I have a little Merkel O/U 12 gauge which I picked up in a deal for several other guns from a pawn shop years ago when I was in the gun business and the pawn shop owner wanted to reduce his investment in guns. I was shooting skeet a lot back then, but when I took the Merkel out to the skeet field, I could not get used to its balance. I found it to be muzzle light, and I prefer my shotguns to be a little muzzle heavy, so I quit using it for a while.

At some point the mood struck me and I sent the gun off to Briley and had it fitted with a pair of 28 gauge tubes. The gun was useless to me as a skeet gun, since I was shooting International Skeet only, but all of a sudden it became my go to gun for hunting purposes. I particularly liked dove shooting with it. I got a good deal of satisfaction out of downing a high flier going directly overhead.

I still have the gun, although I haven't hunted with it in years. I have developed neuropathy in both feet and it has affected my ability to walk any distance. I probably have Agent Oriange to thank for that.

However, I'm looking forward to the day when I can take my grandson out to the skeet range and let him get started with it. I resist the idea of starting him with a .410 bore. In my opinion, the .410 simply does not throw enough shot to ensure that there are no holes in the pattern.

I grew up using my grandad's 16 gauge Browning five shot automatic, chambered for the 2.5" shells. It would function with 2 3/4" shells, but only the roll crip variety. It refused to function with the star crimped plastic shells. I killed a lot of quail and doves, and even some ducks with that old gun. It had the original Browning safety in the front of the trigger guard.