[The_Future]

I'm 5'10'' at 135lbs, and I can't seem to hold up to more than 75 rounds of target loads out of my 20 gauge Nova.

I don't know if it's poor gun fit, lack of experience, or me holding the gun wrong, but I am now considering buying a slip-on recoil pad to help with this.

Where I place the butt of the gun when I'm shooting is the meaty part between my shoulder and rib cage.

Please help!

[RNB65]

Not something that can be easily diagnosed over the 'net. You need to go to a shooting range (SC, skeet, or trap) and have some experienced shooters (preferably someone who gives shooting lessons) observe you and evaluate what's wrong.

[TrapperReady]

Not a wuss. Pain from shooting target loads is typically a sign of poor fit, less-than-optimal form, or too-heavy loads. Often all three.

My wife is 5'3" 110 lbs. and shoots a 12ga O/U. Her gun has been professionally fit, and she's an experienced shooter. Despite that, she finds that shooting 1 oz shells at 1300fps tends to make her shoulder hurt after about 60-75 shells. If she sticks with 1 oz at 1200fps, she can run through a couple hundred in an afternoon without a problem.

With a 20ga, make sure that your target loads are 7/8 oz, and ideally around 1200fps or so... the lower the better. It's been my experience that some 20ga guns seem to kick every bit as hard as their 12ga counterparts, due to the fact that they weigh less.

Where are you experiencing discomfort? Is it your shoulder, your collar-bone, your cheek? There are a variety of methods to tweak gun fit, but it's important to know what you're trying to fix.

A Past recoil pad (on you) or a slip-on recoil pad for the gun may help if the pain is in your shoulder. However, both of those will increase the effective length of pull for your shotgun... which will also affect fit. If the gun otherwise fits fine, you may want to look into a replacement recoil pad, such as a Pachmyar Decelerator, Kick-Eez, or Limbsaver. All of them tend to work far better than the junk usually put on at the factory.

[Zero_DgZ]

This has always bugged me. How the devil do you determine proper gun fit, anyway?

[mete]

Go to a range that has a professional and a "try gun". This is a shotgun that has every dimension adjustable. You shoot and he adjusts until he's got all the dimensions right , then you have a stock made to those dimensions !! Not the cheapest thing but for some of us it makes a huge difference !!!

[ZeSpectre]

Go to a range that has a professional and a "try gun". This is a shotgun that has every dimension adjustable. You shoot and he adjusts until he's got all the dimensions right , then you have a stock made to those dimensions !! Not the cheapest thing but for some of us it makes a huge difference !!!

AMEN to that!

[The_Future]

Where are you experiencing discomfort? Is it your shoulder, your collar-bone, your cheek? There are a variety of methods to tweak gun fit, but it's important to know what you're trying to fix.


The pain is mainly in my shoulder, and the shakes before I have the gun up to my shoulder all the way. Estate doesn't print the velocity on the box but the load is 7/8 oz.

[Scoupe]

Already quite a bit of good advice. Fit is soooooo important. Also keep in mind that the Nova isn't necessarily a 10lb target gun and that whacking a hundred targets with a pump-gun is indeed a physical activity.

I get the old "sewing machine" going when I tire out as well. Building the stamina can take some time, so don't think you're just a wuss. There's more to it.

[RNB65]

Also, try a 12ga Remington 1100 with light target loads. It will kick quite a bit less than a 20ga pump.

[ArmedBear]

The meaty part between your shoulder and rib cage?

Do you mean right between your shoulder and chest?

There's problem #1. You're probably ripping up your rotator cuffs. No gun can fit well enough to work that way!

The gun goes on the top part of your pectoral muscle (chest muscle that you work when you do flys).

If you can't shoot it there, it probably doesn't fit. However, a Nova should be somewhere near okay on a 5'10" guy. It may not be perfect, but it's simply not true that a gun that doesn't have a custom fit stock will hurt THAT much with bird/trap/skeet loads, if you mount it in the right place, especially since it has a big chunk of rubber on the butt.

If you were 6'4" or 5'3" or something, I'd go there first, but not if you're near average size for the gun design, and you are. The 14.25" LOP should work acceptably, and the foreend is so long on a Nova, your front arm can find a comfortable place with no trouble.

Go to the range, find an experienced shooter, and ask where to hold the gun. Start there.

[TrapperReady]

Zero_DgZ - I just put up a thread about gun fit (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=245768).