18: Clean and Oil a Shotgun

I haven’t touched a gun since I was much younger. Sadly, I lost a close friend around the age of 20 to a gun accident. Since that day, I have never had the urge to hold a gun in my hands. I come from a family of hunters on my mom’s side as well as my wife’s family. Amidst the chaos of the beginning of covid, my wife came home with a shotgun from her grandfather…for protection against the unknown. Being that New Orleans crime was already disgustingly rampant at the moment, that fear brought the gun to rest in our home. However, I couldn’t bring myself to purchase shells…not that they were available anyway. 2 years later I have found myself curious about the firearm and feel that it’s time to face certain griefs directly. I decided to not only get the gun in working shape but to actually fire it the next day on a guy’s trip in the country. Safely. I watched countless cleaning videos. Once I felt confident in my ability, I borrowed a cleaning kit and whipped this baby into shape. I wouldn’t say it was cathartic but it was assuaging to learn how this extremely powerful device was put together.

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