One of the first things we are going to look at is gun fit. Gun fit is important, because it matters where the gun is shooting as well how it feels when you can transition to your next target. So I’m going to take a few shots here and we’re going to see what my gun’s doing and see if we can make some adjustments to it.
Now you can see after the shot there when I pulled the trigger, the end of my barrel went down. So I know I need to take some washers or coins or something and put them in the bottom of the kick pad in order to give myself a little bit of up pitch. Now if it were moving the other way and the gun was kicking up, I’d put them in the top. And that’s going to make sure the gun is going to come straight back into my shoulder.
How you are going to do that? It may take you a few tries, but keep doing that until it comes straight back into your shoulder. The reason this is helpful is because it gives you a true point of impact with your sight picture, as well as helping you transition between targets.
Now you don’t have to leave the washers as your spacer. You can go to your local gunsmith and he’ll build you a shim that can take the place of the washers.
Even if your stock fits you perfectly, occasionally the gun will bite you in the face if you shoot a lot. What we like to do is get some Carmex, or lip balm, or any chap stick. Take a little bit rub it on your face so the gun slides. Don’t worry about it messing up the finish on your stock, because that’s what I use to finish my stock with.
For those of you that have had a bead fall out, or like a little bit smaller bead on the end of your gun. Here’s a little trick you can do. Take your barrel and a WD-40 straw and just screw the WD-40 straw into the hole where your bead was. Once you get it in, take any knife and just cut it off to the desired level. This is what I use on all my competition shotguns.
And here are a few other little tips that may get you through a weekend. Occasionally we might have small cracks show up on our stock and we don’t want them to spread. So we’ll grab a little bit of super glue and fill in the crack and that should last you through the weekend until you can get a gunsmith to look at it.
We’ve also had side ribs come lose while we’re shooting. You’ll notice that you hear a little ping when you shoot and that’s that little piece between your barrels. You can just go to a local hardware store, get some small screws, and just clamp it back down, and that should get you through the weekend.
Now when your gun fits you right, you’ll have more fun; you’ll break more targets; and you’ll stay Army strong.
