Guns: Two is one, one is none...

I was shooting my first flight of trap at Markham Park the other day, and an odd thing happened to one of my 870 Wingmasters. It went something like this:

"Pull!"...*click*... (point in safe direction, shuck shell out of chamber)... "Pull! ... *click*...(point in safe direction, shuck shell into hand, examine unblemished primer)...

As I suspected, it turned out my 30-year-old 870's firing pin broke in two, such that the hammer's impact was not making it to the primer.

My day would have been a total waste, had I not brought an extra shotgun with me. It was a good reminder - even something as ostensibly reliable as a wood-and-steel pump shotgun can become a paperweight if a $10 part breaks inside it. Methinks I'll be carrying my backup gun more often...