Shotgun Set Up To Shoot High

[ACP230]

My son's used J.C. Higgins pump 12 gauge, (a High Standard) fits him very well.
It is set up to shoot high and dropping targets give him some problems.

My question is about the gun, not how to pick up those dropping targets, however.

Was the shotgun originally set up for trap or skeet?

I'm guessing trap, but don't know why I think that.

Dave?

 

[Oldnamvet]

I also have a shotgun like that and it shoots dead on. I didn't think that any of the JC Higgins guns were intentionally set up to shoot high.

 

[Dave McCracken]

If we took any two of us to the patterning board and both of us shot the same shotgun, chances are we'd get different POIs. Individual physiognomy, fit and form determine where the thing will shoot.

This is why patterning is so essential.

Trap gun are usually stocked higher than field guns or those for SC and skeet. Trap targets are always rising, so a shotgun that shoots a bit high is a good thing with some of the lead built in.

Some GP shotguns are set up to shoot 60/40. Trap guns go up to 90/10.

I'd not worry about it.

 

[Steve C]

If you don't keep your head down against the stock any field gun will shoot high Trap guns have a stock that is more in line with the barrel along with a higher rib that moves the sight line a little lower than the pattern. In either case picking or holding your head up when shooting will give you problems.

 

[ACP230]

We have patterned it, roughly.
It shoots high for my son, 14, shorter, and lots thinner than I am, and for me.
The stock has been cut so my guess is someone spent some time making it shoot where it now looks.

 

[ArmedBear]

Does it fit him well, or does it shoot too high (for the type of gun it is)?

Those two statements are mutually exclusive, unless the gun has an intentionally sloped (trap) rib, or is otherwise a "trap" design, and therefore shoots above POA when it's "dead on", by intent.

What is the drop like? Field guns tend to be something like 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" inches, up to maybe 1 3/8" and 2". If the gun has a high, sloped rib, a Monte Carlo comb, a drop that looks like 1 3/8" and 1 3/8", or even if it appears to have a flat comb, it may be a trap gun.

Otherwise, it probably doesn't really fit all that well. How much rib (or barrel, if no rib) do you see? How much does he see?

It's not fun to shoot fast-dropping birds with a trap gun. Imagine shooting hard rights with a gun that has a built-in left lead. A trap gun has a built-in vertical lead. Fast-dropping birds are hard to hit with anything.

 

[Dave McCracken]

All else equall, short stocks have less drop and tend to shoot high. As he grows and length is added, the problem will solve itself.

 

[TaxPhd]

Trap targets are always rising. . .

I stopped shooting trap when I realized the targets could defy the laws of physics.