Al Hansen
Well-known member
When my shotgun fell of my Kawasaki on Monday morning on my way to my duck hunting spot, little did I know what would be transpiring for the rest of the week. Not until I pulled on the drake widgeon did I realize that my shotgun barrel looked more like a boomerang. Thank goodness that I didn’t pull the trigger.
I was horrified because in my way of thinking (archaic) I thought it was going to cost me $200 or so for a new barrel. That is allot of firewood to cut and sell. I was driving about 78mph on I-25 trying to get to Albuquerque as quickly as possible. Upon arriving at Charlie’s Sporting Goods store, where I originally bought the Nova, I went straight to the gunsmith shop. The gunsmith took one look at it and said, “There is no way I can fix this, why don’t you go up front and have them order you a new barrel.” That is when I found out that a new barrel was going to cost me $385.00. Now I know what shell shocked means!
The lady that I was dealing with looked at me and said, “We have another gunsmith who is on vacation and will be back on January 4th. I have a hunch that he might be able to do something. I’ll give you a call when he looks at it and tells me what is going on.”
I just remember how long it took to get back home and how down in the dumps I was. I was now thinking that I might have to buy another gun and I didn’t want to give up my baby (Nova). You have no idea what this gun has seen in its seven duck hunting seasons.
On Thursday morning, New Year’s Eve day, my phone rings while I was making a delivery of firewood. “Mr. Hansen, this is Charlie’s Sporting Goods and I just wanted you to know that you can come and pick up your Benelli. It looks like a new gun."
I called my wife, who is in Green Bay, WI, visiting children and grandkids and told her of the wonderful news.
The gunsmith straightened my barrel and told me that if it wasn’t quite on yet, he will “tweak” it a little one way or the other. There was one mighty big smile on my face and it even got bigger when he told me that the total charges for repairing my shotgun was $39.95! Yup, I did the Toyota leap when I got outside and was heading for my truck.
Al
This is what my barrel looked like on Monday morning after falling off of my four-wheeler.
At 6:43AM, our duck season officially opened for the day. I only had to wait for three minutes when a lone drake gadwall set his wings and came into my spread. I put three of the slickest holes in the sky that you would ever want to see. My gut reaction was, “OH NO” the barrel is still bent! Heck, here I was worrying about nothing at all. I had a great day and it sure is good to have my baby back.
Here are a few pics from this morning's hunt.
Chili standing outside the Taj Mahal!
I know that I am one very lucky man.
I was horrified because in my way of thinking (archaic) I thought it was going to cost me $200 or so for a new barrel. That is allot of firewood to cut and sell. I was driving about 78mph on I-25 trying to get to Albuquerque as quickly as possible. Upon arriving at Charlie’s Sporting Goods store, where I originally bought the Nova, I went straight to the gunsmith shop. The gunsmith took one look at it and said, “There is no way I can fix this, why don’t you go up front and have them order you a new barrel.” That is when I found out that a new barrel was going to cost me $385.00. Now I know what shell shocked means!
The lady that I was dealing with looked at me and said, “We have another gunsmith who is on vacation and will be back on January 4th. I have a hunch that he might be able to do something. I’ll give you a call when he looks at it and tells me what is going on.”
I just remember how long it took to get back home and how down in the dumps I was. I was now thinking that I might have to buy another gun and I didn’t want to give up my baby (Nova). You have no idea what this gun has seen in its seven duck hunting seasons.
On Thursday morning, New Year’s Eve day, my phone rings while I was making a delivery of firewood. “Mr. Hansen, this is Charlie’s Sporting Goods and I just wanted you to know that you can come and pick up your Benelli. It looks like a new gun."
I called my wife, who is in Green Bay, WI, visiting children and grandkids and told her of the wonderful news.
The gunsmith straightened my barrel and told me that if it wasn’t quite on yet, he will “tweak” it a little one way or the other. There was one mighty big smile on my face and it even got bigger when he told me that the total charges for repairing my shotgun was $39.95! Yup, I did the Toyota leap when I got outside and was heading for my truck.
Al
This is what my barrel looked like on Monday morning after falling off of my four-wheeler.
At 6:43AM, our duck season officially opened for the day. I only had to wait for three minutes when a lone drake gadwall set his wings and came into my spread. I put three of the slickest holes in the sky that you would ever want to see. My gut reaction was, “OH NO” the barrel is still bent! Heck, here I was worrying about nothing at all. I had a great day and it sure is good to have my baby back.
Here are a few pics from this morning's hunt.
Chili standing outside the Taj Mahal!
I know that I am one very lucky man.