New Gun

[H20fwler]

The wife surprised me this past Saturday with a new shotgun!
First time in 31 years she has ever bought a gun for me, she said it is a Fathers Day/Birthday/Christmas/Anniversary gift. It is the new SBE3, I've been shooting an H&K SBE for 27 years that really shows its use.
It will be kind of weird taking out the new improved version, it's supposed to be designed specifically for waterfowling. It is a little lighter weight than the old gun with bigger trigger guard/safety/bolt handle..the best improvement is supposed to be that the bolt locks solid no matter how soft it is closed. I will need to switch out stock shim to get it so it lines right up like the old gun.
I will be shooting it for the first time this Friday chasing pheasants.

The old and the new;

 

[trampledbyturtles]

What a lady!!

 

[H20fwler]

What a lady!!

She sure is!

 

[Catscratch]

Great gun! Congrats!

My wife bought me a rifle for our 10th anniversary and then a couple of yrs ago she got me a shotgun "Fathers Day/Birthday/Christmas/Anniversary gift". It's a Beretta 3101. It's a competition shotgun but man it's good for hunting! The same features that make it good for competition shoots is great for hunting also.

 

[Bill]

Real nice gun!
I've got an original SBE. It's scratched, chipped, rusted, been through mud and drowned in saltwater from the dog and boat. The groves the bolt slides on are worn sharp enough to cut you if you're not careful. Kind of a shame for how pretty it once was and it's $$ tag. When I was waterfowling I saw as a tool not an heirloom, so I wasn't kind to it.

But it still chambers and shoots better than I do these days.

 

[roymunson]

Some guys, when they get married, don't know how right they were...

Congrats man

 

[j-bird]

Gotta love a woman who knows what turns her man on! Sometimes putting the old tried and true aside is tough...but it might be time to set it aside for something to pass down to one of the kids or grand kids someday.

 

[swat1018]

I have an original SBE, it has about half of the camo left on it. It's been beat to hell and back. Anymore, I only use it for Turkey, so I leave a scope on it.

I have a new M2, that I use for waterfowl. I just don't find a need for 3.5 for decoying birds, and got tired of wading around a marsh carrying the extra weight. I also have a new Vinci, courtesy of the Gander Mountin going out of business sale. Just couldn't resist the $500 price.

 

[H20fwler]

Gotta love a woman who knows what turns her man on! Sometimes putting the old tried and true aside is tough...but it might be time to set it aside for something to pass down to one of the kids or grand kids someday.

You nailed it right on the head! That is exactly what I'm going through, my old SBE seems like it's been with me forever. It shoots exactly where I want and it is a part of me, like Bill and swat1018 said about theirs mine's an old war horse with a bent rib worn and chipped camo (I've had it dipped twice) and I've used it all over the USA and Canada...it still shoots great.

The new gun is great so far and weighs nothing to carry, is a very natural smooth shooter, I changed the shims so it goes to the shoulder just like my old gun. I hit the first pheasant with first ever shot out of it, then proceeded to miss a zig-zagging bunny twice!
I am a both eyes open shooter and don't ever remember looking at the bead while hunting but I added a new HiViz to it that is easy to pic up in any light. Have an older version HiViz on the old gun.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

3 roosters and a happy pup - pretty good outing !!

 

[JFK52]

I have two SBEs. One is set up for turkey hunting with a 26 or 28 inch barrel. The other has an ER Shaw slug barrel with a Leupold Vari X III 2x7 shotgun scope on it for back in the day when Wisconsin required slug guns for certain deer management areas. Glad that rule is no longer on the books.
Like all HK products, SBEs are just work horses. They keep running and running.
Your wife is a keeper in my book!