Pisgah
Member
I have a "reason" for every gun I own -- I am married; I HAVE to have a reason. Many married folks will understand...
Anyway, last week when I brought a new gun home I was, for the first time, absolutely honest with the bride. The reason for the purchase was fun, pure and simple!
I was wandering through Walmart and spied a long, slender barrel with a ventilated rib in the gun case. Up close, my interest soared. It was a Hatfield .410 single-shot. Made in Turkey, these guns are well-made and well-finished. Steel and walnut (they say -- I am a bit skeptical at how light the wood under the buttplate is, but it looks good). They describe the finish as black chrome, whatever that means. It looks like some form of bluing to me, but very attractive and well done. The barrel is modified choke and 28" long -- yes, 28"! I have named mine Long Tall Sally, and she carries balanced in one hand about like a broom handle. MSRP is $150; Walmart, $99.
A warning here -- out of the box the action and the trigger are horrible. Not just bad, frighteningly bad. But do not fear! A fix is just a few minutes away, and will cost you nothing but a bit of elbow grease.
Open the action by pulling the trigger guard/action release straight back -- and be prepared to pull hard with two fingers. Swing the barrel all the way down -- and it's a folder, so it'll go a long way. Now drench the action with oil. Pull the trigger guard back 50 or so times. You'll feel smoothing occur. Now close and open the action at least 50 times. In the end, you'll need about 250 repetitions to get to the sweet spot, but opening and closing the gun will get easy as pie.
The trigger's even easier. Remove the buttplate -- two screws. Use a 1/2" socket on an extension, loosen the stock bolt. Remove the stock. You will see the large, flat mainspring, secured on the lower end by one large screw in to the lower receiver tang. Lessen the spring tension by backing it out, 1/2 turn at a time, until you get a pull you can live with AND the hammer engages positively every time it's cocked. I have seen up to 3 turns recommended; I stopped at 1.5. Needless to say, too much can compromise ignition, so you need to check it, but mine still fires just fine with a pull that is so much better it is almost unbelievable.
Now, here it gets interesting. I haven't shot it at any moving targets yet -- never been much of a wingshot, anyway, and my primary use for a .410 has been for rabbits and squirrels. But I have shot at 18" square targets at 25 yards, Remington 3" no. 6 shot shells -- raise and cock the gun quickly, point, shoot, as if at a squirrel -- and the results have been centered, dense, even patterns. Point, shoot, hit, just like it ought to be with a shotgun. I have a thrower and a 1/2 case of clays in the storage building -- may have to dust them off and invite my shooting buddy/thrower over.
I will not say the trigger is perfect at this stage -- it is very, very useable as-is but could stand further refinement. There's a spot of creep in the take-up, but the action is simple enough that disassembling it to address the issue ought to be fairly trouble-free.
Maybe I will tell my wife that the fun thing was just a joke. Really, I am planning to go on the squirrel diet in the fall...
Hatfield SGL – Hatfield Gun Company
Anyway, last week when I brought a new gun home I was, for the first time, absolutely honest with the bride. The reason for the purchase was fun, pure and simple!
I was wandering through Walmart and spied a long, slender barrel with a ventilated rib in the gun case. Up close, my interest soared. It was a Hatfield .410 single-shot. Made in Turkey, these guns are well-made and well-finished. Steel and walnut (they say -- I am a bit skeptical at how light the wood under the buttplate is, but it looks good). They describe the finish as black chrome, whatever that means. It looks like some form of bluing to me, but very attractive and well done. The barrel is modified choke and 28" long -- yes, 28"! I have named mine Long Tall Sally, and she carries balanced in one hand about like a broom handle. MSRP is $150; Walmart, $99.
A warning here -- out of the box the action and the trigger are horrible. Not just bad, frighteningly bad. But do not fear! A fix is just a few minutes away, and will cost you nothing but a bit of elbow grease.
Open the action by pulling the trigger guard/action release straight back -- and be prepared to pull hard with two fingers. Swing the barrel all the way down -- and it's a folder, so it'll go a long way. Now drench the action with oil. Pull the trigger guard back 50 or so times. You'll feel smoothing occur. Now close and open the action at least 50 times. In the end, you'll need about 250 repetitions to get to the sweet spot, but opening and closing the gun will get easy as pie.
The trigger's even easier. Remove the buttplate -- two screws. Use a 1/2" socket on an extension, loosen the stock bolt. Remove the stock. You will see the large, flat mainspring, secured on the lower end by one large screw in to the lower receiver tang. Lessen the spring tension by backing it out, 1/2 turn at a time, until you get a pull you can live with AND the hammer engages positively every time it's cocked. I have seen up to 3 turns recommended; I stopped at 1.5. Needless to say, too much can compromise ignition, so you need to check it, but mine still fires just fine with a pull that is so much better it is almost unbelievable.
Now, here it gets interesting. I haven't shot it at any moving targets yet -- never been much of a wingshot, anyway, and my primary use for a .410 has been for rabbits and squirrels. But I have shot at 18" square targets at 25 yards, Remington 3" no. 6 shot shells -- raise and cock the gun quickly, point, shoot, as if at a squirrel -- and the results have been centered, dense, even patterns. Point, shoot, hit, just like it ought to be with a shotgun. I have a thrower and a 1/2 case of clays in the storage building -- may have to dust them off and invite my shooting buddy/thrower over.
I will not say the trigger is perfect at this stage -- it is very, very useable as-is but could stand further refinement. There's a spot of creep in the take-up, but the action is simple enough that disassembling it to address the issue ought to be fairly trouble-free.
Maybe I will tell my wife that the fun thing was just a joke. Really, I am planning to go on the squirrel diet in the fall...
Hatfield SGL – Hatfield Gun Company
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