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Well, courtesy of AndyC, here are some pics of my first day skeet shooting with my new gun. Andy got pics of my son too. We actually shot one round of traps first, just to get used to shooting at flying targets, and then we shot three rounds of skeet.









As you can see from the scoring that I shot a 10, a 10, and a 9. Andy said that is average for a beginner. I hope so, because I was embarrassed. My son, on the other hand, shot a 9, a 13, and a 17. I've always maintained that my boy is a superb shot with pistol and rifle, and he proved it once again with shotguns. I think he'll be in the 20s in no time. Andy shot the 18, 21 and 20. The other guy, Pat, was just a stranger who joined us for that third round. He was doing a little pre-hunting practice with a semi-auto.

Anyway, we had a great time. Thank you to AndyC for the coaching he gave us, which was excellent. My son and I have a new addiction, and we can't wait to go do it again. Of course, now he's mad because he has to buy a proper skeet gun. When we shot that first round of traps, he tried it with his Mossberg 500 HD shotgun, and couldn't hit a thing with it. I wasn't great, but I did succeed in hitting 5 or 6 of the clays on that round. So when we shot the three rounds of skeet, he borrowed my Stoeger. He confessed to me this morning that when he first saw what I had bought, he thought I was crazy. But now he thinks that having a good over and under is absolutely necessary to his life.

AndyC wrote:Ready for Thu morning? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Oh yeah, I'm ready. I just hope I don't embarrass myself. I'm looking forward to it.

Yep, that would be cool. But it will have to wait until after I learn a thing or two. I have to come out of this thing with my dignity intact, and if you think I'm going to give you guys a chance to embarrass me, you've got another think coming... ...because I already embarrass myself all over this board and I don't need any help in that department!

MoJo wrote:Nice gun. Question, I always thought SxS an OU guns were ambidextrous. What makes this gun left handed?

Here's my novice explanation....

1) If you put your nose down by the butt pad and sight down the entire length of the shotgun, you'll notice that the stock does not come perfectly straight back from the receiver. It bends very slightly off to the left. This, combined with the elevated comb being shifted back toward the shooter's left cheek (cast on), makes it easier for the shooter's eye to fall naturally into correct alignment with the sights.

2) There is a palm swell on the left side of the pistol grip which is not reciprocated on the right side. Thus, the pistol grip fits the left hand better than the right.

As I previously posted in another thread, AndyC convinced me that I needed to become a skeet addict. So in anticipation of our impending skeet session, I started shopping for a shotgun today. Well, sometimes you stumble onto something that seems tailor made for you, and you never look any further. That's what happened to me.

My first stop was at Euless Guns & Ammo. I told Todd behind the counter that I was looking for an entry level skeet gun and asked him to educate me. He said, "you're left-handed, right?" (I've bought several guns from them before, the last one being my M1A.) He pointed me to the used gun rack on the floor, and there I found a very lightly used, left-handed Stoeger Condor Competition 12 gauge over and under shotgun (pictures below) with 30" ported barrels. It has an adjustable comb and adjustable butt pad. It is in beautiful condition. The adjustable butt pad was an aftermarket addition. Blemishes consist of a couple of tiny dings in the buttstock that are barely noticeable even up close. Otherwise, it looks brand new. The action is perfect. All bluing is intact.

Apparently, the previous owner had bought this gun from the same store a little over a year ago, and had really developed a passion for skeet and decided recently to trade it in and buy a more expensive gun. Whoever he was he must have been about my size because the gun fits me perfectly. Andy and I checked it, and when I shoulder the weapon and lay my cheek to the comb with eyes closed and then open my eyes, I am sighted perfectly down the barrel, with my dominant eye lined up perfectly with the barrel rib.

Long story short, the price was right, $450.00, so I went ahead and bought it. I know that Stoeger is not considered a "top of the line" manufacturer, but I think that for an entry level skeet and bird hunting gun, this was a good choice. MSRP on this gun, without the adjustable butt pad, is $629. So given that it is so lightly used, has upgraded adjustability, and in such good condition, I think that $450.00 was probably a pretty good price. Say hello to the newest member of the family.