More than likely you have already commented in your head about the picture below so please spare me the LOLs and let me jump right to the point-meet “FrankenFlex-XR.” Remember when Mossberg released the new rendition of the Model 500-the Flex? Well, I happen to have a few variants in stock along with all of the bells and whistles. And when we finished up testing Winchester’s newest premium turkey load, Long Beard XR, I realized we needed something more capable of firing out to those XRs (extreme ranges).
Now that we have the shotshell availability of harvesting turkeys from afar, why not put a magnified optic on top? Thanks to a Weaver mount I had laying around I was able to affix a KonusPro M-30 atop the Flex. With the added optical weight and need for precision accuracy I felt it was necessary to utilize the Picatinny rail sections available on the tactical forend for a bipod. At the flip and twist of a captured stock retention pin I also fitted a 6-position, adjustable stock-we should have no problem with gun fitment or added control via the pistol grip and not to mention, it now looks a bit cooler.
Since the local turkeys have been giving us a hard time about committing to close ranges, the bi-tone camouflage should help break up our outline and if that doesn’t do the trick, the MOJO Tail Chaser ought to help seal the deal on a 2014 longbeard.
With FrankenFlex-XR all put together and bore-sighted, I need to get down to the range and test my 50+ yard patterns to figure out whether or not I want to use No. 4s or No. 5s in 3 ½” Winchester Long Beard XR.
Not only is April 1 the beginning of this month but also when the above was written. On a serious note, Winchester's Long Beard XR did the job for me on Virginia's spring gobbler opener. My new Knight & Hale pot call, "Scarlet Fever," couldn't have sounded better either; luring a bachelor group of birds to roughly 10 yards.
It's too bad I didn't get to see how the Winchester load performed from afar, but I am sure I will be out again next weekend.
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