A bit demoralised.

[aga man]

Braved the sleet and snow showers this afternoon and headed to a small spinney that pigeons feeding on rape have be holding up in.

The pigeons returned very obligingly four 2 hours. I took the new {to me} Hushpower out for a try and I couldn't hit a damn thing. I fired 19 shots and managed just 2 pigeons which were not very dead.

The pigeons were by no means high, so god only knows were I need to be with it.

Great to be out with the dogs though as it has been a while.

Plenty more practice yet I guess.

[Wilksy II]

Aww no! I’d hoped you’d get on with it, you will click with it I’m sure, but then next time you pick up your o/u you might miss a few!! I struggle with stationary targets with mine but I’ve hit some mint crossers due to the barrel heavy swing

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, aga man said:

Braved the sleet and snow showers this afternoon and headed to a small spinney that pigeons feeding on rape have be holding up in.

The pigeons returned very obligingly four 2 hours. I took the new {to me} Hushpower out for a try and I couldn't hit a damn thing. I fired 19 shots and managed just 2 pigeons which were not very dead.

The pigeons were by no means high, so god only knows were I need to be with it.

Great to be out with the dogs though as it has been a while.

Plenty more practice yet I guess.

Practice makes perfect springs to mind aga man , although that's not a very good start with your new ( ish ) Hushpower , see if you are any better on decoyed pigeons where they are slightly easier to give you more confidence to take the harder roosting pigeons on .

A mate of mine have got one and to me they look a cumbersome bit of kit , he recon they are handy if you are shooting near buildings or a built up area , I think I will stick to my s x s and keep well away from those who complain about noise from shotguns .

GOOD LUCK with yours and I am sure you will soon see an improvement with your shooting averages . 

[Me matt]

I'd do some serious test patterning 

I recently read of the issues surrounding silenced shotguns on here. 

[Clodhopper]

The positive is that you have pigeons and you know where to go to get them. The rest will come with a little testing and some practice. Best of luck.

[aga man]

Thanks for the moral support guys. I did pattern a few shells last week and thought I had a good idea of where it shoots, but maybe not.

The chap in the gunshop where I bought it said it can take a couple of boxes of shells to find where you are with it.

Round of clays on the cards I think, preferably when the shooting ground is empty.

[JDog]

I am not sure what to suggest as I haven't encountered a gun such as yours. I am also not sure how much benefit shooting clays will be.

[pigeon controller]

When I obtained my hushpower I found it to be clumbersome but soon got into it , the pump is a new process and that took a bit longer. All I would say is concentrate on the first shot and,you will master it.

[marsh man]

27 minutes ago, aga man said:

Thanks for the moral support guys. I did pattern a few shells last week and thought I had a good idea of where it shoots, but maybe not.

The chap in the gunshop where I bought it said it can take a couple of boxes of shells to find where you are with it.

Round of clays on the cards I think, preferably when the shooting ground is empty.

What were your reasons getting one in the first place aga man ?

[Ultrastu]

What you have to remember is they shoot a pretty right pattern 

Mine has a modified choke .So accuracy has to be spot on .

It's no good just wafting the barrel in the general direction of the bird . (Like a 12 b and an open choke. ) and expecting to hit it .You have to practice on paper and clays to get the sight picture correct . 

As said before. A red dot /ring helps a lot. 

2 hours ago, Wilksy II said:

Aww no! I’d hoped you’d get on with it, you will click with it I’m sure, but then next time you pick up your o/u you might miss a few!! I struggle with stationary targets with mine but I’ve hit some mint crossers due to the barrel heavy swing

I too find crossers much easier than birds flying towards or away from me .

[JDog]

Accuracy may be Aga man's problem.

[aga man]

32 minutes ago, marsh man said:

What were your reasons getting one in the first place aga man ?

I have some new permissions that are a bit 'noise sensitive' it will also prove useful on some of my existing permission if/when I start to hit things with it.

[aga man]

31 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

What you have to remember is they shoot a pretty right pattern 

Mine has a modified choke .So accuracy has to be spot on .

It's no good just wafting the barrel in the general direction of the bird . (Like a 12 b and an open choke. ) and expecting to hit it .You have to practice on paper and clays to get the sight picture correct . 

As said before. A red dot /ring helps a lot. 

I too find crossers much easier than birds flying towards or away from me .

 

28 minutes ago, JDog said:

Accuracy may be Aga man's problem.

Could well have been the accuracy thing. The birds today were only 15-25 metres away. The fact that it shot quite low on my initial tests has perhaps caused me to over think things and shoot too high.

I reckon if I could shoot at a repeatedly thrown clay target until I hit it, that might be a good start. It certainly doesn't shoot flat like my other guns in which I normally shoot tight chokes too.

[Ultrastu]

Is that on a 12 b .?

Cos obviously the same choke on a 20bwill be tighter. 

I find it easy to miss a bird coming straight in around 15 yds .the pattern is about 12 inches wide and easy to put just above /low  or to the side of the bird .I try to pull the trigger when the bird is about 25 -30 yds as the pattern has opened up enough .

Not trying to teach u to suck eggs mate .but accuracy really is the key to these guns. 

[aga man]

Yes I often shoot 3/4 and full in the 12b or sometimes half and 3/4 when decoying. I started shooting 30 years ago with a full choke single barrel 12b.

When I patterned this hushpower last week it threw the pattern roughly 5-6" low at 35 yds. that was using the bead that sits on top of the moderator. So today I tried to use the bead on the barrel rib and blot out the target with the mod.

I don't really understand the concept of a red dot sight. Is it set up using a bore sighter or something?

[Ultrastu]

No .i just set the red dot up the same way I would set up a scope on a rifle .

Big sheet of card and a large dot in the centre..and shoot at it .see where the centre of the pattern is . (Best done aboit 20 yds ) and adjust the dot with the windage/elevation  turrets and shoot again till you find your hitting the dot spot on. 

[sitsinhedges]

The problem with red dot sights is that you have to lift your head off the stock to put your eye in the right place. More like shooting a rifle. Investarm O/U hushers shoot to the point of aim fortunately and don't have these issues.

[Ultrastu]

I don't like blotting out the target /bird with the barrel it seems un natural to loose sight at the point of trigger pull .

If you raise the cheek piece of your gun say 10 mm this will raise your eye line down onto the bead and provide u with enough barrel  / eye angle 

Raised cheek piece. For my red dot 

But just a 10 mm pad on the stock will be enough to get you up so u look down a touch  on to the bead .

[aga man]

2 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

I don't like blotting out the target /bird with the barrel it seems un natural to loose sight at the point of trigger pull .

If you raise the cheek piece of your gun say 10 mm this will raise your eye line down onto the bead and provide u with enough barrel  / eye angle 

I didn't like this either, felt like I was really guessing. which I obviously was. I think I will try more patterning and perhaps try altering the comb height and see if that makes any difference.

I am in danger of over thinking things now.

[Ultrastu]

I'm afraid that nessesary with a gun with a large mod on the end .

I made this for mine .

It makes my shot gun feel more like a rifle. Which for me is a good thing and helps. 

You don't need to be this high if you want to still use the bead .

[sitsinhedges]

One thing I did do on my Investarm was to take off the quite bulbous bead and fit one that was just above the tube which made the gun shoot a little higher. You could fit a grub screw and have no bead at all as long as the end bush can't spin. I also fitted short piece of raised rib on the back of a single husher that meant you were looking down towards the muzzle more and so was pointing the muzzle up towards the correct POI, if that makes sense.

[motty]

3 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

What you have to remember is they shoot a pretty right pattern 

Mine has a modified choke .So accuracy has to be spot on .

It's no good just wafting the barrel in the general direction of the bird . (Like a 12 b and an open choke. ) and expecting to hit it .You have to practice on paper and clays to get the sight picture correct . 

As said before. A red dot /ring helps a lot. 

I too find crossers much easier than birds flying towards or away from me .

Tight patterns with a modified choke?

I'd say you have to be reasonably accurate, regardless of what choke you're using.

Please give the red dot thing a rest!

[motty]

2 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Is that on a 12 b .?

Cos obviously the same choke on a 20bwill be tighter. 

I find it easy to miss a bird coming straight in around 15 yds .the pattern is about 12 inches wide and easy to put just above /low  or to the side of the bird .I try to pull the trigger when the bird is about 25 -30 yds as the pattern has opened up enough .

Not trying to teach u to suck eggs mate .but accuracy really is the key to these guns. 

Not sure your fact about the chokes being tighter in the 20 is correct.

[Ultrastu]

1 hour ago, motty said:

Tight patterns with a modified choke?

I'd say you have to be reasonably accurate, regardless of what choke you're using.

Please give the red dot thing a rest!

Well excuse me .

Aga man clearly is experiencing the same issues that many before him have found when shooting a moderated mossberg .

I'm trying to help him, giving a few different ideas And solutions to the problem .

And your doing ???? 

He is clearly an accomplished shooter who could obviously  teach the likes of me a thing or 2 about this sport. 

But experience come from all different places and we can all benefit from the wider audience that is pw. 

[motty]

8 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Well excuse me .

Aga man clearly is experiencing the same issues that many before him have found when shooting a moderated mossberg .

I'm trying to help him, giving a few different ideas And solutions to the problem .

And your doing ???? 

He is clearly an accomplished shooter who could obviously  teach the likes of me a thing or 2 about this sport. 

But experience come from all different places and we can all benefit from the wider audience that is pw. 

I would probably have advised agaman to buy an investarm instead of the mossberg.