Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
Good guy, BAD Testosterone Block....
"J" is a new Geezer, and one really nice guy. He likes shotguns and likes to shoot them. Now that the kids are grown, he has a little time and money to put towards shooting.
J likes good shotguns. Besides the very nice Elsie he shoots at times, and the three top line Spanish SxS guns (In 12, 20 and 28 gauge) that stand very high on my Nice To Have list, he has a Parker Repro 12 gauge that gives me a world class case of the covets.
He shot that today, not well. He shoots none of the others well either.
Regrettably, J regards me as an expert simply because I shoot better. So, J asked me if I could aid him in his Quest To Hit Them All.
I looked the Parker over,after making sure it was empty. The stock was on the short side for me, and I could see all the rib. It felt like shooting uphill.
So, I asked J how it patterned. I must have shifted to some obscure language spoken by no other living human because he just looked at me. I repeated the query and he said,without indicating whether he had or hadn't patterned the Parker and said, "I think it shoots high".
Letting it pass, I took a few shots. I needed plenty of air between bead and bird on low wobble targets to bust them, and even then the big piece headed down.
So it shot high like a trap gun. No prob, except it was his duck gun and those low teal buzzing the dekes were safe.
We shot Mongolian Wobble, which is like Chinese trap only more so. J did OK on the higher shots, but the low daisycutters escaped.
So after that, he asked me what to do.I checked the stock drop. It was around 2 1/4" at comb. J had a lace on pad over the skeleton steel butt plate. I suggested he unlace that and stick a few shims in to lengthen the stock. Making the stock longer will increase the drop. Increasing the drop will lower POI. Lowering POI will make this FINE shotgun shoot where J is looking.
J's as tall as I, takes about a 34" sleeve and has less neck than me. In shirt sleeves, he could probably work with a 16" stock and a good 3" of drop.
J was resistant, asking if he should shave the comb, have the stock bent, etc. For some unknown reason, patterning was anathema and shimming was worse. I gradually convinced him to try the shims, which involve no expense or irreversible alterations and he left on that note. I hope he didn't talk himself out of it on the way home.
And this is why I want to yell sometimes....
J's not the only good guy out there that will spend a couple grand on a shotgun, but dropping a couple bucks on some patterning targets and investing an hour's time is unthinkable.
J's got good form, reasonable vision and reflexes. He should be knocking them down right and left.
J's got good shotguns, they just do not fit him. And he's not willing to change that.
If he were a lout, I'd not be bothered. But he's a good guy, the kind of guy you want to hunt and shoot with.
AAAArgh.....
"J" is a new Geezer, and one really nice guy. He likes shotguns and likes to shoot them. Now that the kids are grown, he has a little time and money to put towards shooting.
J likes good shotguns. Besides the very nice Elsie he shoots at times, and the three top line Spanish SxS guns (In 12, 20 and 28 gauge) that stand very high on my Nice To Have list, he has a Parker Repro 12 gauge that gives me a world class case of the covets.
He shot that today, not well. He shoots none of the others well either.
Regrettably, J regards me as an expert simply because I shoot better. So, J asked me if I could aid him in his Quest To Hit Them All.
I looked the Parker over,after making sure it was empty. The stock was on the short side for me, and I could see all the rib. It felt like shooting uphill.
So, I asked J how it patterned. I must have shifted to some obscure language spoken by no other living human because he just looked at me. I repeated the query and he said,without indicating whether he had or hadn't patterned the Parker and said, "I think it shoots high".
Letting it pass, I took a few shots. I needed plenty of air between bead and bird on low wobble targets to bust them, and even then the big piece headed down.
So it shot high like a trap gun. No prob, except it was his duck gun and those low teal buzzing the dekes were safe.
We shot Mongolian Wobble, which is like Chinese trap only more so. J did OK on the higher shots, but the low daisycutters escaped.
So after that, he asked me what to do.I checked the stock drop. It was around 2 1/4" at comb. J had a lace on pad over the skeleton steel butt plate. I suggested he unlace that and stick a few shims in to lengthen the stock. Making the stock longer will increase the drop. Increasing the drop will lower POI. Lowering POI will make this FINE shotgun shoot where J is looking.
J's as tall as I, takes about a 34" sleeve and has less neck than me. In shirt sleeves, he could probably work with a 16" stock and a good 3" of drop.
J was resistant, asking if he should shave the comb, have the stock bent, etc. For some unknown reason, patterning was anathema and shimming was worse. I gradually convinced him to try the shims, which involve no expense or irreversible alterations and he left on that note. I hope he didn't talk himself out of it on the way home.
And this is why I want to yell sometimes....
J's not the only good guy out there that will spend a couple grand on a shotgun, but dropping a couple bucks on some patterning targets and investing an hour's time is unthinkable.
J's got good form, reasonable vision and reflexes. He should be knocking them down right and left.
J's got good shotguns, they just do not fit him. And he's not willing to change that.
If he were a lout, I'd not be bothered. But he's a good guy, the kind of guy you want to hunt and shoot with.
AAAArgh.....
