Why do so many old American shotguns have so much drop? And the length of pull is, on the average, much shorter than the guns of today?
I don't see many foreign guns with these dimensions.
Why would they choose guns like this, and did the better shooters of years ago have similar guns?
Pete
I don't think trap guns or other special order guns are representative of the "many old shotguns" Pete asked about.
I was just perusing an old DGJ article on a Remington SxS trap gun made in 1899 that had dimensions of 1 3/8 x 2 3/8....darned near perfect for me to shoot clays with today.
I think the generalization of a "lot of drop" has always been true of "off the shelf" , run of the mill, garden variety American field guns. It did come up over the last century from a lot of 1 5/8, 1 3/4 noses to more 1 1/2's, but I think the general public would benefit more from 1 7/16. While I like a field gun with 1/16 - 1/8" more drop from nose to heel than I do with my target guns, to this day I can't shoulder a Remington game gun and see anything but the back of the receiver.
Since I've a pretty average face for a 55 yr old guy (well, very handsome, but only average fullness) and 90% of the people who shoulder my custom-stocked guns say " I could shoot this," it puzzles me as much as it does Pete why the factory norm was, and still is, so "low."
