Maybe I missed something here, but it seems the Brit and American stocks end up putting the shooter's eye in about the same place when shooting. The Brit guns use cast off or on to get the eye in line with the bores, while the American guns use stock drop for the same thing. As to "how we were taught", most of us weren't taught at all. We just went to the field when we were old enough, and found out what worked so that we might hit a bird fairly consistently.

http://www.bakercollectors.com/