doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com shotgun shoots low

If you own it and need to correct it, that's one thing.

But why start with something that's known to be trouble?

Because it's a 2" 12 ga and you may never see another?

Dave,
This is a link to an article I wrote for the 410 board, maybe it'll be useful for you http://www.fourten.org.uk/st_patterning.html
Steve

If the barrels are straight and you're willing to jockey with the stock fit, there would be no concern by me. A real problem would be where one barrel shot to a different POI.

I suggest getting the gun for "inspection" with the stipulation that you can shoot it. Before shooting it, check the barrel straightness by laying the gun on its side and looking down the barrels. They should be straight. If they are curved down, I would probably pass unless the gun was very cheap for the quality (Barrels can easily be bent up/down. It takes about 10 minutes of setup and but a half minute to accomplish. But there is always risk of rib delamination. Not much, but some.)

But back on track, if the barrels are straight and it shoots both barrels down, it's almost assuredly stock fit to the shooter. This problem is curable within the comfort zone of most members here, thru stock bending or adding/subtracting to the comb. If the gun is everything you're looking for but for a bit low shooting, I'd consider getting it with the understanding that you'll spend a couple hundred to get the stock bent. So, if it's a rare find or very cheap, it may be worth it, if it's a common gun for a common price, 'fa-getta-boutit'.

You may find that if you shoot it it may be right for you. Also different brands of cartridges can have a slightly different effect; much like the barrel harmonics in rifles. Lagopus.....

Since POI would change somewhat from one shooter to the next (thus the assessment by the expert that it shoots low only applies to him), wouldn't the pattern testing have to be done in the manner of rifle sighting to determine if barrel regulation, bent barrels or mis-aligned chokes be the problem? In other words, eliminating the vagaries shotgun fit from the analysis.

Drawing from personal experience, I shoot a double with a bit of cast-on, righthanded. My cheek climbs the comb so it shoots noticeably high, even though the DAH and LOP are on the money.

Its incredible what a small variance the the choke are make to POI. I bought a Model 12 with a Cutts Compensator (popular 1950s skeet set-up),took it to the range and missed everything. Due to the choke device being off just a tad, it shot almost a full pattern width low at 25 yards.

Perhaps I am missing something here, but . . . .

What gives with shotguns that don't shoot straight? I realize that shot patterns vary widely shot to shot with the same gun and load, but I would still expect straight barrels to be the No. 2 item on the maker's QA/QC list, right behind FTF when the trigger is pulled. And yet POA issues seem to be a fairly common problem, even on expensive guns. Apparently, the makers aren't terribly concerned if their customers find out they can't make straight barrels - something I would think would be a dark stain on a maker's reputation for quality.

So why isn't this a bigger deal?

Lagopus has it right there are so many vriables between shooter size and shapes that a gun shooting slightly low at 30 yards by a shooter with a lean frame will shoot differently for a full faced more rotund shooter.

[quote=Doverham]Perhaps I am missing something here, but . . . .
What gives with shotguns that don't shoot straight?

Perhaps in many cases it isn't the gun, but the shooter won't admit the problem (Fit, style, competence).
Easier to blame the equipment.....

I bought a pair of shoes, the man in the store said they fit him just fine, Touble was his feet and mine are diferent sizes. The moral here is untill you shoot it yourself you wont know.

What I am talking about is shooting a gun from a rest at 13 yards like a rifle to see if both barrels hit the aim point. I understand that different people will pick up the same gun and shoot it to different locations on a plate because their mounts, physical attributes etc. are not the same. What I am concerned about is that one shooter shooting two guns with the same stock dimensions will hit different points on a plate with each gun because the barrels on one or both guns are not straight.

My question is based on something Neil Winston said in a piece he wrote ("Point-of-Impact and Pattern Testing at 13 yards", 2/11). "I have had a like-new Ithaca-era MX-8 single for seven years and POI- and pattern-tested it many times and it's shot a little to the left all that time. This is typical not just of Perazzis, of course, but shotguns in general."

While he called it POI testing, it was in effect POA because he was using a rest at 13 yards, and using numerous rounds to address potential variations in the shot pattern, weather, etc.

If each gun has a potentially different POA, the stock dimensions provided during a gunfitting session may not work on other guns (for that matter, how do you know the try gun shoots straight)?