I'm left handed so a part of every acquisition is patterning mostly to see how I need to bend the stock. But I also need to know if the barrels shoot together, as I have owned a few Spanish guns that didn't.
I initially pattern at 20 yds with 7-1/2 shot and shoot each barrel multiple times at the same target to show a dense pattern center. Then I'll shoot at 25, 30 and 35 yards with No 5 shot. If the barrels don't converge the gun goes back.
I use trig to determine how much the stock needs to be bent to get a center pattern. I also bend stocks, mostly up, as I like about 80% of the pattern above the bead. I float the bird, mostly pheasant, above the bead. My brother says I shoot at their feet! I'm 5-8" and stocky but the dimensions that work for me are 1-3/16 X 2-1/4 X 14-13/16 with 7/16" cast on at the heel, toe out about 3/16" past that. My stocks look weird but that's what it takes for me.
