Best Anniversary Gift Ever!

I posted this on the Fishing side and thought I’d post it here too.

My husband and I just celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. We originally weren’t going to exchange gifts, but as you can guess, he broke that agreement… He surprised me with a new used Browning BPS 12 gauge shotgun! We’ve been looking at a 12 gauge for me for well over a year now and apparently he and a buddy of his found a great deal several months ago. I have no idea how he or anyone involved kept this secret!!

Needless to say, I was speechless. Which is hard to do to me! Since I’m vertically challenged, I need the gun modified a little to fit me better. Most likely I’ll need the stock cut down and possibly the barrel shortened as well (and the choke tubes recut). Does anyone have any reputable gunsmiths or shops in mind near the SE Metro Area? We stopped by Gander Mountain recently and apparently their Woodbury location has gunsmith services. Has anyone used them before?

Thanks in advance everyone!

Congrats on the new toy!

Dont count on getting the gun back anytime soon with gander mountain. I had some minor work done there and it took almost 4 months to get it done.

I would try and find a local gunsmith.

Congrats and Happy Anniversary!

congrats!! I used them and the guy that did my work was sharp and he got my work done really quick. Maybe I just got lucky? Normally I wouldn’t go to gander for anything, but I was leaving town on hunting trip and needed work fast, he came thru for me.

Thanks guys for the congrats and tips. It’s much appreciated! I can’t wait to get out and shoot!

Most women I know would find that to be a terrible gift, but that’s awesome! I hope you enjoy it.

I used Gander Woodbury twice over the years and the first time…… YEARS ago…. they had to farm out the work to a gunsmith and there was no way for them to know how long it would or wouldn’t take to get my Ithaca fixed. It ended up taking a long time. However, once they had an in-store gunsmith, I had some work done on a Remington and I only waited 3 days! So, I’m guessing that if they still have an on-site guy, things should be pretty good. If not, it’s a gamble.

Well we brought my shotgun to Ahlman’s in Morristown and we picked ‘er up on Friday. They did a fantastic job! We had them shorten the stock and it looks great. It fits great too. I finally got out to shoot some clay pigeons and I’m very happy with it. I lost count on how many I hit, but I did pretty well!! Thanks for the recommendations!!

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Well we brought my shotgun to Ahlman’s in Morristown and we picked ‘er up on Friday. They did a fantastic job! We had them shorten the stock and it looks great. It fits great too. I finally got out to shoot some clay pigeons and I’m very happy with it. I lost count on how many I hit, but I did pretty well!! Thanks for the recommendations!!

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Just curious, can you describe the process? Did they do some fit measurements and recommend to you how much to shorten the stock?

Also, did they fit a new recoil pad or modify and refit the old one?

And if you don’t mind sharing, what was the total cost?

I’m thinking of having a Beretta autoloader fitted. I’ve always suspected that the stock might be a little long for me.

Grouse

I have a 20ga that fits me well, so we brought that with for comparison. The guy had me hold the butt of each gun in the crook of my arm so that both the gun and my forearm are pointing straight in the air. He said the main knuckle on my trigger finger should line up with the trigger. Any more or less would indicate the stock is too short or long, respectively. He had me do this with both my 20ga and my 12ga, looking at both to see where my knuckle lined up, before recommending that we remove just over an inch from the stock.

They modified the old recoil pad to fit the shortened stock. They did a great job at reshaping the old pad and it really doesn’t look like it was modified!

The total cost was about $60. I couldn’t be happier with their work and price! Totally worth the drive!

$60? Very reasonable!