First off, I am not a shotgun person and appreciate your help.

My daughter has a beretta 391 parallel target RL. She shoots too high. I have shims for adjusting drop. Will adjusting drop affect shooting high or low? If so, do I increase or decrease drop to shoot lower?

The gun currently has a 65 (mm?) spacer installed. I have choices of 50, 45, 42.5, and 40. I know how to change them, but have no idea what these numbers mean and how it will affect how the gun mounts.

Please help.

Not 100% on this but I think if you put in a lower # shim it will be thinner and raise the barrel in relation to the stock provided the shim gets thinner at the top.
I believe this will cause her to adjust the barrel downward. Has she used a pattern board and does the gun fit her well? If you have a place to pattern the gun, I would take the shims along and adjust until you get the POI you desire.

I just ordered a parallel target RL for my daughter.

Good luck,
Bob

Large number on top, small number on bottom will give the most drop. (Large number will be thicker at the top. Small number thinner at the bottom. Therefore the stock will angle down and have more drop.) Unfortunately 65 would be as low a she can go. The stock and her subsequent eye position is the rear sight. Make it lower and the shotgun will pattern lower.

Also make sure you have the shims positioned for cast on or cast off. I.E. DX facing out for cast off for a right handed shooter. I think the left hand cast on designation is SX.

Not sure if by target model you are referring to a shotgun for trap. If so then the rib will be higher at the breech than at the muzzle. If that is the case the shotgun will always shoot high. How high will be determined by the shims.

Since 65 gives the most drop and she is still shooting too high you may have to shave the comb down some or have an adjustable comb added to the stock.

The barrel does pattern high as I would expect. It is a trap gun. The problem is she shoots higher than that. I try to get her to mount the gun each time so the beads make a figure 8 but by the time she pulls the trigger there is plenty of space between the beads.

Does the gun fit? As well as any we have. It is the reduced length model, but she is average height for a high school girl. Without a custom stock, it would be hard to fit her perfectly.

I was afraid it needed more drop and it currently has the shim with the most drop installed. I guess there are other things we will try.

Thanks

An option would be to call Cole Gunsmithing. They specialize in Beretta shotguns of all configurations. They probably have some plan jane trap stocks you can buy that will fit onto her receiver. Tell them what the problem is and they may have an easy solution.

I'm thinking the easy solution is to sandpaper the comb down. 1/16 inch lower, lowers POI 1inch at 16 yards. But from your description it sounds like she is raising her head before hitting the trigger. "Wood on the wood and eye on the rock."

My daughter has a 3901 PT RL. She benefited greatly with the installation of a adjustable butt pad. Increased her comfort and I believe helped her keep her head down through the shot. It sounds like she's picking her head up if she begins with a figure 8 then has space at the shot.

Make sure you orient the shims the same way when adjusting them. If DX is facing out on the receiver then it should also face out on the stock bolt.

Ours does not have a step rib. Does have a adjustable comb. If yours is adjustable lowering it might help.

Ring3 knows his stuff. Pay attention to what he suggests.

Next time we shoot I'm going to video from the front so she can see what she's doing. She probably is picking up her head. I wish I could find a good trap coach for her as I know next to nothing about it. Trying to tell her to do the things I've read is not the best way to teach.

Visual is the crown jewel. Get a young person looking right and a door opens wide.

You will learn a lot reading and watching. Shooting is the best teacher. Use a light 1 ounce load for her from the 16. Continue adjusting the gun for comfort as well as alignment. Little moves do make a difference. In my experience the comb slapping the cheek will eventually make pulling the head off the stock a habit. Comfort is also key in the butt. Pinching there can be more prevalent for females and cause odd mounts. The adjustable butt looks and feel weird (twisted and dropped) to me but fits my daughter well.

Set post 3 on straight aways and have her shoot them until she is consistently grinding them. See the bird then move to it. This might help her brain remember barrel/bird relationship for good breaks. Do the same for other posts and presentations she struggles with.

Thanks for the complement battue. I'm no fitter but have been down this road with my daughter. She's 5'8" about 120#. Sadly, college, boys etc... have taken the place of her shooting.

Other than fit, does changing length of pull have affect on shooting high or low? The gun came with three different thicknesses of pads. We have been using the middle one as it seems to be the softest.

It might because it changes where her check rests on the comb. Rule of thumb I always heard is an 1 1/2" to 2" between nose and grip thumb. I follow that when helping someone.

I thinking that since she has a parallel comb, it probably wouldn't change much if any.

Sounds logical to me battue. Visualizing the shims set up to drop the stock I guess I'm thinking the comb would no longer be exactly parallel. If she is creeping up too close on the comb it might negate some of what the shims are trying to accomplish.

She would probably know if she was WAY too close as her thumb would be wacking her nose on recoil.