Shooting School

RM Anderson said:
Everyone has been most helpful and I don't want to give the impression that I am ignoring the importance of gun fit. I have experimented with the spacers that affect drop at comb which came with the shotgun. Some people suggest floating the target but for field shooting I like the shotgun to hit maybe 60/40, basically paint of aim. I'm not sure adding variables during the learning process would be helpful. Before I really got into shotguns and bird hunting, I was an avid handgun hunter. The learning curve, as with shotgunning, is quite steep and the secret is to be consistent with your grip. At some point in the hopefully not to distant future I hope to be consistent enough with my gun mount and will address these areas of concern. Honestly as much as I would like to blame the gun on my off days, I know in my heart it is me. One thing that I have failed to mention is that several years ago I was in an auto accident and suffered a tramatic brain injury. So basically I am in the process of rerouting information to make things happen in a positive way. That is my biggest reason for not messing with the gun fit too much. On a more positive note, my wife and I have always wanted to hunt Rio turkeys in Texas so I am looking at booking a one on one with the Ash Shooting School. RM
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IF your getting 60/40 where your aiming. Then no more cast/drop adjustments are needed.

Me personally I prefer 50/50 when hunting and 60/40 when doing off season clay shooting. On my Berettas 60/40 will float the clay right above the brass bed.

Not sure what kind of bead setup you have on your gun. But for me anything other then a small brass bead. And the bead draws my attention and I start measuring lead and start missing clays.

Food for thought.
 
RM Anderson said:
Everyone has been most helpful and I don't want to give the impression that I am ignoring the importance of gun fit. I have experimented with the spacers that affect drop at comb which came with the shotgun. Some people suggest floating the target but for field shooting I like the shotgun to hit maybe 60/40, basically paint of aim. I'm not sure adding variables during the learning process would be helpful. Before I really got into shotguns and bird hunting, I was an avid handgun hunter. The learning curve, as with shotgunning, is quite steep and the secret is to be consistent with your grip. At some point in the hopefully not to distant future I hope to be consistent enough with my gun mount and will address these areas of concern. Honestly as much as I would like to blame the gun on my off days, I know in my heart it is me. One thing that I have failed to mention is that several years ago I was in an auto accident and suffered a tramatic brain injury. So basically I am in the process of rerouting information to make things happen in a positive way. That is my biggest reason for not messing with the gun fit too much. On a more positive note, my wife and I have always wanted to hunt Rio turkeys in Texas so I am looking at booking a one on one with the Ash Shooting School. RM
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You're not giving that impression. In my opinion, it's a bit of a chicken/egg situation. I do think most fitters want you to have a consistent mount before fitting... but a consistent mount with an ill-fitting gun will have to change with a well-fit gun.

Despite my recommendations, I haven't been professionally fitted. But having now discovered the benefit (for me) of a longer LOP and the change in effective drop/cheek position that created for me, as well as my eye dominance issue, I plan to in the next year or so. I don't have anyone good in close proximity to me, so will have to make a trip. But I want to have my wife fitted even more than myself (shotguns are not well-designed for women), so will plan a trip around it at some point.

As your gun seems to shoot where you point it, you're having good success, and you're not reporting recoil-related symptoms, I'd guess your gun fits you reasonably well. Consistency may come with a few thousand more rounds. In fact, I'd bet it will, even if a few tweaks could be made for better fit.
 
Some people suggest floating the target but for field shooting I like the shotgun to hit maybe 60/40, basically paint of aim.
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I'm with you 100% on that. No way I'm compensating for a barrel that shoots other than where I point it.

Sounds like you have a plan. Maybe the fine tune can wait. In any event, there's an old adage at one time widely recognized in competitive shooting....."Beware the man with one gun". I am not that guy, but accept the wisdom.
 
Purists may want to look away because what I am about to do will surely 😥 disappoint you! The past three years have been encouraging as far as progress that has been made in terms of hitting moving targets. Nevertheless I am an impatient fellow and I don't know how many more seasons the good Lord will give me to improve. Several years ago I read about a shotgun sight that would allow you to shoot with both eyes open, even those with cross dominant eye issues. Enter the Aimpoint Acro S2. Interestingly, the device does not change the way you shoot but is more of an unconscious reference on close birds while giving more precise reference on distant birds. Twenty five years ago handgunners were saying the same thing about optics as we are hearing today concerning shotguns. Paradigm change perhaps? RM
 
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RM Anderson said:
Purists may want to look away because what I am about to do will surely 😥 disappoint you! The past three years have been encouraging as far as progress that has been made in terms of hitting moving targets. Nevertheless I am an impatient fellow and I don't know how many more seasons the good Lord will give me to improve. Several years ago I read about a shotgun sight that would allow you to shoot with both eyes open, even those with cross dominant eye issues. Enter the Aimpoint Acro S2. Interestingly, the device does not change the way you shoot but is more of an unconscious reference on close birds while giving more precise reference on distant birds. My apologies, RM
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There is a much better shotgun red dot sight out now made by vortex.

I have one and use it often.
 
Clinton John said:
I have one and use it often.
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Very encouraging; I'm intrigued. What was your reason for trying one in the first place? It's funny because I won't hesitate to put one on a turkey gun or pistol but for some reason I felt like I should just pull my boot straps up and learn to wingshoot. RM
 
RM Anderson said:
Very encouraging; I'm intrigued. What was your reason for trying one in the first place? It's funny because I won't hesitate to put one on a turkey gun or pistol but for some reason I felt like I should just pull my boot straps up and learn to wingshoot. RM
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Turkey hunting mostly. But I have used it to shoot some clays and seen no reason why I couldn't use it too kill waterfowl.

My clay scores only dropped slightly for the first two or three times I used it. Then I got the swing of it and was right back too hitting my normal percentage of clays.

Im going to give it a try on ducks this year.
 
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