I found a range to shoot my new Mossberg shotgun with. Yesterday I went to the A&P Arms range in Lynnhaven and shot my new shotgun. The trip was more expensive than I had anticipated as for some strange reason you have to buy and use their ammunition, which was ridiculously expensive. Anyway, after reading all the rules and signing my life away, I was assigned to shoot in bay 3 lane 15. I had 15 rounds of 00 buck and 5 targets to shoot at. Loading the shotgun proved to be very easy but I was a little surprised when I fired the first round. I had forgotten how loud a 12 gauge was and how big a kick it delivered. If you don’t hold the shotgun very firmly against your shoulder it will hurt you. Shooting the Mossberg reminded me of just how powerful and deadly it really is. I would hate to be on the receiving end of a load of 9 00 buckshot fired from it.

The pump action was very smooth and I had no misfires or jams. I did very well with accuracy, placing all my shots squarely in the center of the targets. It really helps that the Mossberg has a very useful sight. I fired all 15 of my rounds in about a half hour. I would fire about 3 rounds per target and then analyse my shot patterns. I can safely say that at 25 yards anyone I shot at would be a dead person, although I pray that will never come to pass. So now I feel confidant that I can safely defend our house if the need ever arises. And I managed to have quite a lot of fun in familiarizing myself with my new shotgun.