richness
08-04-2007, 10:19 AM
I have been interested in a Hushpower for ages because as much as I love my shotguns, I cringe every time I fire one out in the rough as I have always been predominantly an air rifle man and one of the finest things about modern air rifles is they’re so quiet all you really expect to hear is the hammer.
On getting some new permission, including a small rookery, I scoped it out for rifle and shotgun and decided that it was definitely most suitable for shottus maximus.
Problem is, though, there is a “sensitive” farmer about 100yards away from the rookery and roads quite closeby on two sides.
I was within my rights to use my normal shotgun (my never-missed-a-beat-over-thousands-of-rounds-in-all-weathers Hatsan Escort semi-auto 26” camo) but I was uncomfortable about booming away at all hours, so I took the plunge finally and opted for the Hushpower. I mostly shoot rooks so a 410 was out. I wanted something I could tune a bit so the bog-standard single-barrel was out, although I missed the extra compactness and efficiency of it, so I was happy to choose the 3shot Mossberg 500 pump. I looked hard at 20ga over 12ga as it seems that 20ga is a good bit quieter (just as the unmoderated ones are) but I still went for 12ga as a)the 20ga is no smaller physically, which would have been tempting and b) the 12ga just gives me more confidence.
Obviously the 500 pump is a no-frills gun BUT it is bulletproof reliable and very very upgradeable. You’re never really going to harm one and if you do, parts are cheap as chips and you can do almost any work yourself.
So the gun arrives in synthetic, which basically means matte black action with horrendously bad plastic fore-end and stock. This concerns me not a jot as I have been sent a set of Hogue “overmolded” rubber replacements which are pure class ($55 from USA) and really help the ergonomics of the stock (esp. the palm swell, which is inadequate on the supplied stock)
The action is tight and chunky but smooths out nicely, as does the safety.
The silencer barrel is well-finished and big. It feels strange but not terrible or off-putting. I immediately put a cartridge-holding stock sleeve on and filled it with 4 heaviest carts to add some weight to the back of the gun to help counteract the weight of the long silencer, which helped a good bit.
The standard barrel that is supplied (but not if you choose 20ga) is really really nice for me; the rib is perfectly tapered (as I would have chosen it myself, really) and is just nicely matte, with Mossberg multi-chokes (IC,M and F supplied). I consider it a freebie, really. The package is very good vfm, in my opinion, although I would always prefer chromed barrels.
A bore-snake just fits down the long barrel so it is just as easy to clean as normal. The silencer outer sleeve unscrews easily and the holes from the barrel into the outer chamber are thus accessible for cleaning – it’s dead straightforward.
Anyway, I was also concerned about how hard the subsonic ammo would or wouldn’t hit so I ordered some 32g 6 subsonic Hushpower cartridges (from justcartridges.com) with some trepidation. I expected cartridges that were over a third slower than normal to be seriously gutless and that I’d miss behind anyway….
Having now shot about 50 hunting rounds through this gun, I can assure prospective buyers that the gun hits very hard indeed. In fact, I’m amazed. I always have a tendency to over-lead rooks anyway as they are so big and slow so everything I aimed at with this combo got centre-pattern! I don’t know whether it’s the full choke, the improved pattern due to less gas/shot disturbance, the slower-burning powder….or what but I was walloping big rooks at 50yards, no two ways about it. I missed a few fairly comprehensively too, so I think the key is the full choke….
Anyway, I am now more than confident with the gun’s pointability, the point of aim despite the huge barrel and the stopping power of the carts (which somehow doesn’t seem any less than 32g 6 1450fps cartridges). Everything just folded up and plummeted to earth, which is how it should be. I’m interested to try normal carts through it too but haven’t as yet.
Noise-wise, this isn’t like an air rifle silencer where you take the thing back if it isn’t almost totally silent….the gun makes, from the shooter’s perspective, a solid bang. You pull the trigger, there is a hint of barrel lift and recoil after a cool metallic damping noise, a sort of short sharp bang and then you realise that the shot is long gone – it’s VERY smooth compared to the normal shooting sequence of a 12bore.
It is bedding in and getting quieter shot by shot, mind, but it still goes bang. What is interesting, though, is how much less spooked everything is….Within a few seconds, the rooks are settling down again! Within a short while, everything is back to normal and you realise how much quieter and less shocking the report must be at 50yards+
If you don’t need the added reassurance of 12ga and wider patterns, especially given the very tight choke, I would recommend the 20ga as a brilliant compromise. For indoors/barns/pheasant coops, I hear the 410 is devastating but for my fairly heavy-duty requirements, I am more than impressed with this combo.
Richard Utting
On getting some new permission, including a small rookery, I scoped it out for rifle and shotgun and decided that it was definitely most suitable for shottus maximus.
Problem is, though, there is a “sensitive” farmer about 100yards away from the rookery and roads quite closeby on two sides.
I was within my rights to use my normal shotgun (my never-missed-a-beat-over-thousands-of-rounds-in-all-weathers Hatsan Escort semi-auto 26” camo) but I was uncomfortable about booming away at all hours, so I took the plunge finally and opted for the Hushpower. I mostly shoot rooks so a 410 was out. I wanted something I could tune a bit so the bog-standard single-barrel was out, although I missed the extra compactness and efficiency of it, so I was happy to choose the 3shot Mossberg 500 pump. I looked hard at 20ga over 12ga as it seems that 20ga is a good bit quieter (just as the unmoderated ones are) but I still went for 12ga as a)the 20ga is no smaller physically, which would have been tempting and b) the 12ga just gives me more confidence.
Obviously the 500 pump is a no-frills gun BUT it is bulletproof reliable and very very upgradeable. You’re never really going to harm one and if you do, parts are cheap as chips and you can do almost any work yourself.
So the gun arrives in synthetic, which basically means matte black action with horrendously bad plastic fore-end and stock. This concerns me not a jot as I have been sent a set of Hogue “overmolded” rubber replacements which are pure class ($55 from USA) and really help the ergonomics of the stock (esp. the palm swell, which is inadequate on the supplied stock)
The action is tight and chunky but smooths out nicely, as does the safety.
The silencer barrel is well-finished and big. It feels strange but not terrible or off-putting. I immediately put a cartridge-holding stock sleeve on and filled it with 4 heaviest carts to add some weight to the back of the gun to help counteract the weight of the long silencer, which helped a good bit.
The standard barrel that is supplied (but not if you choose 20ga) is really really nice for me; the rib is perfectly tapered (as I would have chosen it myself, really) and is just nicely matte, with Mossberg multi-chokes (IC,M and F supplied). I consider it a freebie, really. The package is very good vfm, in my opinion, although I would always prefer chromed barrels.
A bore-snake just fits down the long barrel so it is just as easy to clean as normal. The silencer outer sleeve unscrews easily and the holes from the barrel into the outer chamber are thus accessible for cleaning – it’s dead straightforward.
Anyway, I was also concerned about how hard the subsonic ammo would or wouldn’t hit so I ordered some 32g 6 subsonic Hushpower cartridges (from justcartridges.com) with some trepidation. I expected cartridges that were over a third slower than normal to be seriously gutless and that I’d miss behind anyway….
Having now shot about 50 hunting rounds through this gun, I can assure prospective buyers that the gun hits very hard indeed. In fact, I’m amazed. I always have a tendency to over-lead rooks anyway as they are so big and slow so everything I aimed at with this combo got centre-pattern! I don’t know whether it’s the full choke, the improved pattern due to less gas/shot disturbance, the slower-burning powder….or what but I was walloping big rooks at 50yards, no two ways about it. I missed a few fairly comprehensively too, so I think the key is the full choke….
Anyway, I am now more than confident with the gun’s pointability, the point of aim despite the huge barrel and the stopping power of the carts (which somehow doesn’t seem any less than 32g 6 1450fps cartridges). Everything just folded up and plummeted to earth, which is how it should be. I’m interested to try normal carts through it too but haven’t as yet.
Noise-wise, this isn’t like an air rifle silencer where you take the thing back if it isn’t almost totally silent….the gun makes, from the shooter’s perspective, a solid bang. You pull the trigger, there is a hint of barrel lift and recoil after a cool metallic damping noise, a sort of short sharp bang and then you realise that the shot is long gone – it’s VERY smooth compared to the normal shooting sequence of a 12bore.
It is bedding in and getting quieter shot by shot, mind, but it still goes bang. What is interesting, though, is how much less spooked everything is….Within a few seconds, the rooks are settling down again! Within a short while, everything is back to normal and you realise how much quieter and less shocking the report must be at 50yards+
If you don’t need the added reassurance of 12ga and wider patterns, especially given the very tight choke, I would recommend the 20ga as a brilliant compromise. For indoors/barns/pheasant coops, I hear the 410 is devastating but for my fairly heavy-duty requirements, I am more than impressed with this combo.
Richard Utting