doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 50/50 vs 60/40. Which is better?

Related to the shaving comb height thread, I find the discussion about seeing some rib or just a bead a bit confusing, what with stacked beads, stacked quarters, and a lot of (most?) new guns with only 2 1/4" drop flying in the face of guns I seem to shoot well, where all I see is a bead. That's partly why I prefer older guns, with more drop. As a western upland hunter, few of my shots are rising up, with the exception of released roosters. Most are crossing (huns, quail, wild roosters), and many are angling down (chukars), where a flat shooting gun is advisable. Maybe it's an east vs west thing? I'm just not really sure where the discrepancy comes from.

Duck hunting with a gun which shoots high is a real challenge but shooting flushing birds with one is not. Match your gun to your expected conditions. Problem is worse if you try to use one gun for everything. To me this is one more reason to buy another gun.

I shoot 1.5 x 1.875 at trap skeet, sporting clays, dove, duck, pidgens, ect. I know where it is going and don't worry about what gun I am carrying. Being a slow learner I find it tough learning one thing so why make it tougher.

bill

I guess that pretty much sums it up.

Which is better, chocolate or vanilla?

50/50 vs 60/40. Which is better?

The answer is widely variable and dependent on what you are shooting and what you are used to shooting with. While many who shoot primarily rising birds claim to prefer 60/40 most have never actually patterned their guns to know what they actually deliver on each loading they use.

Patterning a gun to determine what it is actually doing and going through a fitting process against both a board and thrown clays is often an eye opening experience in terms of showing one stuff they did not know.

Outside of target games, trap in particular, most shooters do not consciously see the beads on their guns stacked or otherwise. Yes I know that does not mean they aren't seeing the beads; just that they do not focus on the bead. Great shot gunners focus on the target and keep the gun moving.

Ultimately shooting is a trial an error pilgrimage to determine what works best for the individual and reinforcing that with repetition. There is no more important secret in shot gunning than simple intelligent practice.

After some trial and error, I have found that I shoot guns with less drop better than guns with more drop. I had a fitting with both a pattern plate and shooting targets and it confirmed this. I see a fair amount of rib and prefer to float targets (birds and clays) above the gun. Ask me to cover a target with the gun (like a springing teal rising to the apex) and I struggle. Dunno why - eyes issues, bad wiring, who knows?

So the answer for me is 60/40, but as old colonel says, this is definitely a YMMV thing.

The difference between 60-40 and 50-50 is three inches at 40 yards, less at lesser distances. This is no difference at all in practical terms. What makes a difference would be a 100% above the point of aim. Another thing that makes a difference is the comfort level of the shooter's view over the barrel. Some people just can't stand to see a bunch of rib, others can't stand to see just the bead. I personally can't stand to see much rib on anything but a rising going away target like a trap target. Even the stocks on my trap guns that I use for sporting clays are field dimension so I can be "one with the beads". By the way, I have learned to ignore the drop at heel dimension which is not of much consequence. The drop at face is the one that is important.

Agreed - too bad it is almost never provided. In theory, you can calculate it if you know where your "drop at face" measurement should be taken (e.g, 2" back from the DAC measurement).

I have an idea for correcting the sight picture of a gun with too little drop at face. The neccesity for this idea came from the ownership of three English guns, none of which I want to bend or shave. If you (or I) need to lower the stock 1/4 inch, we make a pair of Boss style short ribs, with magnetic inserts, to raise the effective sighting plane of the rib. I haven't made my ribs yet, but am preparing to get started. I have sighted over Boss style quarter ribs and find them very comfortable.

8B,

Your quarter ribs should work fine. I on the other hand rarely find a (vintage) gun with stock comb high enough and are always resorting to some type of stick on comb riser.

Ken