Hello all, Y-man again, so sorry for the long silence – with work commitments taking me away from “civilization” a bit more nowadays – I wish I did not have to take another Twin Otter or helicopter flight again, but alas – I have to toil to oil the foil! Says Doyle…

In January 2015, I was in Dallas again, I “passed” through on my way to some long-scheduled “work stuff” in Atlanta. It was a LONG trip – Port Harcourt Nigeria to Frankfurt, then connected to London, spent two nights with family there, then on to Chicago. From Chicago to Houston, then on to Dallas for a few days. Phew!

You can just imagine what the return trip was like. [After Dallas – I connected to Atlanta for my seminars… Then from there on home.]

Alex C. was most kind to host me once again, and I really appreciate him. He had even helped me receive and keep a whole mountain of personal items, gadgets, nick-knacks and whatsits that I had pre-ordered on Amazon…Things as varied as new Dremel tools and accessories, to a few DeWalt tools and accessories, to piles of mechanical pencils, to camping gear, a new GoPro Hero 4, a new Panasonic Lumix FZ 1000 camera…And a whole lot of other stuff. He had to dedicate a whole corner at his place for me…

I think I must have contributed just a bit to the American economy there… Haha!

Thanks, Alex!

I also got to meet Patrick R. Great guys! I enjoyed my favorite potato salad, and the weather was great! [Unlike the sub-zero temperatures in London.]

Of course, we went shooting, and I finally got to shoot the Heckler und Koch G-3 Rifle in 7.62×51 on full-auto, a Glock-19 9mm full-auto, and also got to shoot the venerable M16-A1 in 5.56mm. This was in addition to the Browning Hi-Power pistol [Which I had a little exposure to earlier in my National Air Force stint.], the AK-47 and the AK-74.

Shooting 7.62×51 on full-auto ROCKED MY WORLD!

In cold, rainy Atlanta, I decided to give the KelTech KSG Shotgun another chance after my first time nightmare with it. It felt better to shoot this time, maybe because it did not surprise me. I spent a few hours at the exceptional Stoddards Range and Guns in Atlanta. Jonathan Crandall and his staff were very good to me and other customers as usual.

I also shot REAL 12ga slugs, regular and magnum, for the first time. You all know the version I have been improvising and fabricating here at home could be termed “low recoil” compared to the real, factory-produced slugs. Man! Talk about shoulder crushing, cheek bruising…

Overall, a good shooting trip, only that non-reactive targets became quite a bore. One can only shoot so many bulls-eyes on paper, and hit so many tin cans… If only I could get to shoot reactive steel targets, or even good old bowling pins.

Oh, well…

I have made some further mods to Mathilda, my Mossberg 500A, over the last few months.

I have installed –

Mako folding stock.

Bushnell TRS-25 Red Dot Sight

6-Shell holder

24” Mossberg Rifled Barrel

5-Shell Magazine tube.

When you consider the different iterations that the shotgun has gone through… Wow.

This is how she looks now…

I now have a choice between two main configurations –

Magpul SGA Stock set for hunting, target shooting.

or-

Mako folding stock for home defense and “tactical work” [Take-down for transport too].

[The bipod was just for photography – it is not an actual installation.]

At some point in history – Mathilda was a stock Mossberg 500A…

To this

And on to this

Then to this

And even to this [Busted lip and bruised cheek Nirvana!]

Then at one point to this

Before it became what it is now.

I have also done some more standardized slug casting: Lyman 525gr “shuttlecock”slugs, and .729” Roundball slugs. I hope to go do some accuracy and function testing with these on the new rifled barrel soon.

I hope it all turns out okay. Off course, I will keep you all updated.

As you can see, I also got a Brownell Enhanced Safety.

So from my improvised safety after the factory one broke –

To this. It functions perfectly.

I have also installed a side-saddle shell-holder for six shells, and oh, lest I forget – I installed a Bushnell TRS-25. It works well, I have sighted it in with a Sightmark 12ga Laser Boresighter I have had for years now. I look forward to shooting with it…

All these were perfectly legally brought in for me from abroad. I have the papers for them too.

Many thanks for reading…

Nigeria status –

We have been indoors for a few days now, restricted movement due to the hardest fought presidential elections in my country in all its history. No widespread violence yet, apart from the dying gasps from Boko Haram in the North East, with hit-and-run attacks on motorbikes killing 39 voters and election officials so far, but we are all keeping our fingers crossed [And I seem to be unconsciously cleaning and oiling my shotgun a bit more recently…]. So far – a few surprises have come out.

Please pray for my country Nigeria.

But hey! Firearms, NO politics!