Fitting a shotgun

[LC Smith]

Which is why most shotgun instructors recommend practicing your mount to achieve consistency. As you say, you can have the absolute perfect fit on a shotgun but it will only be perfect for a consistent mount.

If you change the mount, you change the POI. That happens in the field and at the range. It can be as simple as not keeping your head down on the stock; just raising your head. All you can do is try to be consistent.

However, having a well fitted shotgun helps achieve a consistent mount. It kinda of goes hand in hand.

Chestle, I can almost immediately tell on a shot what I have done wrong in the mount at the time of the shot. Usually it is when I have picked my head of to see the shot on the bird, thus a big miss. I always tell myself to stay down on the stock through the shot...

Have you ever been to that gun shop in Olathe? I love that place. It is double gun heaven.

 

[Chestle]

LC, I think we're all guilty at one time or another of raising our head off the stock. It's the most common error I see at the local skeet/trap range. Heck, raising the head and stopping the swing are basically the top two reasons for missing a clay. I've been shooting clay for decades and the ones I miss, I miss for one of those two reasons.

It's one of the reasons I have my guns set up to shoot high. What that set up is for me is less drop in the buttstock. I pick my O/Us that way; my SKB Sporting Clays guns have pretty straight stocks. I shimmed my Benelli M2 to have a pretty straight stock.

As a result, I can 'float' the bird above the barrel and get a hit. So when I keep my head down on the stock, I can see all of the bird and the shot if I keep my swing going, lol.

I used to shoot an old Winchester M12 Featherweight. With that gun I'd have to totally blot out the bird while keeping the swing going in order to get a hit. I did not find that conducive to getting a high percentage of hits; it felt like shooting blind almost. That's when I started looking for a nice gun that shot high. Enter the SKBs.

Of course, YMMV. Everyone has to find what works for them.

 

[birddude]

LC, I think we're all guilty at one time or another of raising our head off the stock. It's the most common error I see at the local skeet/trap range. Heck, raising the head and stopping the swing are basically the top two reasons for missing a clay. I've been shooting clay for decades and the ones I miss, I miss for one of those two reasons.

It's one of the reasons I have my guns set up to shoot high. What that set up is for me is less drop in the buttstock. I pick my O/Us that way; my SKB Sporting Clays guns have pretty straight stocks. I shimmed my Benelli M2 to have a pretty straight stock.

As a result, I can 'float' the bird above the barrel and get a hit. So when I keep my head down on the stock, I can see all of the bird and the shot if I keep my swing going, lol.

I used to shoot an old Winchester M12 Featherweight. With that gun I'd have to totally blot out the bird while keeping the swing going in order to get a hit. I did not find that conducive to getting a high percentage of hits; it felt like shooting blind almost. That's when I started looking for a nice gun that shot high. Enter the SKBs.

Of course, YMMV. Everyone has to find what works for them.

That is exactly why sometimes on a rising bird I will sometimes be antsy and yank the trigger to quick. Bang, bird tumbles. Would have missed with a flatter shooting gun!

 

[Chestle]

LC, which gun shop in Olathe? The one in the old Simmons building? Olathe Gun Shop on Rogers?

No, I haven't been in that one for quite a while. Haven't been gun shopping in quite a while. But as I mentioned a while ago, my eye is roving over a pair of Benelli Montefeltro Silver Featherweights in 12 & 20. Nice light guns for an old man and with shimmable stocks. I'm waiting till after the SHOT Show to see if Benelli is going to fix the bolt "click" problem like they did in the SBE III and Ethos lines.

Not a show stopper if they don't but if they do, I'd rather have the new version. Right now it's hard to find the Featherweights anyway. May have to wait until summer when they get restocked.

 

[LC Smith]

LC, which gun shop in Olathe? The one in the old Simmons building? Olathe Gun Shop on Rogers?

No, I haven't been in that one for quite a while. Haven't been gun shopping in quite a while. But as I mentioned a while ago, my eye is roving over a pair of Benelli Montefeltro Silver Featherweights in 12 & 20. Nice light guns for an old man and with shimmable stocks. I'm waiting till after the SHOT Show to see if Benelli is going to fix the bolt "click" problem like they did in the SBE III and Ethos lines.

Not a show stopper if they don't but if they do, I'd rather have the new version. Right now it's hard to find the Featherweights anyway. May have to wait until summer when they get restocked.

I was referring to the Olathe Gun Shop on Rogers.

 

[mabnozicka]

I used to just grab whatever felt okay and roll with it, but once I started messing with shims, it was a game-changer. At first, I had no clue what to do with them, so I set up a pattern board and started shooting. I’d mount the gun like I normally would and see where the shots hit, then tweak the shims until it lined up.