bagging

[highland]

out again with my mate sunday afternoon I know he has shot for over thirty years. and very rarely misses. he uses a side b side .me a semi auto.. im missing far to many pigeon and am really down about it .asked him he saidget yourself one of these u can pick your barrel. he would not even think about buying one. shall I follow his advice or what. confused shooter or should I say thin air shooter b nice to hear somebodies thoughts on this cus im rattled n fed up of him taking the *

[Dannyboy220]

Have you tried shooting his?

[la bala]

have you tried shooting alone. when shooting with your mate, has it become a mental thing. hope you get sorted, by the way i can miss with the best of them.

[JDog]

Just get an over and under like the majority. Get one that fits and suits and stick with it.

[fenboy]

Sorry but changing gun type is unlikely to change your fortunes , perhaps your current gun does not fit and thats why you shoot poorly , ok so changing may get you a gun that fits better , but then you could also get one that fits worse .

 

I would suggest you take yourself for a lesson or two and have them check for gun fit , eye dominance etc.

If your using a fairly modern auto it should be fairly simple to alter the fit if required , but first of all you need to know what needs changing , length of pull / drop/ or cast , thats is where a good coach will be worth his weight in gold.

[ditchman]

i will proberly get a lot of flack for this...but a sxs takes a lot longer to shoot well with than an o/u an o/u you can become a good shot in a short time ..with the right tuition....using a side x side takes a long time to master well but once mastered it becomes an art form........

 

one of my biggest disapointments was i always wanted to use a auto for rough shooting....i just really fancied it paticuly for hide shooting...so i bought a Beretta, and try as i may i couldnt get on with it, it didnt feel the same and eventually after a couple of years i sold it.

 

try borrowing an o/u and a sxs before you shell out any cash....

[nagantino]

Highland I Sent you a pm.

[Cranfield]

If you are not hitting the birds, its unlikely to be the guns fault, unless it doesn't fit.

Once you get the fit sorted out go and practice on some sporting clays, they are not the same as shooting pigeons, but at least someone can tell you where you are going wrong.

 

I shoot sbs, o/u and autos , I don't think one is easier to shoot than the other.

The appearance of a single barrel you get with an o/u and an auto apparently helps some shooters, but I don't really look at the end of the barrel when shooting, I look at the target, so it doesn't bother me.

[KFC]

Semi-auto's tend to be short in the length of pull. Try a neoprene pad with the various packers to lengthen it and then, if it works, you can make it permanent.

An important thing is to put a seed bag or something in the hedgerow and shoot at it so you can see where it's shooting. My semi shoots slightly low so I have to be well up in front of the bird but my O/U shoots slightly high so I need to see the bird over the top of the bead.

 

If you are shooting maintained lead then try swinging through from behind and pull as you clear the bird.

 

Some things to try which I have struggled with. The one thing I have learned is that changing guns won't help. My best shot on a Partridge last season was with a SxS.

 

Firstly make sure the gun fits then learn how to shoot it.

If the gun doesn't fit then you'll mount it differently on virtually every shot.

 

Lastly, make a conscious effort to to see if you lift your head off the stock at the point of firing. I knew someone who was getting terribly frustrated because he kept missing. When I watched him shoot then I could see what was happening but he didn't realise he was doing it.

[thepasty]

gun fit gun fit gun fit, if a gun fits it'll do its thing regardless of whether its S/A SxS or O/U.

 

Failing this its you, get some tuition.

[kitchrat]

Just get an over and under like the majority. Get one that fits and suits and stick with it.

I use a SxS (28 inch barrels) because I find I can swing it quicker to snap onto a kinking bird or the 2nd of a pair. I expect that's all in my head but it works for me. It is lighter too. A double trigger is great so as to have the choice of choke and ammo, a lighter load of 6's in an open choke if they are coming in well, a bit more lead (and 5's) in the other, tighter barrel for long shots and nailing the 2nd bird as it trys to escape!! I know you can select with an o/u but it's one more thing to think about when time is tight!!

[nagantino]

One last thing from me. Try going out by yourself. You can make your own mistakes with no audience and no pressure. It totally agree with others.......it's not the gun. I almost always shoot by myself and love it. Later, meet your mate in the pub and swop stories of high ones and Spitefire crossers.