Got my new to me Merkel out today

[matt koepnick]

Hi all. Was able to break free from my spousal caregiver duties for the first time in months, and went to local pheasant hunting spot called Stull Preserve. Great place, nicest people involved, and we had good success in our prior year's adventures.
Took out my new to me Merkel 47E. Choked Mod and lite full. Kinda tighter than I would use over my dog but since it's a dream to carry weight wise, I thought what the heck. Was a super good idea as it turned out.
4 up, 4 down. Normally I loose one outta 4. The cleaning process gave me insight on chokes effectiveness with my home rolled 1 1/8 nickel plated #6's. With looser chokes my usual pellet count in a bird is 3.
Todays birds all had minimum 9 pellets with some stacked on each other. . All birds died cleanly in the air with no runners or having to dispatch them after dog retrieved. Pretty cool. Might be my new favorite field gun....

[Double Lab]

Matt,

Since you reload you might want to consider working up a lighter, 3/4 or 7/8oz load of 7 1/2's which would work well with those tight chokes.