I'm not addicted...

Wait, no, I am. I was bored, so I figured I'd run up to Gander Mountain, see what's around, and expand my OC trekking. Normally I prefer giving money to local-ished owned shops (there aren't any for at least 20 miles from here though) but Gander does have a decent amount of used guns and their somewhat recent sign change (they now specify that firearms legally carried for self defense, open or concealed, do not need to be checked or cased, as OC friendly as you can get) has made me a little more friendly towards spending money there, despite previous experiences.

So wandering around, seeing what's there, and notice that a friend of a friend looking at hand guns. Turns out he's there looking to buy his first handgun, and asks if I have any (like I said, friend of a friend...). In his defense he wasn't on my strong side, and I'm not a little guy, so he didn't see the full size 1911 in the tan Serpa on my belt. We talk a little, he's already done a bit of research, and I reassure him that I've heard good stuff about the Springfield XD series, and he starts paperwork on a standard 9mm type. Score one for the good guys, and hopefully I can suck him into the regular range group.

On to my addiction. I've mentioned before that I'm in the market for a semi 12 gauge, so I spent most of my time on the shotgun side of the gun section, and noticing a distinct lack of semis. Drool over the Benellis, way out of my price range. Well, hidden amongst one of the used racks, next to a $1000+ (used) Benelli left handed field gun of some sort, is a pretty decent looking Mossberg 930 for a price I'm willing to pay. Look it over, 24" ribbed and ported barrel, threaded for the accu-choke, and a nice little red fiber optic bead. Very nice finish (well, good condition, just the standard Mossberg park job) and the chamber looks like it's had maybe 100 rounds through it. Track down an employee, fill out papers, and head out the door.

(forgive the mediocre photos, it's dark outside, and my light box is a whopping 2'x2'... long guns don't fit)

It came with a Mossberg 670 XX-F Turkey choke and another one (pictured above) marked PF1-XX-Full, along with a couple bags of stock shims. Guess I'm going to have to do some research, as I know next to nill about shotgun chokes, despite being rated an Expert shotgun shooter by the NRA. (Hey, just 'cause I shoot it good, doesn't mean I know jack about how it works) But overall, not a bad haul for a gun I didn't plan on buying this morning, or this month for all that matters.

Looking at extension tubes now, the ones from Nordic look promising (with the 24" barrel I can squeeze a +5er under there!) and contemplating some other 3-gun type aftermarket parts, like a bigger charging handle and more pronounced safety switch. Any advice on that front is welcome, especially when it comes to chokes. This will be getting setup for 3-gun type use.

Oh, to top off the day, AMC's totally rockin' the Pale Rider.