My journey to become a right handed shooter has had a few bumps and twists in the road. While I always had a bit of trouble shooting very lightweight guns, that problem is magnified dramatically for me off the right shoulder. Same story with recoil. My new line in the sand is anything less than about 6 1/4 pounds is going to be problematic for me.

Shooting a double has been troublesome. I was thinking it was a vision issue with my right eye, but, I believe now it is the struggle with my mount, which, hopefully, I can practice my way out of. I have moved a few very light guns, and have offers on a few others that life has made obsolete in my little corner of the world.

This gun, has turned out to be a pleasant surprise:




Reviewed previously, here:


https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=482717&page=1

A trip out to my gun club with a box of RST 2 1/2” 1 Oz loads of 7 shot yielded me a 23. Two lost trap targets with a double bird gun on a regulation trap course hasn’t happened since before the eye injury. Repeaters, yes, but, my doubles have been a different, and sad, story.

The gun is choked about IC and IMOD, weighs 6.6 lbs on my baggage scale and is nobody’s idea of a trap gun. I shot it with an ugly slip on Limb Saver, and its sling. Too lazy to remove the sling, and trying to shoot in daylight while the temp was in the 50s. I might put a permanent pad on it, but, the slip on can come off when the weather is in the sub 10 degrees range, and my clothes negate the need for another inch or so off pull. The Limb Saver is a bit sticky, and hangs up on cotton and wool clothing.

I actually sold this gun a few years back, and bought it back when the buyer kindly offered it to me. It spent time in Maine, if I am not mistaken, and came back to me, none the worse for wear.

Little victories along the way.

Best,
Ted

Glad things are starting to come together for you. Switching shoulders is not an easy thing to do.

Temp in the 50's? What's going on up there? Climate change or something?

I’m sure it’s Trumps fault.

Not common at all, but, it has happened before.

Best,
Ted

Pleased as to your progress
Keep us updated if you can

Glad to hear you are finding a way to keep shooting doubles Ted. It's quite a feat and accomplishment to overcome a lifetime of shooting with your dominant eye and shoulder. As they say, Winners never quit, and quitters never win. Keep punching!


Often when a bit of doubt creeps into my mind, and I start to think the phonies like Al Gore may actually be on to something about global warming, I will go to the Historical Data on the National Weather Service website. There, I can see what the weather was like going back into the late 1800's for most of the U.S.

And then I am always reassured that there is absolutely nothing remarkable going on... except hysterical fearmongering by the Liberal Left.

Great news, Ted. Glad y'all are having some unseasonably nice weather. Saves $$$ on the heating bills that can go to buy shells.

I'm strongly left eye dominant, but right handed. I've always shot that way. The solution for me was to close my left eye. Then a vision problem in my R eye developed: Macular pucker. in an average round of skeet at one club where I shot, I would be unable to see at least 2 or 3 targets.

Fooled around with switching to shooting left handed. The problem isn't just switching shoulders. The entire process feels really awkward. I opted for macular pucker surgery, which was successful. I still have difficulty picking up targets against a dark background, but it's seldom an issue at skeet. Sporting clays, on the other hand: I had terrible results at a sxs shoot this summer with a lot of targets flying through the trees. When hunting, I can be swinging on a bird that I see clearly against the sky, only to have it disappear against a background of trees.

But along with everything else, I've also discovered that I now shoot much better with a shorter LOP and more drop. I know that I've lost a bit of height, but I didn't think my arms were any shorter. I'm in the process of either modifying stocks, or parting company with guns I don't shoot well. In the process, I've found that I have to focus on both dimensions before I decide to purchase a gun. For example, I acquired a 12ga that had a one inch wood extension. Lose the inch and I'm right on target as far as LOP goes . . . but I've also reduced the amount of drop.

it's an interesting process.

]

You don’t have to shovel sunshine, Stan. I have a doctorate in shoveling snow.

Best,
Ted

Larry,
Subconsciously, while out hunting with the dog, I have found that I will switch the gun to my left hand, without even realizing it. I play a mental game where I put a glove on my left hand, which helps me to remember to keep my gun over on the right.

When you said the “entire process feels really awkward”, you said a mouthful. It never feels natural, even when I connect on the bird.

Best,
Ted

God I hope I never have to switch to right hand shooting. I'm not sure I could wipe my butt right handed.

It's funny how this left hand/right hand thing is. I am right eye dominant and right handed. I do everything right handed ...... I mean everything. A good friend and pool shooting buddy of mine is right handed, almost entirely. The one thing he does left handed is shoot pool. He said when he was a very young child he had a mentor who was left handed and taught him to shoot pool ......... left handed. He is excellent, and beats me more often than not.

My Grandad taught me to cast a reel and rod when I was about eight years old. We fished thousands of hours together for bluegill,shellcrackers, redbreast, crappie, bass, and jackfish. When we fished for bass he used a Pflueger Supreme bait casting reel. When I "came of age" and got my first bait-caster, a Pfluger Supreme, he made me learn to cast left handed so that my reel would already be in my left hand to crank the handles with my right.

It seems to me that we can teach ourselves to use our "off hand" for any task we choose, without any loss of efficiency or accuracy, but it takes considerable time to ingrain the muscle memory.

Stan,
If you learn as a kid, it will be much, much easier. 50 years of muscle memory is a force to be reckoned with.

Pleased as punch to shoot my old double so well. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I was so disappointed with my performance with them the past year. Finding the pieces, like using a bit heavier double, lightening up my loads, practicing my mount, and being rewarded with a much improved score on a trap round is a beautiful thing.

Had a real nice offer on that old Halifax, glad I turned it down.

Best,
Ted

Ted, keep at it - it's an inspiring story of not giving up and perseverance. As I mentioned before, doing physical therapy exercises specifically targeting my left shoulder and back, I found I could swing a golf club left handed. Sometimes working on the muscles will help the muscle memory as Stanton suggested. And Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noël. Gene

Thanks, Gene. Blessed Christmas to you and your kin.

Best,
Ted