Absolutely, salopian. High $$ is no guarantee of properly regulated patterns, though it certainly should be.
Speaking of gunfitting and confidence .......... it can come different ways. When I first began shooting sporting clays seriously, some 20+ years ago, I had but one gun that was suitable for it ............ the 1100 12 ga. autoloader my dad had given me on my 16th birthday. I had shot it well on birds for many years, I thought. In my search for ways to make it better I began to shoot a pattern plate with it. My patterns were not centered on point of aim, so I began tweaking the gun fit to make it do so. I put on an adjustable buttplate fixture and a recoil pad to get the length I needed. I began building up the comb with cardboard and duct tape (I
did use brown duct tape
), and I would shoot the plate before and after each change. I got the gun to shooting consistent 60/40 high patterns, perfectly centered right and left. My scores improved as a result.
Then I was asked to join three friends on an overnight road trip to a professional gunfitter, for a proper fitting. I went along expectantly. After my session at the plate with him and the try gun we went inside for him to take the measurements and write them down for me. He had instilled some confidence in me about my mount, and I was anxious to get home to measure my gun and see how much off his recommendations it was. When I did so I found that some of the measurements were spot on what I had determined was right for me beforehand. One measurement was 1/8" off, and that was the most of any of them.
Now,
that builds confidence, I can assure you.
SRH
