doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com O/U fit?

I will preface this question with the fact that for all but the most rudimentary aspects of shotgun stock fit, my experience is very limited.

However, The young son of a friend of mine has asked me to help him with his O/U fit.

At the present time I do not know even what kind of shotgun he shoots (skeet), only that it is O/U 20 ga.

He has an adjustable but pad and comb, and with those adjustments made he is still shooting high. In the next week or so I will probably watch him mount the gun and shoot.

My question(s) is/are this:

When I watch him shoot is there anything in particular that I need to make sure he is doing? I will video so he can watch and make corrections. Aside from length of pull, and checking for the proper drop at the heel, are there other aspects of the stock I can check? And, are there particular video resources that any of you have found helpful?

I realize I haven't given you much information. I will try to get more.

Alan

I used this, it worked for me, but some people say cucumbers taste better pickled! So find what works for you, hopefully this will help! Explore the site as there are cut outs and exercises that really help bring it all together. Best of luck!
https://www.theyorkshiregent.com/shooting/gun-fitting-guide-fit-shotgun/

That is actually the website I was looking at last night as I typed the OP. Thanks for adding credibility.

I am not a skeet shooter although I have participated in a few rounds. Fortunately I was blessed with some degree of natural ability in shooting but unfortunately did not ever spend much time putting any attention to proper mechanics of shooting.

Alan

In my view - the KEY aspect is consistency. Is he mounting the gun the same each time?

I am not an expert, but I have had two guns professionally fitted, and the fitter has on both occasions (different fitters) insisted that you cannot fit a gun until the shooter is consistent.

Beyond that I shall leave to those more knowledgeable ......

With an adjustable comb and butt I assume that the comb has been lowered to the maximum with no spacers? If so I would check the POI for both barrels. Neil Winston has one of the best methods for checking POI IMO.

POI and pattern at 13 yards

And:

More reading on his original methodology

Having an adjustable comb and butt plate sounds like a trap gun, although this is a 20 ga. which is not a common trap gun. Double trap barrels are often regulated for the bottom bbl. to shoot high on the rising first target of doubles and the second to shoot flat for the second target.

In any event would certainly make sure that it is not the gun in addition to the shooter. I know of several people that have had to shave down their comb to get it to shoot flat, even with an adjustable comb. And it seems to be more common with newer guns in the last decade or so.

His mount as mentioned is important, it is certainly worth verifying his head position on his mount. Being young he may be crawling his head up toward the front of the stock. If LOP is too long which it often is for young shooters I usually see them mount with their head further back though.

If he is serious about shooting skeet there is a lot to be said for shooting high and floating the target. It was my preferred method for many years especially in strong winds. Hard to hit the target when you can't see it because your covering it and it is dancing. But I have gone back to flat shooting guns for all clay venues and hunting. I have 2 guns right now that I am considering selling because I can't get the POI down where I want it. At least not with more work\modifications & money than I want to put into them.

I appreciate the help, and it will certainly help him. He is 15 and has shot 4-H skeet for a few years and serious enough about it to convince his dad to essentially build a skeet range and purchase a progressive loader for practice ammo.

I'm sure there are others who could help him, but he asked me. I can give him advice on what I am comfortable with and steer him in the proper direction on the rest.

I know his first shotgun was stolen on the way to a shoot and the current one was a hurried replacement. His shooting is suffering while he's working on as new gun. They may well have purchased a trap gun and I will be able to offer a better description when I actually see it.

As I stated earlier, I really don't know to much about trap/skeet shooting. I would rather walk a couple of miles, shoot twice, come home tired and hungry with a home a brace of bobwhites than shoot five boxes at clay pigeons. But, to each his own. The boy can likely outshoot me, and then some.

He will surely benefit from the advice offered here.


Alan

I have also noticed that many modern O/U guns are stocked high, and shoot high for me. Italian brands are especially susceptible to this, excluding Beretta. The Guerinis, the Zolis, the FAIRs, are all this way, for me.

I cannot shoot them well, as I cannot "float" a target or bird consistently, and see no reason to learn how. I prefer 60/40 high, and will tolerate absolutely no more than 70/30 high.

SRH

Ok, I more (and different) info. The stolen gun was a 20, now he is shooting a Citori CX 12 with 30" barrels. It has only an adjustable comb and he is wanting to add adjustable butt plate. His dad said he has the comb all the way up and is shooting High.

Back in the day, about 40 years ago, which was the last time I set foot on a skeet range, we used 26" barrels, but now it seems longer is better. I gotta get out more.

He's not a big kid and I'm thinking that hoisting that Citori might be causing him not to be getting his cheek down where it needs to be. I don't know. I need to read up on it some more.

Alan

Agree! At least on the Italian guns. I own 2 FAIR guns which are older and shoot flat. And 2 by Isadoro Rizzini's brother Battista Rizzini of the B. Rizzini flavor. Battista sued his brother Isadoro (the I in FAIR) for the rights to use the name Rizzini USA in the US back a decade and a half ago and won. But my B. Rizzini guns shoot flat also. Battista Rizzini trained 2 of his nephews that left his company and created Caesar Guerini. The CG guns tend to shoot the highest from what I have seen. I also like my Beretta's, I seem to shoot Italian guns much better than most other makes. The Benelli's even with shims adjusted shoot too high for many people. Some give up. My older Super Sport 90 can shoot flat but my newer Benelli Ultralight is one that I am ready to give up on, it is too high no matter how I shim it.

But when I was into floating birds it was a bird killer. No doubt I shoot most clays and live birds with a high POI gun of 70/30 better than any others. You can make adjustments because you see the target (clay or feathers) move before you pull the trigger.

But finally realized after almost 15 years my ruff grouse shot to harvest ratio had and was going down. Because you don't get a clear view of most ruffs on the flush, you can't float when you're shooting mostly at sound and a blur. Phez I was deadly with a high POI once I adjusted, and waterfowl. But I like to chase the ruffled grouses most of all :-) Going back to the flat 50/50 POI guns I grew up on hunting ruff my harvest percentage rate is much higher now. If it wasn't for ruff I'd likely still be shooting high POI guns. But then again at the age of 60 I wouldn't have finally gotten into guns with the barrels all twisted wrong laying side by side, and normally shoot flat.

Adjusting the comb the wrong way. It shouldn't be adjusted up but down.

My Joel Etchen Guns custom combo target gun, EELL



Took it out of the safe for the first time in 3 years last week and removed all the spacers to get it shoot as low as I could. Still not low enough for me where I am headed lately.

The Browning CX is marketed as a crossover do all gun. Not sure there is such a thing. But move the comb down. Hats off to the family for keeping the young man shooting, especially skeet when most kids are shooting trap. But any kid throwing lead downrange in this day and age is doing well IMO!