Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Shotgun shoots high can that be fixed?

Well , what can I say, all my rifles and shotguns have 1/4 cast off, and LOP that varies from 14 1/4 to 14 3/4" depending on the gun. They are all pleasant to shoot, don't crush my jaw, and when I pull them up, the scopes are pointed dead on at what I'm sighting at, and the shotguns pattern true to point of aim. The drop at the heel and comb vay form guntom gun depending on what sights are on them.
This has worked for me, I'm 5-6' , about 150 lbs. I suppose shorter shooters could have less and taller ones more. The longe rthe LOP, the more drop at the heel and comb you can achieve.
By my rekoning, this fellow needs to drop his heel measurement about 1/2 "

Saddlesore:

If those LOPs work for you that is fine, but you must have a really long neck or a serious case of stock crawling. Most factory rifle stocks that are fairly well designed these days (thanks to a century of trial and lots of error) have a LOP of about 13 1/2 inches. This is supposed to fit the "average" American who is about 5'10" and about 180 or so according to an article I read some while back. Since I'm just above average on ht, but ummmmm, pleasingly plump shall we say, I like a shorter LOP, unless the gun is a very hard kicker. I just whacked a 700 in 6.5x55 to 12 3/8 and I like it fine, although I wouldn't cut all of them that short and I don't shoot prone. My shotguns are 13 3/8 give or take a 16th.

Saddlesore
I am out the other side of average for height and yet my stocks are not terribly out of average because I have relatively narrow shoulders for my 6'4" and 225#.

But the fact your rifles and shotguns are stocked the same tells me one or the other does not fit you well... the combination is supposed to put your eye in the proper place without effort or major adjustment and there is a huge difference between the proper place on a shotgun and a rifle (assuming your rifles are sporting scopes).

A shotgun stocked like a scoped rifle would leave me shooting high on rapidly rising birds! And on the other side of that coin a rifle stocked like a shotgun would leave my jowl unsupported and a great deal of strength would be lost in the shooting stance. IME at least...
best to you
art
no insult intended nor taken...

Sitka deer. No insults taken, I'm here to learn. I guess what I should have said is that my shotguns and rifles have the same cast off. The drop at heel and combs are different depending on the rifle. Of course it is less for scoped rifles. and my muzzle loader has more with iron sights. The LOP on the huntng rifles are a little less because I wear more clothing then. The shotguns are longer because I usually just have a jacket and vest on.
I am built oddly. I seem to have longer arms in proportion the most, a short body and longer legs. My wife is the same height and when we sit together, she is about 2" taller than I.

I do crawl the stock and I like to pull the gun in tight to my shoulder. I shoot a lot prone if the hunting situation allows it. A short stock will sure smack you then.
I once had a Weatherby in 7 mag. I was laying a little downhill, shooting uphill at about 15 degrees at a bull. There was a small depression in a clearing about 10 ft wide in thick timber, with no other place to shoot. I shot 4 times, and the rifle smacked me 4 times. Talk about blood.

Anyway, these stocks work for me and may not work for others. Which I have tried to convey. I don't like to offer advice to others about things I haven't tried myself and work.

I don't get to bird hunt much here as it is a 150 mile drive to able to shoot 2 birds. I shoot some clays,time permitting. I don't hit as many as most, but miss very few pheasants when the opportunity arises. Can't say the same about doves, but I get my limit with about 2 boxes of shells.

I started to make my own stocks when I couldn't find off the shelfs to fit what I liked. BTW my 06 LOP is 13 1/2. My 3 shotguns are 15, my two muzzle loaders are 14, my .308 and 6.5 are 14 1/4.

IIFID,

You must have had friends from Texas that worked here on the pipeline! Thus being aware of our custom to dress our guests in womenswear. Alaska has always had more men than women, after all it's a man's country. So to alleviate that problem due to the influx of Texans and Oklahomans during the pipeline it was state law that all Texans were to wear dresses and the Okies claim once removing the dresses from the Texans as the night wore on, it wasn't much different than being at home. Kinda explains the intensity of your football rivarly. Thus it left the local women to us locals and everyone was happy and had a good time <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> Rumor has it that it was the Okies that started the saying "Everything's bigger in Texas!" But they were referring to Texan backsides after the Okies were done with them!

Just kidding, I'm not one to waste an entirely good insult as you delivered to Alaskans. And you will notice, I did this over a computer rather than when you actually had a shotgun in your hands......sounds like you might know how one of those scattergun works! All in fun, 1akhunter

1akhunter:

My reference was to Sitka Deer and a long running joke about him and our own Rick Bin. You would have to search the archives for details but the story has grown with time. Basically revolving around pink prom dresses and chloroform or something like that. At any rate, as best as we can get it down here, none of the participants were HIV positive and a good thing, too.

I can understand why the Okies, dumb as they are, would choose a good Texas butt over most Alaskan women, but, like you say, all in fun. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

IIFID,

Strange things pass as fun in this land that's home to the midnight sun!

I guess with your handle you should probably know something about shotguns. I miss shotgunning, I grew up hunting quail and by my early 20's was becoming an unconscious competent. I was fairly good but couldn't tell you why or tell someone else how to be. Doubles were common, triples occassionally, but I would have lost more money betting on triples than I would have won.

Just don't do much shotgunning here. IMO ptarmigan and grouse are just about as easily killed with a .22, albeit sitting actually ptarmies will flush and you can do a bit of shotgun work and now that I have a 10 year old boy seems like a good way to introduce him to the sport. I have an old Belgian made 20 ga. that needs some work, just a little bit awkward for him at this stage. Waterfowl here is great but coincides with Moose hunting and since one of my family's most requested dishes is moose meat and rice, you can guess where that leaves me on Sept 1. Are you into the dove thing, now there's a bird that will teach you to be quick on the trigger with a shotgun IMO. I did live one year in Houston doing construction and left when the town went bust, late 70's but Texas folks are great and I still enjoy good barbecue when I can get it. Anyway thanks for taking the jibe in the spirit it was intended and if anyone has any pix of SD or RB in that Prom dress it would be nice if theys posted it. One of the guides I used to work with always threatened to bring a pink skirt for the clients that complained about how hard our hunts were, thank god he never did it!

1ak:



I used to shoot a shotgun a good bit, but now am getting pretty rusty. However, I can usually not embarrass myself.

For me, shotgunning is like any other physical skill, it takes fairly regular practice or use to keep the level up and I'm not getting it. I've been intending to build a skeet range (shhhh, don't tell all my old trap shooting friends) on my place for the last several years, but it is one of those "roundtoits" that haven't come up yet. Being a semi-retired rancher and full time Daddy takes a helluva lot more time than one would think.



I was lucky to spend a good bit of time around a good friend of mine, who while not the best shotgunner, was an excellent coach of the sport who enjoyed helping kids and people learn to shoot (RIP Top), and by watching and listening to him, and, since I was competing on a national level, having my own thoughts as well, I became reasonably versed in both the fundamentals and minutiae of shotgunning. Like you, many more people can shoot a shotgun well than can impart the skill and knowledge to others. Coaching is fairly easy but you have to have the ability to express how to do it right and what they are doing wrong in terms they can relate to, while not overwhelming the new shooter with details.



I love dove hunting and NEED desperately to go to South America again to wear myself out on it. But, like you, I've got a 10 year old and am hoping to take him in a couple of years. His body couldn't stand the beating right now. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> And I'm beginning to worry about mine. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />



Speaking of barbecue, we just BBQed, in pieces, a whole 200 pound boar wild hog, that I shot. Weather was cold, not too many showed up and we had a LOT of hog left over, but ummmmm, ummmmm, good.