"The Mount"

[kotengu]

In Dave McC's other thread about fixing the shotgunner a lot of people talk about practicing "the mount." Can everyone expand a bit on what the "perfect mount" would be, and how specifically you practice it -

What's your starting position (or do you practice from several)? What's the most efficient way to get the gun from that position to the correct placement? What's your ideal cheekweld/hand position/head position, etc? What does the rest of your body do while you are mounting the gun (step back, turn sideways, etc)? Does your mount change depending on clothing (heavy jacket vs. t-shirt), and how? Does anything change when you mount to the weak side?

I mostly shoot 3-gun and the like so I mainly work from a low-ready and feel pretty slow and sloppy when trying to correctly mount the gun from any other position - any advice is appreciated.

 

[Dave McCracken]

The thread on Proper Mounting Techniques floating at the top of this forum may help.

A couple of points....

Some folks have a hard time figuring out where the front hand goes. Try mounting the shotgun, letting go with the front hand as you raise the muzzle maybe a foot, then letting it back down and catching it with the front hand. Where it goes is probably the best place for you, assuming your elbow has some flex to it. A perfectly straight front arm is too rigid for a dynamic move. A stock that's either too long or too short can be compensated for somewhat this way.

Support(not weak) side shooting is pretty much mirror image shooting. Safety manipulation is the big difference with say, an 870.

For "Serious" shooting, low ready is a good starting position. Port Arms has too much wasted movement in it. Keep the muzzle either down or, in the right circumstances, pointed toward the target area.

HTH....