Winchester Skeet Choke Anyone?

This morning marked the halfway point of our skeet season league and I continue to improve as I "lit up the sky" crushing 6 clay pigeons.  However I am improving and that is encouraging.  My buddies on my team told me to stop messing around and invest in a skeet choke tube to improve my scores.  This would of course require a trip to Black Sheep or Cabela's.  While I much prefer Black Sheep, because of their friendly staff, low prices, etc.  my girls really wanted to go to Cabela's and I had time to kill so we headed out there.  Who can turn down their daughter's request to go to Cabela's?  

However as I drove out there, I was faced with an uncomfortable decision that seems to haunt me as I continue in this sport.  Is this something I can afford to continue doing?  I know my wife's wonders if I can find anymore expensive hobbies.  God bless her for letting me try new outdoor pursuits.  Did I mention I am taking a free flying lesson in a week or two?

Today was my sister-in-law's baby shower so I limited my stays in the house prior to this event to the bare necessities and if we still lived out in Athol, ID I could have taken care of at least one of those things off the back porch :).  So my younger two girls and I headed out to Cabela's in search of a skeet choke and it was tough to tell who was more excited, myself or my daughters.  They were so excited to be there that they were on their best behavior.  After looking at their skeet choke tubes, I thought $17.99 was a little high for the Carlson model, pictured below, so I thought I would try my luck at Black Sheep only to later find out they only carry parts for Remington.  More on this later.

My girls loved seeing the animals in the African trophy display as well as the Aquarium (see pic above, left) and most of all the mountain of animals displayed in the center of the store.  We must have spent an hour looking at animals.  We all loved every minute of it. 

A trip to McDonald's may have been my only way to coax them out of the store and to keep me from going in debt buying one of the used shotguns calling my name.  My 6 year old told me she thought all of the shotguns were pretty cool, I had to agree with her.  After dropping them off at the baby shower and evacuating as quickly as possible, I was off to Black Sheep Sporting Goods.   I met their Gun department manager Jason, he was extremely knowledgeable and helpful.  He explained that they don't carry Winchester parts because they don't have many people in the region shooting Winchester's because they are expensive.  I appreciated his candor and time spent with me.  His recommendation of a Remington 870 Express was appealing and is the gun I most often hear suggested as a great starter gun.

My goal is to hit at least 10 clay pigeons in league this year.  I try not to let my low scores get me down.  I just need to stick with it and as Jason said, "get a cheap gun and spend your money on ammunition and rounds of practice at the gun club."  Wise words from a man I admire because of his honesty, knowledge and experience handling firearms.  If I decide to go with a brand new gun, it would probably be a Remington 870 Express and I won't hesitate on where to buy it.  I would go straight to Black Sheep.