on a lighter note...

[Boyd Brooks]

Z

 

[Boyd Brooks]

 

[Boyd Brooks]

 

[Boyd Brooks]

 

[Hogpatrol]

View attachment 661540D​

As long as it's under $900, or you're in a major Democratic controlled city, you're ok.

 

[CoElkHunter]

View attachment 661566Kinda looks like Atlanta a couple of weeks ago? LOL

 

[Hogpatrol]

 

[Hogpatrol]

 

[CZDiesel]

View attachment 661525

I’d this is hilarious except that’s what the damn neighbor does to me

 

[Vashper]

View attachment 661566

I found the original source. Taken not far from me.

And today we walked on the green grass in the park, for the first time in our lives at this time of the year. However, make no mistake - last year, the February snowfalls crushed the greenhouses of my neighbors and me, and the May frosts left us without apples and plums.

 

[Tbitty]

......I'm not sure maybe 3 hunting seasons ago. It was opening day of goose and dove seasons; geese in the morning dove at noon. As usual I reached for my 3-1/2 inch chambered, 12 gauge, Remington 11-87. Loaded the shotgun into the truck with 1 box of 3-1/2 inch T shot for geese and 4 boxes of 2-3/4 inch, #8 shot dove loads. Checked the magazine on the 11-87 for a plug with the 3-1/2 inch shells. Plug in good to go. Shot 3 of 5 limit geese, called it a morning, headed to the dove field, set up and loaded my shotgun in prep for the noon horn to signal the opening of dove season.

It was during the loading process that I could load 4 shells into the shotgun......OOPS. My 3-1/2 inch plug is shorter than the 2-3/4 inch plug.

The dove field is a public field managed by our state wildlife department. They are the one's that sound the horn to signal the legal/official opening time to start shooting at dove. They game wardens also go from setup to setup checking hunters' licenses and insure each hunter's shotgun is plug to only hold 3 shells.

To become legal, that is to avoid being ticketed I reached around hastily cut a branch, whittled it to the proper diameter and length, then slipped the new field expedient plug into the magazine through the hole in the magazine spring retaining plug. The shotgun and I are legal....for now.

Dove passes over filled the sky with lead and went to reload just as the game wardens were walking to me. I could once again fit 4 rounds tightly into the shotgun. The piece of branch had gone back out through the hole in the magazine retaining plug, slightly flaring the end against the interior of the magazine/barrel cap, and had split ever so slightly at the other end, shortening the plug length.

It took a bit of explaining, and presenting the fresh evidence, while disassembling my shotgun and making another field expedient magazine plug.

.......... In the end I was back to being legal and avoided a ticket to appear in court.

Since that opening day fiasco, I now carry 2 extra plugs one for 3-1/2 inch and one for the 2-3/4 inch shells in my backpack/decoy bag during early goose and dove seasons.

I have had similar issues before, but with a couple important variables.

Important Note 1:
The Browning "turnkey" plug that came with my original Maxus (not the newer Maxus II, I have not tested one of them) is different size than what comes with the new A5. I had both guns on hand for a dove hunt weekend and decided I wanted to change from A5 to Maxus just because. Tested the mag capacity of Maxus by loading three 2-3/4" shells and knew it didn't have a plug. So I just took the one from A5, put it in Maxus, and out the door I go. .... a few weeks go by, and now I'm going duck (teal) hunting on a public waterway. I grab the Maxus because I knew it had the plug still, verified with my 3" duck loads it only held 2 in the magazine, and went hunting. After the hunt, I head back to the truck and there's a warden in the parking area checking guys as they come/go for licenses, bag limits, and, of course, gun plugs. He pulls out a little tool, sticks it in the magazine tube (like you would load a shell) and to my dismay it fits all the way in and he says I'm not legal. That leads me to

Important Note 2: his test rod is just long enough to match three 2-3/4" shells (which is the same as saying the gun could hold 3+1 and therefore not legal). I'd tested with 3" duck loads, but even back to dove season, never tried three 2-3/4".

Fortunately, he was a nice enough guy, so i started my explaining. I first showed him my ammo bag that had all 3" steel shot, including my empty hulls from the day, and that the gun would not fit more than two of these shells. I also made the realization that Note #1 must be why this plug didn't work. Luckily, I happened to have my A5 in the truck (I always take a backup) and made a live demonstration to the guy by pulling the plug out, while he saw take it from the gun he'd just checked, put it directly into the A5, and had him test that one. He obliged and found it to be fully legal.

After a bit of explaining that these plugs are unique, to my knowledge, to only the A5 & Maxus guns, my assumption it was the same piece for both (both guns are 3-1/2" capable 12 gauges), and that I'd tested with the shells on hand, the warden let me go without a ticket.

I now know to verify which plug I grab for the Maxus and have made a couple field expedient backups that I've tested and verified properly limit capacity. The correct size is long enough to ensure you cannot fit three 2-3/4" shells, but short enough to allow two 3-1/2" shells when I want them. I don't need two different plugs

TLDR:
the right size plug will properly work for all shells 2-3/4" to 3-1/2" . And if you have to have 2 different plugs, there's a good chance you're not legal with the shorter one because even if you only have or intend to use 3.5", the gun is probably capable of holding three 2.75" ones and that's all that legally matters.

 

[Woodcarver]

I have had similar issues before, but with a couple important variables.

Important Note 1:
The Browning "turnkey" plug that came with my original Maxus (not the newer Maxus II, I have not tested one of them) is different size than what comes with the new A5. I had both guns on hand for a dove hunt weekend and decided I wanted to change from A5 to Maxus just because. Tested the mag capacity of Maxus by loading three 2-3/4" shells and knew it didn't have a plug. So I just took the one from A5, put it in Maxus, and out the door I go. .... a few weeks go by, and now I'm going duck (teal) hunting on a public waterway. I grab the Maxus because I knew it had the plug still, verified with my 3" duck loads it only held 2 in the magazine, and went hunting. After the hunt, I head back to the truck and there's a warden in the parking area checking guys as they come/go for licenses, bag limits, and, of course, gun plugs. He pulls out a little tool, sticks it in the magazine tube (like you would load a shell) and to my dismay it fits all the way in and he says I'm not legal. That leads me to

Important Note 2: his test rod is just long enough to match three 2-3/4" shells (which is the same as saying the gun could hold 3+1 and therefore not legal). I'd tested with 3" duck loads, but even back to dove season, never tried three 2-3/4".

Fortunately, he was a nice enough guy, so i started my explaining. I first showed him my ammo bag that had all 3" steel shot, including my empty hulls from the day, and that the gun would not fit more than two of these shells. I also made the realization that Note #1 must be why this plug didn't work. Luckily, I happened to have my A5 in the truck (I always take a backup) and made a live demonstration to the guy by pulling the plug out, while he saw take it from the gun he'd just checked, put it directly into the A5, and had him test that one. He obliged and found it to be fully legal.

After a bit of explaining that these plugs are unique, to my knowledge, to only the A5 & Maxus guns, my assumption it was the same piece for both (both guns are 3-1/2" capable 12 gauges), and that I'd tested with the shells on hand, the warden let me go without a ticket.

I now know to verify which plug I grab for the Maxus and have made a couple field expedient backups that I've tested and verified properly limit capacity. The correct size is long enough to ensure you cannot fit three 2-3/4" shells, but short enough to allow two 3-1/2" shells when I want them. I don't need two different plugs

TLDR:
the right size plug will properly work for all shells 2-3/4" to 3-1/2" . And if you have to have 2 different plugs, there's a good chance you're not legal with the shorter one because even if you only have or intend to use 3.5", the gun is probably capable of holding three 2.75" ones and that's all that legally matters.

I avoid these problems by using a double. Never had a warden check for a plug, although I did offer it to one who was checking everybody else's shotguns on a quail hunt. She just grinned...

 

[GuttormG]

 

[Vashper]

Is it possible to use, say, a spent cartridge case as a plug? Between the spring and the cap?

 

[AimSmall]

Is it possible to use, say, a spent cartridge case as a plug? Between the spring and the cap?

I suspect it would be best to have a plug that requires disassembly to remove.

 

[Badjer]

 

[Badjer]

 

[mdwest]

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Is it possible to use, say, a spent cartridge case as a plug? Between the spring and the cap?

You would need a couple of them. Most pumps and autos have 5 shot capacity, i.e. four in the tube. Waterfowl regs only allow three in the gun, i.e. two on the tube. So you would need to remove the magazine cap, remove the magazine spring keeper (without the spring launching to the moon), then somehow hold two empty cases end to end on top of the spring while compressing it with the other hand and then somehow replace the compression fit keeper cap with a third hand. I think the end result would be a waste of time because two spent cases would probably be too long. Much easier to go break off a stick about the length of two loaded shotgun shells, remove magazine cap, and drop stick through the hole in the spring keeper cap. Check to see if it's the correct length to limit mag capacity to two shells. If not, remove magazine cap, shake out the makeshift plug, go find another stick, and make another plug.

 

[JimP]

I suspect it would be best to have a plug that requires disassembly to remove.

If it is between the spring and the cap then I would imagine that you would need to disassemble the shotgun to remove it.

But I would still use a actual plug.

I once got out to a duck blind and discovered that I had left the plug out of my shotgun after a rabbit hunt. I just found a suitable stick and put it into the magazine. Worked like a champ.

You also need to be aware that there are shotguns out there that will hold 3 shells in a magazine even with the plug, the solution to this is to get a longer plug.