube and oversized metal safety.
Part of getting my gear together and ensuring it was serviceable included dry fire practice sessions, and I should have followed my better judgment.
The Mossberg’s tang safety was the main reason I bought it (since I’m left handed). I noticed during dry fire practice it was a bit of a pain to disengage the safety, but I figured it would be easy to overcome on the range. Unfortunately, I learned REALLY quickly the advantage of the safety’s placement was negated by the pistol grip stock. In order to push the safety forward into the fire position, I had to either use my trigger finger or rotate my hand forward so my thumb could push it. Either way, I had to break my firing grip, and in the case of using the trigger finger, it wasn’t always a sure bet. At least a couple times, my trigger finger slipped right over the safety and failed to disengage it. I identified the problem in dry fire and should have remedied it before going to the course.
So after the first day, I changed out the stock in favor of the factory one. I considered going ahead and cutting it down a little bit but decided to just shoot it the way it was since I have pretty long arms.
When we patterned our buckshot on day one, I noticed my pattern going slightly to the left of center. I also noticed this the last time I took it to the range, but I figured it was just me … it turns out it wasn’t. By the second day, my barrel was twisting around in the receiver pretty bad, enough to cause my bead to cant over to the left ever-so-slightly which is what caused my patterns and slug shots to go left. Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? Here’s the deal … even though I was concentrating on the front sight, my eyes were making sure the flat part of the receiver was parallel with the ground which caused the high left shots. I scored center punch hits when I concentrated on keeping the bead straight up and down (not paying attention to the cant of the receiver). How do you keep a spherical bead “straight up and down”? Easy, keep the flat base it’s on horizontal
So what caused the wiggle in the barrel? I swore up and down everything was locked down as tight as I could get it … apparently, I must have put on my wussy gloves when I checked it all. As of right now, I’ve come to the conclusion the extension tube backed out ever so slightly which caused the loose barrel. However, I’m going to take it into Morey at 10-8 for a second opinion.
I also had a case of the “wiggles” with my side saddle. By lunch on the second day, that sucker was moving about 1/16” up and down. After taking the saddle itself off, I put a drop of blue loctite on the extended ejector screw/nut (which serves as the forward attaching point for the mounting plate) and tightened it down as much as I could. That solved the problem, and I haven’t had any further issues with it.
I will say the absolute best/most useful accessory on the gun is the Sure-Fire forend. That was no more apparent than during the night shoot. Watching the guys work their pump guns with a hand-held light was funny in a sick kind of way!
The pistols stayed off the range until the last day. I would have rather been wearing my pistol through the entire course, even if it wasn’t loaded, but that’s just me. As far as my pistol choice is concerned, I used my carry piece, an old Glock 23 with XS Big Dot sights, which I outfitted for the course with a Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel and carried in a Comp-Tac Settable Cant belt holster. I used a total of five G19 magazines and Blazer 9mm ammo. I had no problems whatsoever.
So here’s the short version …
What I liked:
- Sure-Fire forend. This is the BEST $200 accessory I’ve put on a weapon, bar none!
- The tang safety location.
- Tac Star side saddle (once I got rid of the wiggle).
- Blue Force Gear sling. I love the ability to grab the dongle and almost instantly cinch it up tight to my body.
- Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel with G19 magazines. I was slightly concerned going into the class, but this combination worked 100 percent of the time.
- XS Big Dot sights with tritium front and standard white bar rear. I didn’t have much confidence in my ability to make precise shots with these sights going into the course. But I only dropped one or two headshots when we fired the pistol, and by dropped I mean they were just outside the “T-box” but still well within the target’s head.
What I didn’t like:
- Knoxx Spec-Ops stock because of the issue I had when trying to disengage the tang safety.
- Sling mount on the bottom of the factory stock. It caused the weapon to hang kind of upside down and kind of at a weird angle. (As soon as I got home I ordered a butt-cuff mount that places the mount on top of the stock.)
- Bead front sight. It will work for my current living arrangement and ammo choice (buckshot), but for a truck gun that might be used with slugs to reach out further than 25 yds or so, I’d want ghost ring sights. (I’m going to pick up a 590A1 with ghost ring sights and set it up identical to this one.)
