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Apr 26th, 2024
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,118 Likes: 26
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,118 Likes: 26 |
As a lefty I quickly learned to pattern guns as most SxS guns shoot to the right for me. I had to determine how much to bend them to the left to get them on target. In the process I also discovered that many guns shoot low or high, and a few guns have divergent barrels. The worst I had was an AYA No 4 Deluxe. The left barrel shot eight inches to the left of the right barrel at 30 yards, and it got worse the further away the target was. That gun was not correctable and was sold to a man who put iron sights on the shortened barrel and made it into a pretty good slug gun. If you don't pattern the gun you won't know if the gun shoots where you look and that the barrels shoot together. The math is simple to do and a good stock bender can correct most off shooting pretty easily. I always pattern at 20 yards from my eye.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,149 Likes: 1147
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,149 Likes: 1147 |
Someone told me once never to pattern a shotgun. I didn't listen to them and I patterned a gun I had just bought and it really messed up my head. Yep, which shows just how easy it is to get in some shooter's heads and get a few birds on them. Oldest trick in the book. Some are easier to screw with than others. My suggestion to you is to never check the fluid levels in your vehicle. Might cause you to get your mind completely off your driving, and have a wreck. Don't ever check your blood pressure, either. Might cause you to worry too much about it. One reason a shotgun's patterns should be checked is to instill confidence in your gun. Confidence is a great aid to the best competitive shooting. NOT knowing is what "gets in MY head".
May God bless America and those who defend her.
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3 members like this:
Ken Nelson, Karl Graebner, David Williamson |
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 355 Likes: 9
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 355 Likes: 9 |
I' was first introduced to 3/4 oz RSTs by Morris Baker while at Hausmans. Also have had some from NobelSport. Certainly soft shooting and no muzzle flip. Seems to do a great job on close in clays. But where I've really used it has been shooting quail in my 6.5 lb 12 gauge. Easy to get a second shot off and doesn't damage the birds. Turns my 12 gauge into a 28 gauge. I'm amused by people who think they need an ounce of shot to kill a 6 ounce bird. That's like throwing 15 pounds of lead at a hundred pound deer.
"When you have to shoot, Shoot! Don't talk." - Tuco
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 272 Likes: 64
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 272 Likes: 64 |
Sad to say Coosa, is that most S X S shooters don't even know if the loads they're shooting regulate in their S X S gun. I've found that lots of vintage S X Ss prefer a certain payload at a certain velocity, and loads a lot faster, lighter, etc. will NOT regulate, but will crossfire badly, or vice versa. I'm certain I have several that would not even come close to being regulated with 3/4 oz. loads, at any reasonable velocity. I've never patterned light loads in any of my SxS guns, but I have tested 8 different guns with the heavy TSS turkey loads. None of them would shoot either barrel to POA. In 7 of them, the right barrel shot to the right and the left barrel to the left. One kinda cheap Spanish gun cross fired every load that I tried in it. It was made in the 60s, but looked new. I suspect that everyone who ever owned it couldn't hit a thing with it and gave up using it. It had fixed chokes, but was worthless the way it was so I took a file to it and got it to shoot a TSS load straight. It's now my backup turkey gun and has killed several turkeys. Of course, that load is the only thing it will center. My theory is that a SxS gun can only shoot one load perfectly. The results might be acceptable with other loads, but only one can be right.
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2 members like this:
GLS, Stanton Hillis |
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,685 Likes: 118
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,685 Likes: 118 |
I guess so.
Last edited by Jimmy W; 03/30/24 04:25 PM.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 2,174 Likes: 39
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 2,174 Likes: 39 |
Personally, I don’t care to have any shotguns that I have to “adapt” to. If they don’t shoot where I’m looking, something has got to change. I’m more concerned with target line, speed, distance etc. to compensate for abnormalities in barrel regulation.
Dodging lions and wasting time.....
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1 member likes this:
Stanton Hillis |
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 518 Likes: 4
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 518 Likes: 4 |
I see two reasons:
One is that a person has a nice gun of whatever gauge that they really want to use, and realizes they don't need the full gauge-correct load. They opt to skimp on recoil and save a bit of money if they reload.
The second is the person who sees it as a challenge to accomplish the most with the least, e.g. using a .410 in the field, 7/8 oz for trap, etc.
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1 member likes this:
Stanton Hillis |
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,685 Likes: 118
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,685 Likes: 118 |
That's why I use the same load every time I shoot. I don't jump around using 7/8- then 3/4 then 1 oz. just to save money on shot. I use 1 1/8 oz. of shot in every 12 gauge I shoot and I have been using the same formula for 25 years. If I had one that didn't shoot where I looked I would know right off. I have only had one gun that didn't shoot where I looked. I could tell after a couple of boxes. THAT is the one I patterned, actually. I got rid of it. If I shoot my 20 gauge, I know where it shoots and I use the same reloading formula for that gun. If I can't run 25 straight at trap or skeet, then I know it's me. Not the gun. Sporting clays? A different animal. The guns I hunt with? They shoot where I look and I use the same formula when I hunt that I do when I shoot clay targets. I guess I have always been able to do that. Works for me.
Last edited by Jimmy W; 03/27/24 04:00 PM.
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1 member likes this:
12boreman |
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 2,174 Likes: 39
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 2,174 Likes: 39 |
That's why I use the same :load every time I shoot. I don't jump around using 7/8- then 3/4 then 1 oz. just to save money on shot. I use 1 1/8 oz. of shot in every 12 gauge I shoot and I have been using the same formula for 25 years. If I had one that didn't shoot where I looked I would know right off. I have only had one gun that didn't shoot where I looked. I could tell after a couple of boxes. THAT is the one I patterned, actually. I got rid of it. If I shoot my 20 gauge, I know where it shoots and I use the same reloading formula for that gun. If I can't run 25 straight at trap or skeet, then I know it's me. Not the gun. Sporting clays? A different animal. The guns I hunt with? They shoot where I look and I use the same formula when I hunt that I do when I shoot clay targets. I guess I have always been able to do that. Works for me. . OK Jimmy, I’m confused…you said you’ve always been able to adapt to a way a gun shoots. But you sold a gun that didn’t shoot where you looked. So you couldn’t adapt to that gun?? 
Dodging lions and wasting time.....
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1 member likes this:
Stanton Hillis |
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,685 Likes: 118
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,685 Likes: 118 |
That's why I use the same :load every time I shoot. I don't jump around using 7/8- then 3/4 then 1 oz. just to save money on shot. I use 1 1/8 oz. of shot in every 12 gauge I shoot and I have been using the same formula for 25 years. If I had one that didn't shoot where I looked I would know right off. I have only had one gun that didn't shoot where I looked. I could tell after a couple of boxes. THAT is the one I patterned, actually. I got rid of it. If I shoot my 20 gauge, I know where it shoots and I use the same reloading formula for that gun. If I can't run 25 straight at trap or skeet, then I know it's me. Not the gun. Sporting clays? A different animal. The guns I hunt with? They shoot where I look and I use the same formula when I hunt that I do when I shoot clay targets. I guess I have always been able to do that. Works for me. . OK Jimmy, I’m confused…you said you’ve always been able to adapt to a way a gun shoots. But you sold a gun that didn’t shoot where you looked. So you couldn’t adapt to that gun?? Yes. That's the one I patterned. That's why I never pattern a gun anymore. Lesson learned.
Last edited by Jimmy W; 03/31/24 02:19 PM.
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