I have tried for years to teach myself how to shoot birds with no luck. Right handed left eye dominant issues. My dove hunting motto has been “One box, One bird”. So I decided if I’m going to miss, at least I can look good while missing and now have a very nice Fox Sterlingworth 12 Gauge. New motto “Missing with Style”. This conversation came up while in the gunsmithing forum and I promised to start a new thread when I set up for some lessons to actually learn how to shoot a shotgun. Lessons are now set to begin on Saturday
I have copied/pasted some of the posts (bullets) from that other thread so one doesn’t have to go back to that other thread to get the history.
I have copied/pasted some of the posts (bullets) from that other thread so one doesn’t have to go back to that other thread to get the history.
- You can use blinders to help with the dominant eye.
- I have tried that. It doesn’t make up for me just “sucking” with a shotgun. I need all the excuses I can rationalize.
- Missing with style is nice, and a Fox Sterlingworth is a nice gun to be missing with, but why not switch shoulders? I shoot off both, but mostly right even though I'm left eye dominant. We had a kid on the HS Trap team shoot his first round right handed (left eye dominant) and shot a 5. Had him switch shoulders, he doubled that the next round, and is now shooting 15-18.
- I'll start this off with 'I have an excuse for everything ' but I did find an instructor just today. When I started shooting the CMP matches 10 or so years ag I found that my right eye would fatigue within seconds trying to acquire the sight picture. So I started shooting left handed. It worked ok even with a bolt action and didn't impact the Garand. It wasn't bad prone and sitting. Off hand was a challenge. At that point I switched to the left with my shotgun. But I'm not terribly coordinated with anything left handed. Couple that with not knowing how to shoot a shotgun and not much changed. Skip forward to 6 years ago and a minor stroke. I lost 40% of the vision in my left eye and the remaining vision in that eye turned to mush. Oddly I can read with that eye uncorrected if very close and that was actually better. But what distance vision I had left was mush. Corrected I can see while driving well. So I had to switch back to right handed. But I am still very left eye dominant. With my correction which I use all day my left eye remains dominant. So I pretty much have to close my left eye to shoot anything right handed. So I struggle no matter what I shoot except pistols. I have always shot right handed but always lined up with my left eye. Not technically correct but it works. When I deer or elk hunt for a week I take my glasses off once I arrive for the week. Within hours my right eye tries to take over dominance. I have pretty good distance vision in my right eye and if I need to read my phone or a map I can do that if I get close enough.
- We will see what the trainer says. I'm not big at 5'-7" but for some reason the common modern shotgun configuration (think Remington 870) doesn't have enough drop and no matter how hard I try I have to adjust after shouldering a modern shotgun. The older styles shoulder well with no adjustment. That is what started me into a Fox Model B that I traded for the Sterlingworth.
- I don't know if a bigger bead would help. My shotgunning issues are more mechanics than sight related. I think like a bullseye shooter and want to aim and then shoot. When I try to point I just end up shooting all over the place. I just need someone to help me through the fundamentals. Keep in mind I have read all that there is on how to shoot a shotgun but for some reason this is probably going to have to be learned with hands on instruction.
- Fitting has been a chicken or the egg conundrum for me. I shoot so poorly it didn't seem to make sense to expend a lot of money for it. But that could be my entire issue. I suspect there is a lot more going on though.
I bought my first 12 gauge many years ago for squirrel hunting in East Texas. Too much civilization to trust a .22 . A Smith & Wesson 916T pump 3" chamber 30" full choke with double bead so I could aim. I bought the 20 gauge Winchester 1200 Modified choke for less recoil and to lend out. Turns out it was enough lighter it didn't have much less recoil. It was traded along with a Fox Model B in 16 Gauge straight up for the Sterlingworth. I'm real happy about that trade. I haven't used the 20 gauge in years. I still have the S&W. It's a 3" Goose Gun and I took my first turkey with it a couple of years ago. That and many squirrels.
I suspect the first thing we will do with the instructor is figure out what fits me. I don't know if he has access to Try guns. Reality is that the Fox seems to fit me well. At least it goes to eye level. I'll have to let the instructor see if it really fits me. I do know that I tend to roll it to the left. - How the stock fits you is important, if too long you shoot low, it too short you shoot high. There is an adjustable butt pad called a Morgan pad that you can adjust for drop and side to side. It may help get you on target a little better.
- The Jones recoil plate is better than the Morgan pad in that it adjusts up down side to side (Which Morgans do not, BTW) and rotationally out to 22 degrees. The SPS https://stockpositioning.com/ systems cover all possible adjustments except possibly pitch, which is usually ground into the pad or cut from the stock if needed. Some even have recoil reduction in them.