For everyone's entertainment, I give you this. Be gentle with me. I did voluntarily strap myself to the whipping post, after all!

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Jeff,

You're the best, and thanks so much to you and whichever other poor slobs got assigned to do battle with the old Nova. In the intervening years since I first started toting it, that thing has literally sat at the bottom of a salt creek deep in the marsh, spent many, many hours getting frozen salt spray washes on the open ocean as my seaduck slayer, been snowed and rained on and mistreated in every possible way. As well as serving as a walking staff in thick, nasty swamps and sloughs, it has spent copious time on duty on brackish rivers, and in general through most every kind of the worst wet, salty and horrible places for metal and guns I can think of.

In 100% honesty, it went 6 or maybe 7 seasons without a single cleaning, as after one particularly nasty weather hunt I didn't get to it and by the time I did, simply couldn't knock the pins out of it to get at the trigger group, or get the magazine tube cap off. At some point I guess I just decided--in admitted full jackass fashion--I was saying 'fark it'; I'll keep on hunting with it until it fails.

So, in a nutshell, that's *500+* days in the field it served me, in some of the most dreadful conditions possible, until finally croaking at the end of last season. A testament to it's simple, rugged build, even if it is a low-end pump gun. Very AK-47 like!

Please know I do truly appreciate your expertise and all you do to help me out, my friend. A few pics attached of what it looked like *before* I sent it to you. With the help of another guy I finally managed to partially disassemble it. I hope now you don't hate me as much, seeing as I worked on cleaning it for 2-3 hours first, before surrendering and sending it out to you. Do I get a T-shirt for making the SRM top ten Hall of Shame for Mistreating Your Shotgun Club, BTW?

Let me know what the damage is for shipping, parts and labor and I'll call with a cc number, if that's OK. If you need a check instead, no problem. Just let me know what you prefer and I'll get it right out to you.

Big thanks again, brother.

























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L,

How in the heck was that shotgun functioning? I have NEVER seen a more filthy weapon. I should post the pictures on our website!

The 1300 will be just fine also. I already welded the action arm back onto the forend and now we are going to bead blast the barrel and paint it flat black. I will try to get the choke out of it too. If it comes out, I will put a Terror choke in it. Do you need a Terror for the Nova?

You don’t owe me anything for the shotgun work. You should know that by now.

Talk to you later,

Jeff

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Jeff,

I thought you might get a kick out of the pics. I asked myself the same question as far as how the hell it was still working when I took it apart. I wasn't kidding when I said on the phone that I literally took about a quarter POUND of muck out of it when I finally took it apart. I remember when it finally failed at the end of this season past. I was hunting the salt off of Woodbridge Island on a cracking Nor'easter, and drew down on a black duck locked up and rocking in, and smiled as I said to myself, "one dead bird coming up...". Instead, all I got was a 'click'. After a quick WTF moment, I smiled and thought to myself, 'well it's finally happened'. Not a bad run. No sir, not a bad run at all for all the abuse I've heaped on this old girl!' ;c)

I'd love to have one of your terror tubes installed, if you can get 'em on there, bro. Big thanks. I really, really appreciate your expertise--and generousity!

Can't wait to get you guys back out here. Tuna or BUST! We are in the bass now. Buddy put 80 in the boat this am before 8:00.

Best, and thanks again.

L

Can we infer that your personal hygiene is similar?

quote:

Originally posted by Norton:
Can we infer that your personal hygiene is similar?

What's hygiene mean? I bathe at least four times a year!

Wow, I wish that shot gun could talk! Thanks for hooking me up with the clams! Yes, ate all of them, so, so, good!

Most welcome, brother. Just holler when you have a hankering for some more. Never a problem. Oh, and if that gun could talk, it would be moaning, crying and saying some awful hateful things about it's owner, I'm pretty sure.

Your not the only duck gun abuser out there. for some reason I feel the need to beat the s*%@t out of my duck guns as well. I don't do it to my other guns but my duck guns look like hell.

quote:

Originally posted by wetdog2084:
Your not the only duck gun abuser out there. for some reason I feel the need to beat the s*%@t out of my duck guns as well. I don't do it to my other guns but my duck guns look like hell.

X2. I call the faded blue/rust patina "Eastern Shore Camoflage" for all the hunting I do in the salt marshes of Maryland's Eastern Shore, on the Delmarva peninsula.

After a particularly horendous day, I do rinse my foul weather, favorite duck gun in a fresh water pond, use some gunk out and then some RemOil on the action and bars.

All pump, no auto, since the autos can't stand the use/abuse.

FWIW, early on after college, and then after marriage and then again after kids, I figured out that between work and family responsibilities, something has to give, and it is cleaning the gun after each hunt...

But, I have to say, yours was worse than mine has ever been, probably because of the fresh water pond!

JPK

I see you use a Benelli. Great shotguns!
But for ducks and geese I like my 870. I've had that thing rusted so bad the slide wouldn't budge. But a few taps on the concrete convinced the slide to start working again. That and a little WD 40.

quote:

Originally posted by wetdog2084:
Your not the only duck gun abuser out there. for some reason I feel the need to beat the s*%@t out of my duck guns as well. I don't do it to my other guns but my duck guns look like hell.

I realize fully that many, if not most serious waterfowlers, especially those who, like me, spend a great deal of time hunting the salt, know well that part of the price of admission is guns that really get tested and punished. That said, my buddy Jeff's business is designing and manufacturing aftermarket shotgun accessories, as well as designing and building his own shotguns from the ground up. See:

http://www.srmarms.com/

http://surecycle.com/store/pc/home.asp

They also of course do all manner of smithing work, and most anything you could think of relating to shotguns (and any other arm), and he's been in the business a long time. In short, he's worked on literally thousands, and probably tens of thousands of arms. Having him say he's never seen a filthier shotgun, well, now dat's saying sumptin'!