doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Anyone shoot 3" stock drop decently?

For big drops, I use these

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Triple-K-Leather-Cheek-Pad/706669.uts

And I change out their lacing with old braided fly line.

Mike

Learning to shoot a gun with 3" of drop just takes practice. I am talking about bird hunting. But I once shot an eight pound 3" DAH Parker 12 gauge at an ATA shoot and managed to score a 97. Not competitive but the 3" DAH gun is very shootable - with practice.

I was fifty before I started shooting two-trigger guns. Took a lot practice to learn how to use those.

The comb just goes on a different part of my face when I shoot a 3" DAH gun. When properly mounted the rib looks just like it does on 2" DAH gun, by the way.

I shoot best with more drop than is popular these days. Three inches at heel is fine as long as the comb is about 1 5/8" to 1 3/4". My shooting style is a bit different since I only lightly make cheek contact with the comb. Anchor point seems to be about even with my teeth. Head up and both eyes wide open. It's a very relaxed mount. My two hunting buds who I often join in pursuit of wild bobwhite quail also have independently evolved a similar mount. It makes for a very fast mount and shot, especially when terrain or brush demand a quick shot or none at all. And a heads up position allows us to maintain awareness of surroundings better than the modern style. The old time American gun makers produced what the public wanted for our walked up game shooting and that was more drop.

Heads up or down is not something to be argued about. Neither style fits everyone, nor should it. It just works for us and our hunting conditions. And in the evening when the guns are cased and the dogs fed I've always got more birds to clean than I want. Life is good.

PS: for those of you who have never had the joy of meeting a truly wild bobwhite on his home turf the only way I can describe their explosive flush is to suggest you imagine a bottle rocket unexpectantly firing nearby in heavy grass and brush and you have no idea where it's gonna go. And those little stubby wings have him at what appears to be warp speed in about three feet. If that doesn't rattle you then imagine a covey flush of about 15 of the rascals noisily exploding right under your feet and heading towards every compass point. Oh, they're good at what they do!

People tell me I usually shoot birds with my head up anyway, so my 3" drop guns are fine with me...Geo

There is a top ten skeet shooter who NEVER cheeks the gun. It can work but is tough for most people to learn.

bill

I don't think the stocks with big drops were ever meant to be cheeked. The thread here talks about 3" drops, but there are a lot of guns with even more than that - some guns just can't be crawled. Pictures of turn-of-century shooters show them pointing the guns, heads held high.

It can be done competently. I used to shoot skeet with an old guy who shot that way, head high. Clean air between his cheek and the wood. He just pointed the gun, a fine demonstration of eye-hand co-ordination. It was kind of disturbing to watch, but he was an outstanding shooter. He was v knowledgeable, modest, and had a good sense of humor. Some of the things he said hinted that he might have been ex-AMU from back in the sixties.

The deadliest dove gun I've ever owned owned was a Fox A-grade 12 bore with 3" of dah with just a little less at the comb. I miss that gun, I should've held onto it for a bit longer. It wasn't difficult for me to shoot well, even with those dimensions being way off from my norm. Granted, I never used it for flushing birds, it was mainly a pass shooting/decoying bird gun.

After hunting chukars & Huns for awhile now, bobwhites to me look like jack black trying to fly. They're zippy, but probably not moving as fast as they seem. A covey of anything getting up around your feet is somewhat nerve racking, but I have to say I've shot more doubles bobwhite hunting than I have any other gamebird.

Most of the turn-of-the-century images are not live action, and show shooters in the "ready position"

Donald Mackintosh of Australia, winner of the Grand Prix de Centenaire exhibition at the 1900 Paris Olympics



Charles Grimm, of Clear Lake, Iowa won the Live Bird Tournament at the 1892 Chicago World's Fair and held the "Cast Iron" medal in 1897. He used a L.C. Smith in 1896-1899 and was second to Tom Marshall at the 1899 GAH. Obviously a studio image



Live action in the snow at the DuPont Trapshooting Club; leaning well forward, neck extended and firmly cheeked



Nemours Club for Women



I believe this is Capt. A.W. "Blue Rock" Money but could be his son Noel. Note the very long LOP



Bird shooting in the 1906 Forest & Stream



Then again, whatever works

"Better Trap Shooting", Lawrence B. Smith, New York State Champion 1930 & 1931



Charles W. Billings at the New York AC, Travers Island, 1912. Captain of Gold Medal 1912 Olympic team.

Any gun fitter would likely 'splain that he's cramped with a too short stock and too much drop

Drew, every one of the photos you posted are of shooters who are either shooting clays or pigeons with premounted guns. Has nothing to do with the real world walk-em-up bird shooting we are talking about.

Again, there is absolutely no "right" or "wrong" way to mount a shotgun, within limits. Very similar to golf--everyone has their own style and thats great as long as it works for them. I think I'd hate shotgun shooting if I had to shoot a gun some world renowned expert said fit me. It'd probably have a 15" LOP and no more than 2 1/4" drop. As it is I'm sitting in my rocking chair with a shotgun leaning against the wall with a 14" pull and 3" drop--and having to spend all evening cleaning birds.

1906 Forest & Stream posted above



Sept. 12, 1908 Forest & Stream, "Prairie Chicken Shooting in Kansas", also in American Game-bird Shooting by George Bird Grinnell, 1910



Turn-of-the-century Live Bird and Inanimate Target shooters did not, for the most part, pre-mount, and "low gun" or "ready position" was required in Olympic inanimate target competition in 1908 and beyond.
Live action (the first minute) from the 1912 Stockholm Olympics is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl...t-ts=1422579428