The last Ducks Unlimited Magazine had a cover story titled, “In Praise of the Pump”, which can be found here. I read it the same weekend I hunted with a couple of Super Black Eagle 2 toting friends. We were standing in flooded timber and dealing with both mud and ice. One of these $1400.00 wonder weapons turned into an occasionally functional single shot. I’m not picking on the Benelli, it happens to every auto. Or as the DU piece says:
I am not looking to start a debate here, so please don’t send letters. Somewhere out there in duck country, somebody has a pump gun that jams on every duck hunting day that ends in the letter y while someone else has an autoloader that has not jammed since disco was the rage. But the heart of the matter is that there is more “stuff” going on inside semiautomatics, while a slide-action gun is beautiful in its simplicity. Too much oil on your pump? Not a problem; wipe it on your sleeve. Not enough grease in the action? No worries, steal a little off the outboard. Drop your pump in the lake? Clear the barrel and then fire away. The pump is not powered by gas, springs, or inertia. It is powered by the operator, so it will usually accept a shell with a little ice or a few rust spots on the brass.
If I think back over the years it’s pretty easy for me to think of one time or another when I’ve seen each major auto fail. Usually it’s cold, muddy, and dogs and/or boats were involved. Sometimes it’s a clean pheasant hunt on a sunny day like this past November in South Dakota when I watched a Berretta become reduced to a single shot.
But honestly the reliability isn’t the only issue for me. Nor is speed. My grandfather used to say that a good hunter could shoot a pump faster than an auto, and I agree. The real benefit to me is accuracy. I believe the secret of shooting accurately after the first shot is rhythm, and there is no rhythm without a pump. Again, I’ll borrow from the DU article:
… a hunter who shoots one a lot for ducks actually revels in the time and process of pumping the gun. He uses this time to find a second bird—peeking over the receiver at a greenhead that has ducked behind an oak while he works the slide action back. He hears the satisfying sound of the action sliding open. There’s a solid ringing of steel on steel as the bolt returns home. Having calculated the lead during this opening and closing process, the experienced pump gunner anticipates the mallard as it appears again from the other side of the tree. At this point, I don’t like the drake’s chances.
I’ve always thought it was crucial to readdress the target after the first shot or you will continue to make the same mistake you just made.
So what do I use? Well this piece has caused me to start a post breaking down the choices you have among pumps on the market. Until you get that post, you can see my two guns that get 95% of the action:
A Browning BPS 3″ 12 gauge and:
A Winchester Model 12 2 3/4″ 12 gauge.
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